# D90 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR2 + Nikon TC-20E II (2x)



## brianT (Dec 29, 2010)

I recently purchased a Nikon TC-20E II (2x) teleconverter for use with my 70-200mm f/2.8 VR2.  Now I know some people would think I'm crazy for using this combination because the 2x teleconverter is known to produce soft images on anything but a prime lens.  But it's a cheap way to extend the reach of my telephoto lens.

The Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR2 with the D90 is a great combination in my opinion.  The image quality of the lens is superb.  Below are my results on the first day out with adding the 2x teleconverter to the mix:

Firstly, the teleconverter adds a fair bit of extra length to this set up making the lens/camera very big and heavy.  After using this hand-held for 2 hours my arms were sore, but I don't have too much muscle   Otherwise the set-up feels tight and secure and the teleconverter is really well made.

The teleconverter robs 2 stops of light and puts the maximum aperture of the f/2.8 lens to f/5.6 constant.  The focal range becomes 140mm to 400mm.  Mostly I was interested in how it performs at 400mm because this kind of reach is pretty much needed for shooting most birds and wildlife.

So with the loss of aperture and light, I already knew I'd need to boost my ISO.  All the shots were done on a partly sunny afternoon, sometimes the sun out and sometimes diffused behind clouds.  Plus, it's December so the light seems more dim in this part of the world (pacific northwest).  I can say that this set up needs bright enough daylight to work well, but I guess it depends on how high you want to raise the ISO.  I shot in the trees where the light was dim and had some success, but a lot of failures.

Focus speed with the D90 and 70-200 f/2.8 vr2 is really fast on it's own.  Add the teleconverter and the focus speed changes.  In good conditions with the teleconverter the system will focus pretty fast and is totally useable.  If the lens is focused to infinity then you suddenly want to focus close-up (especially in lower light) it can take a few seconds to get focused.  I have generally found it's better to focus MANUALLY first, then let the AF-S do it's job when drastically changing focal planes.  Of course on the D90 the centre focus point works best, so I usually used it to focus then recomposed slightly.

Vibration Reduction (in this case VR2) helps a lot.  I mean a lot.  I was able to shoot at shutter speeds above 1/1000 and I turned the VR off.  But mostly my shutter speeds are lower and after testing it with VR on or off I can say I'm glad I have VR.

Fast moving action with this set-up is not great.  The D90 just cannot track flying birds that well with this set up.  I think I will be able to get some decent photos of flying birds, but it will be a stretch.  I suspect a D300 would work much better here.

So here's the biggest problem with this set up: front focusing.  After analyzing my test photos I realized this set up always front focuses.  And the bad thing is the D90 has no AF fine tune.  I can't really manually focus because I find the viewfinder way too small and difficult to judge from.  I will likely be buying a new camera body in 2011 so I can solve this problem.  But as it stand focus might always be off.  Sometimes I get lucky and nail the focus, but a lot of the time the front focusing is apparent.  I do believe that with more practice I can get better shots.

Below are some of the shots.  All the photos are unedited except for downsizing for web.  All shots are set to #6 sharpness on the D90.  I usually shoot 4 or 5 sharpness but I boosted it a bit with this set up.  Also there's *no* *noise reduction* in these photos.  I shoot without noise reduction usually and do noise reduction in post.

With some editing I will be able to selectively sharpen and improve images.

1. 400mm, f/10, 1/500, ISO 250 - maximum aperture is f/5.6 but images are sharper at f/8 to f/11.  Of course that means higher ISO but if there's enough light it's worth using smaller apertures.





100% crop:





2. 400mm, f/8, 1/640, ISO 320




100% crop: not so sharp in the head where the focus point was.  The side body feathers are actually sharper in this photo because they are closer and the set up front focuses.





3. 350mm, f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 400




100% crop:





4. 400mm, f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 640





5. 175mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 400





6. 400mm, f/7.1, 1/200, ISO 400.  This is shooting some action, in this case a running dog.  I could've used a faster shutter speed here, but it turned out decent.





7. 400mm, f/9, 1/320, ISO 250 -- Some landscape work.  These mountains are really far away, but on a crisp cool day haze is minimal.  On a hot summer day I think haze will destroy contrast at 400mm





8. 350mm, f/6.3, 1/50, ISO 500 -- This is a very slow shutter speed to use with this set up.  There wasn't much light as it was shot under trees.  VR helped a lot here!





Overall I'm happy enough with this set up.  With more practice and better technique I will get more keepers.  They are not the sharpest photos, but it's really useful to have 400mm.  I would not have gotten any of these photos otherwise.


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## orb9220 (Dec 29, 2010)

Don't want to respond out of jealousy at your lens. But yep the newer improved 2.0x from nikon is suppose to step up the game a bit. But if I had that lens. Then would probably not be comfortable with anything more than the 1.7x. As haven't really researched the 2.0x older or new.

Some great images there. Did a few myself when I had a 80-200 f2.8 AF-D and tamron 1.4x and did a good job for me when I had it. But had to sell for medical expenses.
.


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## ann (Dec 29, 2010)

I tested the new version with that lens and a d700, not bad and gives that extra reach and with a touch of sharpening it beats the alternative in cost.


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## brianT (Dec 29, 2010)

> Don't want to respond out of jealousy at your lens. But yep the newer improved 2.0x from nikon is suppose to step up the game a bit. But if I had that lens. Then would probably not be comfortable with anything more than the 1.7x. As haven't really researched the 2.0x older or new.  Some great images there. Did a few myself when I had a 80-200 f2.8 AF-D and tamron 1.4x and did a good job for me when I had it. But had to sell for medical expenses.


Yes the 1.7x is supposed to give slightly sharper results, and moreso the 1.4x.  But then I'd be cropping more.  Not sure which is better.

The newest version of the 2x teleconverter is supposed to be much better, but it's over *twice the cost*!  I settled on the older teleconverter because I found it on sale.  The 2x teleconverter is less expensive than the 1.7x

Also part of the reason I bought this teleconverter is because eventually I will buy a new camera body that will *focus *and *meter *with older lenses (pre AF-S).  And I will find a 300mm f/4 prime, add the teleconverter and that should provide some nice reach.  Because as I understand it, the teleconverters work better on prime lenses.  I suppose it's because of the fixed glass, so there's lens chance for the teleconverter to multiply the blemishes of the zoom lens.



> I tested the new version with that lens and a d700, not bad and gives  that extra reach and with a touch of sharpening it beats the alternative  in cost.


That sounds like a very nice set up.  And of course you can raise your ISO on a D700 much higher than a D90.  Plus the D700 should focus like a charm.


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