Can I use a teleconverter on a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 for more reach?

Asked 4/27/2011

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I use a Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm kit lens and a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6. I’d like more reach and wondered whether a teleconverter can be used with this Sigma zoom. I’ve heard teleconverters only work with certain lenses. Also, at 300mm my images look softer—can a teleconverter help, or is there another way to improve results?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

15y ago

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You can use a teleconverter with some zoom lenses -- but not with your Sigma. In fact, most of Sigma's higher-end zooms are specifically designed to work with a teleconverter (Sigma's), and a couple of them actually perform slightly better in some respects (specifically in terms of chromatic aberration and vignetting) with the teleconverter added than without.

The main problem with your lenses (apart from any other aspect of the lens design) is the maximum aperture. A 1.4x converter increases the effective focal length of the lens by a factor of 1.4, but it also decreases the effective maximum aperture by one full stop. That means your Sigma would become a 98-420mm f/5.6-8 lens, and would not be able to autofocus on your D3100 except at its widest setting. A 2x teleconverter doubles the focal length of the lens, but at a cost of two full stops, so your lens would be a 140-600 f/8-11, and would not autofocus at all on your camera.

That said, the optical design of the lens can complicate all of this a great deal. It's not just about the maximum aperture; the shape of the light path behind the lens has a lot to do with it as well. Not all lenses, whether zoom or prime, have an optical characteristic that plays nicely with teleconverters. Most current telephoto zooms with a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8 work well with converters (some are restricted to 1.4x converters and should not be used with 1.7x or 2x converters -- see the lens manual). "Consumer grade", slow, variable-aperture lenses usually don't work well, or don't work at all, with a teleconverter.

Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user2719

15y ago

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A teleconverter is not a practical choice for your Sigma 70-300mm. Teleconverters only work with certain lenses, and Sigma publishes a compatibility chart for models designed to accept them; if your lens is not listed, you should assume it is not supported.

Even if one could be mounted, the bigger issue is aperture loss. A 1.4× teleconverter turns your lens into roughly a 98-420mm f/5.6-8. At the long end that becomes too dim for reliable autofocus on a Nikon D3100, so AF would likely stop working except near the wide end. A 2× converter would be even less usable.

A teleconverter also magnifies the lens’s existing weaknesses, so it will not fix softness at 300mm—if anything, it usually makes image quality worse on a lens like this.

For better results, try avoiding the extreme long end when possible, stop down a little in good light, use faster shutter speeds, solid support, and accurate focus. If you need noticeably better reach and sharpness, the real solution is a better telephoto lens rather than a teleconverter on this one.

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15y ago

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