Nikon Rumors Forum » Topic: TC20 III Early Tests

Trenton_Romulox on "TC20 III Early Tests"

Trenton_Romulox — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:09:59 +0000

I've seen people saying that there TC-20 III results were great and I've seen people saying that they were not. I don't really know what to think right now, but I have been waiting on a new teleconverter because of this new 2x one, so hopefully I can get some straight and consistent answers soon.

[NR] admin on "TC20 III Early Tests"

[NR] admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:09:34 +0000

I hope this is not true, since I ordered the TC20 III. I will post some pics once I get it.

adamz on "TC20 III Early Tests"

adamz — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:01:35 +0000

maybe someone could post a link to some pictures taken with the new tc20III, also any pictures from the new 300/2.8 VRII?

heartyfisher on "TC20 III Early Tests"

heartyfisher — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:44:32 +0000

also note that the 1.7tc is special, it was designed and optimised for 70-200. If I were to get 70-200, I would be getting the 1.7 with it.

Gentoo on "TC20 III Early Tests"

Gentoo — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:18:43 +0000

MaxGreen said:
There is a thread at DP right now with samples showing the same results. I have no idea if this may be a bad pair of TC's, but I'd like to say that the 1.7 works great, with virtually no loss of IQ at all. So I'm sticking with that.

Cheers.

That makes sense as 2X TC's are always worse than their 1.4 and 1.7 counterparts.

MaxGreen on "TC20 III Early Tests"

MaxGreen — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:07:05 +0000

There is a thread at DP right now with samples showing the same results. I have no idea if this may be a bad pair of TC's, but I'd like to say that the 1.7 works great, with virtually no loss of IQ at all. So I'm sticking with that.

Cheers.

Gentoo on "TC20 III Early Tests"

Gentoo — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:35:33 +0000

Maxgreen, thanks for the info. Sorry if this is what Nikon could offer but I am hoping your friend just got a bad one if not then we all know it isn't worth it so thanks again.

PB PM on "TC20 III Early Tests"

PB PM — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:35:13 +0000

I've only seen the exact opposite. Most of the people I've seen reporting on the new TC say that it is much better than the old one.

NikoDoby on "TC20 III Early Tests"

NikoDoby — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:29:09 +0000

Here we go again first "FoZoom" on the new 70-200vrII and now this?

mb on "TC20 III Early Tests"

mb — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:17:50 +0000

I really hope you got some broken sample, it would be to bad if Nikon missed designing this one.

MaxGreen on "TC20 III Early Tests"

MaxGreen — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:07:39 +0000

My friend took the plunge and ordered the new TC III and then we tested it using my 70-200 VR II and his 300mm 2.8. We compared it to the TC 14 and 1.7 versions.

I don't have the samples ready to go, but we found....

The new TC III was barely superior to the old version and had a focus issue. At close distances we had to use focus tune to get it to work. We ended up doing MF to get it right and quite frankly I doubt anyone could tell the difference between the old and the new versions. A 2X TC is just a LOT of magnification. We found it actually worked better on the new zoom over the prime, which was interesting.

A few other results I've seen online seem to be the same as what we saw. So for now I'm sticking with the 1.7 version, which was clearly better than the new 2X and quite close to the 1.4.

More reviews will be coming and sample variation may be a factor, but as I like to say....nothing is for free and a TC exacts it's toll to be sure. Thus far we could not conclude that the new TC is worth owning, unless you're fully aware of the loss of IQ.

Cheers!