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70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Mon 18 Jan 2010 11:51
by Stany Buyle
I got my Nikon TC-20 E III last friday, one day after my photography mate Dr. Dusslier got his copy of this exceptional teleconverter. Rudy was so enthusiast that I couln't wait to get my hands on a copy for myself.
Rudy's findings and amazement were nothing more than rational observations from a medical doctor who was, -by exception-, amazed and even a little nervous while talking to me on the phone about this, some kind of exitement which is not usual for him...

About the 70-200AF-S VRII and TC-20 E III (which I call "the magic combo") itself, here below you can read my user' observations, findings, impressions and thoughts : Please take into consideration that all comments, observations, findings and test pictures are from this combo on a Nikon D700 FX camera.

The VR on the 70-200 AF-S VRIII was reported by professional reviewers on different fora as exceptional, I can only confirm that. Taking a decent sharp shot handhold @ 200mm and 1/10 sec is possible with good technique.
In relation to this exceptional VR quality of the main lens, and to my astonishment, the TC-20 E III transmits this exceptional VR quality to this lens-TC combination. You can take decent sharp, contrasty pictures @ 400mm, wide open(F5.6) and a shutter speed of 1/30 to even 1/15 sec. See my samples here. :o

Sharpness this combo can deliver, even wide open(F5.6) and @ 400mm, is much better than my 80-400VR used to deliver, even though I was a big fan of this lens. Some samples here.

AF speed and accuracy of this combo is amazing fast and accurate, but the 200-400 F4 on its own is still focusing much faster, next to the advantage having F4 wide open against F5.6 of the magic combo. Samples of the AF speed and accuracy, also in continuous AF you can find here and here.
Here you find a summing up of the separate topics of my findings about the AF.
:arrow: (Click op the thumbnail to go to the dedicated sample pictures page)

70-200VRII+TCIII AF test-part 1-Easy targets
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70-200VRII+TCIII AF test-part 2: Continu AF on moving target
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70-200VRII+TCIII test-part 3: AF in low light and VR
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70-200VRII+TCIII test-part 4: Continuous AF for moderate action
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70-200VRII+TCIII test-part 5: Continuous AF for birds in flight.
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70-200VRII+TCIII test-part 6: Long distance shots with this combo.
Two moonshots as real life samples:
http://www.nikonuser.info/fotoforum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=1090
http://www.nikonuser.info/fotoforum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=995

Coming soon:

80-400VR vs 70-200VRII+ TC2.0 E III on D700
70-200VRII+ TC2.0 E III on D300, findings, thoughts and sample shots :( :(

About CA and purple fringing: I see nothing suspicious until now, even though I didn't have the time to pixel-peep about this and I didn't take any high contrasty images like a brach of a tree agaist the backgound of a sunny sky yet... Some sample pictures with 100% crops of the details here.

About vignetting: Vignetting is extremely well controlled and barely visible wide open and much better about this than the VRII and Kenko pro 300 combo which I tested about a week ago...

About corner sharpness in the images this combo can deliver: This is ,-just like the original 70-200VRII-, nothing less than exceptional. You can find some samples here(for vignetting) and here(for corner sharpness).

My conclusion:
The 70-200VRII + TC-20 E III combo is an excellent and relative inexpensive all-in-one-alternative for fast aperture mid zoom to 400mm tele. It is not a replacement of the 200-400F4(which is focusing even much faster and tracking better), nor a replacement of the very probable upcoming 80-400 VR successor(which will very probably-, also focus faster and have a much more interesting "instant" focal range.)


In relation to all this an anecdote from my photography mate Rudy: While he isn't a real wildlife photographer and while the AF function doens't work on his 200-400 F4 in combination with the TC-20 E III, and last but not least because he finds the 200-400 F4 too heavy, he sells his 200-400 F4 AF-S VR...

Update(feb14th) and important notice: When doing this review I was clearly in the headline of this topic that it was about "70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera", while using this combo on a D300, the results I got are far inferior.



:!: Important notice for browsing the links:Sometimes, when the pictures in the provide links do not show up and you see as here underneath ...
Image ... you have to do *right mouseclick* while pointing with the cursor on the red ImageDoesNotShowUp-sign and *"show image"- command to see the picture*. After that it shows up.
Update: Underwhile this problem should be solved after transferring the pictures to a faster accessible server, but I let the notice here anyhown for in case...


