new Nikon Teleconverter TC-14 III better than the II?

   Looks like the TC-14 III is being shipped.  Will be very interested to hear from anyone who has had a chance
to compare it with the II.
Thanks,

I have one on the way but my D810 is on it's way to Nikon for the recall so i won't be able to do a critical test until it comes back.

EJ, why can't you test the new converter with one of your other bodies? Wouldn't it just be a simple comparison between the same lens with the II verses the III version?

I figure to truly evaluate it, I want my highest resolution full frame body. The D810 is dramatically sharper than the D800E due to the electronic front curtain so even curtain movement won't influence the results. I am really surprised by how much better the D810 is when using this feature indicating that the D800E suffered from shutter shock a lot more than I thought it would.

E.J. Peiker wrote:I figure to truly evaluate it, I want my highest resolution full frame body.  The D810 is dramatically sharper than the D800E due to the electronic front curtain so even curtain movement won't influence the results.  I am really surprised by how much better the D810 is when using this feature indicating that the D800E suffered from shutter shock a lot more than I thought it would.

E.J. it makes you wonder if you see so much improvement between the D800E and the D810 considering the mass of the camera compared to the Sony a7R, I wonder what kind of improvement an electronic first curtain would make on the Sony? 

E.J. Peiker wrote:I figure to truly evaluate it, I want my highest resolution full frame body.

So, would the result be valid and relevant to other lower resolution bodies? Say if it turns out to be not good enough for a D810, any chance that it would be good enough for, say, D300, D700 or D3s??

signgrap wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:I figure to truly evaluate it, I want my highest resolution full frame body.  The D810 is dramatically sharper than the D800E due to the electronic front curtain so even curtain movement won't influence the results.  I am really surprised by how much better the D810 is when using this feature indicating that the D800E suffered from shutter shock a lot more than I thought it would.

E.J. it makes you wonder if you see so much improvement between the D800E and the D810 considering the mass of the camera compared to the Sony a7R, I wonder what kind of improvement an electronic first curtain would make on the Sony? 

Yes the a7R suffers from this big time and desperately needs an electronic front curtain option.

DChan wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:I figure to truly evaluate it, I want my highest resolution full frame body.

So, would the result be valid and relevant to other lower resolution bodies? Say if it turns out to be not good enough for a D810, any chance that it would be good enough for, say, D300, D700 or D3s??

Sure but my lowest resolution body at this point is a D800E.  The D7100 actually puts more pixels on the target but it isn't full frame so I can't use it.  I'll certainly take a look at it with those but the definitive test will be with a D810.

Why can't you use a D7100? Is this new converter only made for full frame cameras? My own interest is not how well it fairs with the D810, but rather how much (if any) it will be better than the current II with the D800 or D7100 and 500 VR.

Because it will tell me nothing about edge sharpness and therefore not be a complete test.  Not sure why you are giving me so much grief about this?  I don't have to this at all and am doing it first and foremost for my photography and sharing the info... I'm confused.

The most valid test of the TC itself is one where you remove all of the other variables.  A camera with no mirror or shutter slap will best do that.

E.J. when you do the test do you have or have access to a 300 F4 lens? I have read conflicting reports on wether this TC will work on this lens

merlinator wrote:E.J. when you do the test do you have or have access to a 300 F4 lens?  I have read conflicting reports on wether this TC will work on this lens

Yes I do

E.J. Peiker wrote:

merlinator wrote:E.J. when you do the test do you have or have access to a 300 F4 lens?  I have read conflicting reports on wether this TC will work on this lens

Yes I do

Great, I'll be looking forward to the results.  You will probably doing some more calibrations for me.

E.J. Peiker wrote:I figure to truly evaluate it, I want my highest resolution full frame body.  The D810 is dramatically sharper than the D800E due to the electronic front curtain so even curtain movement won't influence the results.  I am really surprised by how much better the D810 is when using this feature indicating that the D800E suffered from shutter shock a lot more than I thought it would.

The "little improvements" of Nikon D810 seems to add up really fast to becoming a pretty good upgrade of the D800 series camera bodies.

  What is the saying, no good deed goes unpunished?  EJ, will look forward to any test results you see fit to do.
Would also love to hear from anyone else who tries out the TC14 III on whatever camera and lens they prefer.  Have also ordered it though B&H just told me mine
won't arrive till Sept. 9 (even though supposedly my purchase qualified for the free expedited shipping).  Still looking for a light way (4 pounds or so) to have some reach (even in low light) for backpacking, BIF, etc.  Too bad Nikon doesn't have a 400mm f/4 lens like Canon.

OK, I've had this thing out of the box for about thirty minutes and have grabbed a few "test" shots. Please understand that I am not a technician and I do not post, so these will just be my observations at this time. I shot the Lens Align target and a mounted one dollar bill as a quick test. I shot a D4 and a D300s with my 500 VR lens at consistent manual exposure and distances with both the new tc111 and the old tc11. The only difference was the two tc's. Micro Focus Adjustment was turned off as I have not yet calibrated the new TC. I looked at the raw files at 50 and 100 percent through Nikon view with just the default processing.

Several observations - the tc111 appears to me to have a cleaner color rendition, that is there is less yellowish color to the images, a slightly whiter white. I can see this just by looking through both tc's at a piece of bright white paper in daylight. It appears that the new tc will require less micro focus adjustment on the D4 compared to the old tc. And it appears to be somewhat sharper. I did not see a lot of contrast difference. On the d300s, the differences are not as apparent to me. Focus error appears to be about the same, approx. the same adjustment needed. Sharpness, I have to look closely to try to see the difference between the two and maybe I'm just trying to convince myself. I am anxious to try this comparison on the 300 f/4 and the new 80/400. I'll post my comparison at a later time if it has not already been done. I look forward to EJ's precise testing.

They want you to tell them it's the end all to end all, greatest TC in the history of photography so they can justify buying it! 

Mine got misrouted by UPS... should have both the D810 back and the new TC on Monday or Tuesday as the D810 is in repair right now. I'll look at the D7100 as well since there is demand.

My expectation is to find little or no difference between the two and I will be pleasantly surprised if there is a real notable difference.

Would be nice if there was a notable difference. Then maybe they could work on a viable 2X, unlike the one's they have sold in the past that only serve as expensive paperweights!

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:Would be nice if there was a notable difference. Then maybe they could work on a viable 2X, unlike the one's they have sold in the past that only serve as expensive paperweights!

Joe

Yes, the 1.4 III was probably not needed but a 2x IV is desperately needed - Somebody at Nikon, please reverse engineer the Canon one and figure out why they can make an excellent 2x while Nikon is unable to.  Heck,  a Canon 2x Mk I from 15 years ago is still better than a Nikon 2x III.