8 replies to this topic

[rumblefish]

Hi all,
I'm about to buy a teleconverter to get more out of my 60 macro and 10-17 FE Tokina. Is the new Nikon TC-14E II, (af-s) 1.4x teleconverter compatible with the old Nikon 60mm micro?
--Rob

[Alex_Mustard]

This TC won't physically fit on the fisheye. You need to use the cheaper and optically poorer Kenko 1.4 TC.

Alex

[rumblefish]

Thank you Alex, I'll look into the Kenko, too. My main concern is autofocus with the TC and the (old) Nikon 60mm micro in dark water / poor visibility, I guess optical quality counts. (My second concern is getting +glasses in my dive mask...).
--Rob

[chipi]

Hey Alex, per my understanding, the same TC is sold under different brands as Kenko, Tamron and Soligor? Can you maybe confirm that it is indeed same piece of hardware.

[rumblefish]

Went to the photo shop the other day and the people there recommend extension tubes if I want more magnification. Are these practical at all underwater? (reading the pinned 'getting more than 1:1...' thread I guess not). What is the best way to go if I want to fill the frame with a nudi that's 1cm, using the old 60mm Nikon micro and DX sensor.

[davichin]

Went to the photo shop the other day and the people there recommend extension tubes if I want more magnification. Are these practical at all underwater? (reading the pinned 'getting more than 1:1...' thread I guess not). What is the best way to go if I want to fill the frame with a nudi that's 1cm, using the old 60mm Nikon micro and DX sensor.

I would go with the kenko 1.4x or even 2x (slower focus but works). The 60mm is too short for practical ext tubes and strong diopter lens use... Kenko is not as good as nikon but it is very good too (it shows its weakness with cameras like D800 etc...) and many of us have been using them for a long time with success.

[divegypsy]

Nikon's own Teleconverters work only with AF-S lenses, not lenses whose auto-focus is driven by the in-camera motor. I have used one or several Kenko extension tubes with the older pre-AFS 105mm f2.8 Micro-nikkor with excellent results. With the newer AF-S Micro-nikkors, both 60mm and 105mm you can use Nikon's own teleconverters. And with the new 105mm my preferred means of focusing to greater that life-size is to use Nikon's dual element close-up lenses the 5T and 6T which do not cost you the 1~2 f-stops that a teleconverter does. I do not use the 60mm Micro-nikkor because I find the 70-180mm Micro-nikkor much more versatile.

Fred

[Udo van Dongen]

With the newer AF-S Micro-nikkors, both 60mm and 105mm you can use Nikon's own teleconverters.

Hi Fred,
Did you try both combinations yourself, because you say you don't use the 60 mm? With the 105 mm i believe you since it also works with my 1.4X soligor TC. But with the 60mm AF-S my experience is that it doesn't autofocus with the 1.4X TC.

Udo

[divegypsy]

Hi Udo,
No, I have not actually tried a Nikon TC on the Nikon 60mm AF-S. I haven't owned a 60mm Micro-Nikkor for several years. Gave my 60D to a friend who uses it for topside shooting on her D300. I found that the working distance of the 60mm was just too short for the subjects I typically shoot. My most used macro lens is the Nikon 70-180mm Micro-nikkor zoom and I use the 105mm Micro-nikkor mostly when I anticipate that I will be shooting small subjects and need more magnification than the .75x of the 70-180. I rarely use the 105mm without a 20mm or 36mm extension tube which allows me to shoot at greater than 1:1 magnifications. This means giving up more distant subject shooting with the 105mm, which I rarely do due to the much greater water between the camera and subject. This is where the 70-180 is really great. Its variable framing at any distance means you don't have to move in and out as much which can disturb the subject and don't have to keep changing strobe positions.

Fred

Edited by divegypsy, 27 August 2012 - 08:04 PM.