Question About Nikon z8/9 with TC’s

I’m wondering if any of you have experience with using a TC 14e3 with the FTZ adapter vs. using the z teleconverter with the adapter attached to a 300/500mm pf lens? Does it make any difference in image quality or anything else by using one over the other? Also, is there a difference in the rigidity of the whole rig one way or the other? How about the 2X TC’s in the same arrangement? TIA for your replies.

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote: I’m wondering if any of you have experience with using a TC 14e3 with the FTZ adapter vs. using the z teleconverter with the adapter attached to a 300/500mm pf lens? Does it make any difference in image quality or anything else by using one over the other? Also, is there a difference in the rigidity of the whole rig one way or the other? How about the 2X TC’s in the same arrangement? TIA for your replies.

Joe

Joe, 

I use the 500 PF with a TC AFS 1.4III and the FTZ with no problem. Don't have the 2x.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. I knew that combo worked, but was wondering if the z teleconverter worked well when an FTZ adapter with lens attached was connected to it, compared to the lens, tc14e3 and FTZ was used. A little hard to explain.

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote: Thanks, Bob. I knew that combo worked, but was wondering if the z teleconverter worked well when an FTZ adapter with lens attached was connected to it, compared to the lens, tc14e3 and FTZ was used. A little hard to explain.

Joe

  You cannot use the Z teleconverter with a non-Z lens, if I understand your question.  So you would not use the Z teleconverter with the FTZ adapter.

Thanks. That was what I was wondering about. So, only the TC 14e3 with a non z lens then, by using the FTZ. In the old days, I could use two TC14b's by placing an extension tube between them. A trick I learned from Art Wolfe. I thought that it may be possible to stack a z TC on the body and an FTZ/TC14e3 on the lens for more reach and not lose the electronic connection.

Joe

ricardo00 wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote: Thanks, Bob. I knew that combo worked, but was wondering if the z teleconverter worked well when an FTZ adapter with lens attached was connected to it, compared to the lens, tc14e3 and FTZ was used. A little hard to explain.

Joe

  You cannot use the Z teleconverter with a non-Z lens, if I understand your question.  So you would not use the Z teleconverter with the FTZ adapter.

Correct, the new Z TC's will not permit the attachment of a FTZ, only dedicated Z optics.

SantaFeJoe wrote: Thanks. That was what I was wondering about. So, only the TC 14e3 with a non z lens then, by using the FTZ. In the old days, I could use two TC14b's by placing an extension tube between them. A trick I learned from Art Wolfe. I thought that it may be possible to stack a z TC on the body and an FTZ/TC14e3 on the lens for more reach and not lose the electronic connection.

Joe

I've heard several photographers (George Lepp comes to mind) mention the use of stacked converters to increase magnification, but have never seen any great results. Curious as to what your previous  experience was like?

Generally I'm quite TC shy, other than with the Nikkor 300mm f2.8 or f4.0 PF lenses.

Swissblad wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote: Thanks. That was what I was wondering about. So, only the TC 14e3 with a non z lens then, by using the FTZ. In the old days, I could use two TC14b's by placing an extension tube between them. A trick I learned from Art Wolfe. I thought that it may be possible to stack a z TC on the body and an FTZ/TC14e3 on the lens for more reach and not lose the electronic connection.

Joe

I've heard several photographers (George Lepp comes to mind) mention the use of stacked converters to increase magnification, but have never seen any great results. Curious as to what your previous  experience was like?

Generally I'm quite TC shy, other than with the Nikkor 300mm f2.8 or f4.0 PF lenses.

It's probably been 30 years since I tried that with a 500f4p lens (manual focus) and film. I don't recall being impressed with it and having to use an extension tube eliminated the full focusing range. TC's have improved considerably in that time and using the FTZ would not limit focusing range, if it were possible to use this combo. I understand that the TC20e 3 is pretty acceptable in IQ. I haven't tried it, though. I find the TC14e3 to be hit or miss, but it works very well sometimes. With the 300 or 500mm pf lenses, it seems like cropping in post works better with the D850, but I'm still experimenting with that. My z8 is scheduled to arrive Monday, so I want to try TC's vs. cropping with it too.

Joe

Joe and others, I agree with those posts that state that the Z tcs are for Z mount lenses only. You cannot use them on F mount lenses.

I will second the comment that the TC 1.4 III added to the 500mm f5.6 pf and the FTZII on my Z9 work just fine. The only issue may be a change in balance point and the need to be especially careful in using the "rig" as there are four parts to it.

Regarding stacked tcs, I used to use them on my Nikon 500mm f4 P lens, mostly on film bodies: TC 301 (2xtc) and TC14B with Nikon all metal extension tubes. Results were acceptable on film and then on my first digital bodies, D200 and D 300. My recollection was that the TC 301, a 2x tc, worked better than the next generation of Nikon 2xtcs for AF 500mm f4 lenses.

SantaFeJoe wrote: Thanks. That was what I was wondering about. So, only the TC 14e3 with a non z lens then, by using the FTZ. In the old days, I could use two TC14b's by placing an extension tube between them. A trick I learned from Art Wolfe. I thought that it may be possible to stack a z TC on the body and an FTZ/TC14e3 on the lens for more reach and not lose the electronic connection.

Joe

  The new Z TCs work quite well on the Z lenses.  So, depending on your "standards", you can use the Z 2.0 TC with a Z lens, with okay results instead of two stacked 1.4TCs.  I have used the Z 2.0 TC with both the 400mm f/4.5 and even the 800mm PF lens.

  Examples are in my Flickr albums if interested:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60519499@ ... 0302025299

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60519499@ ... 0305843182

Thanks for that info. I do think the 2X TC is probably the best solution. Sometimes I'm just curious about things. The older 2X versions were not that good, but, from everything I've read, the new Nikon 2X TC's are much better since the TC20e3 came out. The stacked 1.4's were better than the 2X back then.

Joe

Hi Joe,
you may find Brad Hill's report on use of external TCs in combination with the new built-in TCs in the new 400mm TC / 600mm TC lenses interesting: http://www.naturalart.ca/artist/camerag ... es_400_2.8

Swissblad wrote: Hi Joe,
you may find Brad Hill's report on use of external TCs in combination with the new built-in TCs in the new 400mm TC / 600mm TC lenses interesting: http://www.naturalart.ca/artist/camerag ... es_400_2.8

Thanks for the link. There is a lot of useful info coming from practical experience on that site regarding a lot of Nikon equipment. I still don’t see the reason why an f mount TC couldn’t be used with a z mount TC if it’s mounted on an FTZ adapter. Still curious about that. Since I don’t have a z mount TC, I can’t try it out for myself. He does say that all TC’s work better with z bodies. I really haven’t had a chance to try out the z8 yet. I went to look for some Ospreys at their nest this morning, but they seemed to have abandoned it. It was poorly constructed and the wind may have destroyed it. Thanks again.

Joe