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Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Wed 20 Jan 2010 22:21
by arthur
Good review. Thanks for posting.

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Thu 21 Jan 2010 20:47
by JDAES
Well,

you've convinced me...
I ordered one for my 70-200 VR II :D


Cheers,

JD

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Tue 26 Jan 2010 11:28
by Marsupilami
I ordered also the Konverter for my new 70-200 and while so far I am pleased with the results I do not see it as an optical miracle. Statements in other posts, where it is even considered to sell the 200-400 f4 and use this combo instead are misleading. My findings so far are that while it is a good combo you have at least to stop down to f 8 to get good sharpness, and also then it is a tack behind the 200-400 at f 4,8 (so half an f stop closed) where this lens has optimum performance. So while this is a good backup lens combo (my wife will be quite happy with this on her D300) I stick with my 200-400 whenever I can. Please note that I have tested on my D3X which makes differences more obvious than on a 12 MP body.
And contrary to other posts the 200-400 with the konverter does work in AF mode (Daylight without sun), but the AF is slow.
Further testings are necessary, but I have to wait for nicer weather, i dont like lens testing outside when it is snowing.

Regards

Christian

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Tue 26 Jan 2010 22:18
by RudyDusslier
Try the combo 200-400 TC-20 E III in full sun, you will not be happy because AF doesn´t work. I tried both cameras, D3s and D3x.

Greetings,
Rudy

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Tue 26 Jan 2010 23:11
by Stany Buyle
DrDusslierR wrote:Try the combo 200-400 TC-20 E III in full sun, you will not be happy because AF doesn´t work. I tried both cameras, D3s and D3x.
Greetings,
Rudy
Also Nikon is clear in their TC20 E III compatibility list that the 200-400 VR with TC20 E III is intended for manual focus only. Of course it works a little bit, just like with the 105 AF-S VR, but it's more "hit or miss" next to very slow than real useable autofocus. :(

Completing this review this week....

Posted: Sun 31 Jan 2010 13:43
by Stany Buyle
Ives brenders drove 220km to bring me his 80-400VR and his D300 to complete this review. :)
Thanks Ives!

I will addd before the end of this week (let's hope the weather is fine...):
  • 80-400VR vs 70-200VRII+ TC2.0 E III on D700
  • 80-400VR vs 70-200VRII+ TC2.0 E III on D300

Working on it right now, hope to post test results before february 5th...

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Sun 14 Feb 2010 11:21
by JDAES
Hi Stany,
when will you find the time to post your test with the D300?
Am not impatient, just very curious ;-)
Greetz,

JD

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Sun 14 Feb 2010 11:23
by Stany Buyle
JDAES wrote:Hi Stany, when will you find the time to post your test with the D300?
Am not impatient, just very curious ;-)Greetz, JD
Hi Johan,
Ives Brenders' D300 is here now for over a week to do some testing, but weather conditions keep ebing terrible. Freezing, snowing and soo windy(more storm) that capturing birds in flight is nearly impossible.
When the combo is mounted on my tripod, the whole combo is vibrating from the wind...
Upto that, my fingers get frozen...

70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-original files

Posted: Wed 2 Mar 2011 21:34
by Stany Buyle
70-200VRII+TCIII AF test-part 1-Easy targets
Image
Registered members can download the original NEF file here.
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70-200VRII+TCIII AF test-part 2: Continu AF on moving target
Image
Registered members can download the original NEF file here.

70-200VRII+TCIII test-part 4: Continuous AF for moderate action
Image
Registered members can download the original NEF file here.

70-200VRII+TCIII test-part 5: Continuous AF for birds in flight.
Image
Registered members can download the original NEF file here.

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70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on D7000(DX)...

Posted: Sun 3 Apr 2011 03:56
by Lance B
I have been using the D700 + 70-200 f2.8 VRII + 2x TCIII for about 9 months now and the combo is a superb light zoom solution to get to 400mm with exceptional IQ, given that it is a zoom being used with a 2x TC!
I also use this combo on my D7000 with exceptional results also. :arrow: http://www.fotografie.fr/fotoforum/view ... =54&t=1128

70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on D800E

Posted: Fri 7 Sep 2012 22:25
by Stany Buyle

Re: 70-200VRII+TC-20 E III on FX camera-full users review

Posted: Fri 27 Jun 2014 10:49
by Derek7
Nice post!