[mediaslinky]

I'm thinking about trying to find a deal on an older teleconverter. No real reason other than I want to play with it. So, I don't need anything great... still I don't want something I can't take decent images with.

Any lesser known brands I should look for? Or any I should stay away from? I've seen some solignor (or something like that) but people don't seem to like their lenses...

There seem to be a lot of older manual 2x's going for about $20 (plus shipping). That's about the right price... if I can find a good one.

slinky

[Adam]

There are lots of cheap 2x converters out there (soligor and vivitar being examples), but you really shouldn't expect anything from these converters.

They feature only 3 or 4 small elements that are no match for quality converters like the Pentax A 2x-S/L.

If you need more details, let me know, as I have all the Pentax converters except one, and I also have a vivitar 2x.

[mediaslinky]

Mo, can you point me toward the least expensive brand /type of teleconverter that will allow me to take decent pics? Which of the Pentax ones would you suggest? How does the Vivitar you have stack up?

I was hoping that like older lenses, if you would be willing to go manual and older, you could snag a decent one for little money. I love my old Kiron made Vivs, and got them for next to nothing. Even my 50mm was cheap.

[pleo]

Having some experiences with TC's I recommend that you only have a look at 7-lens-TCs.
There are a lot of inexpensive 4-lens-TCs out there....

According to my experiences and test results of 2 german photomags the Kenko MC7 should be o.k. for you too.
If you find the old Kiron-version - it should be even a bit better (but pretty rare).

The Soligor 1.7-converter is told to be quite good too - although not a 7-lens-TC.

Had the Pentax AF-TC too: Optically not that good but decent - and quite expensive too these days!

I still have 2 TCs: A Tamron (for their adaptall-system) and a Kenko MC7 macro-converter. Macro because of it's built in extension tube.
And it has the A-contact-pin too!

[Khukri]

I am looking to use a high quality TC. So may I seek the advice of Mo, pleo and others with experience of TCs, please: Seeing that 150/180mm macros in K mount are not available, I am considering the use of a TC with a Pentax 100mm or Tamron 90mm macro . May I know which TC would prove most suitable whilst ensuring that AF works - the Pentax 1.5x or 1.7x or any other? Why is the 1.7x not optically decent enough, pleo? Are the other Pentax TCs better and if so, why?

Thanks in advance for the answers!

[-spam-]

Have you considered the two sigma offerings? their 1.4x and 2x

Ive seen some pretty amazing results from people who have used these and their 70-200 aswell as their 100-300 f4

[egordon99]

I won an old manual focus Tamron 2x on eBay. It has the contacts for the aperture so it works with my old A lenses. I never really used it that much because it eats up two stops of light, and it also degraded the image quality quite a bit.

I also have a Sigma 1.4x auto-focus. This one I also don't use that much either. It eats up one stop of light, and because of Pentax's use of screw-drive autofocus, the AF performance when using the teleconverter is really slow as you are adding more gears/mechanical "stuff" to the AF system.

Note that I don't really have any fast telelphoto lenses, so the 1.4x gives me f/8 and the 2x gives me f/11 at 300mm, so if you have faster lenses, you might have better luck.

[Buddha Jones]

What a perfect time for this thread, I am also in the market for a TC, I see the FA 1.7 out there for $350 but I cant find any information on it. Mo, would you mind giving us a rundown on the TC's like you did the 200mm lenses?

[ralphl]

Mo I'll jump in here with a question. How will the Pentax A2xs function with the DA 18 55 kit lens?

[Adam]

I am looking to use a high quality TC. So may I seek the advice of Mo, pleo and others with experience of TCs, please: Seeing that 150/180mm macros in K mount are not available, I am considering the use of a TC with a Pentax 100mm or Tamron 90mm macro . May I know which TC would prove most suitable whilst ensuring that AF works - the Pentax 1.5x or 1.7x or any other? Why is the 1.7x not optically decent enough, pleo? Are the other Pentax TCs better and if so, why?

Thanks in advance for the answers!

The absolute best Pentax teleconverters would have the be the A 1.4x-L and A 2.0x-L, but they only work with 300mm lenses and above.

Your best bet for compact lenses is the A 2x-S. If you ever get it, compare it's giant rear element with that of any cheap TC!

The F 1.7x isn't as good as the other teleconverters, but it's still ahead of the competition. It's the only Pentax teleconverter that reatains full autofocus capabilities- all the others only retain aperture settings.

[Lowell Goudge]

The absolute best Pentax teleconverters would have the be the A 1.4x-L and A 2.0x-L, but they only work with 300mm lenses and above.

Your best bet for compact lenses is the A 2x-S. If you ever get it, compare it's giant rear element with that of any cheap TC!

The F 1.7x isn't as good as the other teleconverters, but it's still ahead of the competition. It's the only Pentax teleconverter that reatains full autofocus capabilities- all the others only retain aperture settings.

When you say the 1.7x isn't as good, I have to agree, it has a disappointing tendancy on distant objects to fail to focus correctly. (i'm talking about the autofocus adaptor with 1.7x TC). I think this is due to the fact that it essenually is a rear focusing desing, and most lenses (even internal focusing) are predominantly towards the front elements.

[DAP]

I was hoping that like older lenses, if you would be willing to go manual and older, you could snag a decent one for little money. I love my old Kiron made Vivs, and got them for next to nothing. Even my 50mm was cheap.

Kiron used to sell a 1.5x teleconverter at one time - you might want to keep on the lookout for it.

[mediaslinky]

Thanks, DAP, I will.

When you guys start talking about $350 teleconverters, you're way out of my range. I'm looking for the rare find, the cheap teleconverter that you might find once in a while, if you're lucky, for a steal, and still get decent results.

I don't know much about TCs, so could someone explain "4-lens" and 7-lens" versions to me?

[Adam]

I think hey were referring to converters with 4 or 3 optical elements compared to converters with 6 or 7 elements.

If you want a decent teleconverter from Pentax, go for the T6-2X. You can get it mint for under $100, but it doesn't allow you to use P mode because it's from before the A-lens era.

[tipentax38]

hi mediaslinky
as my english is very poor,i prefer to show you what a cheap tc can do than talk about it.
made your own opinion

it's a vivitar tcmacro *2 with a 50mm pentax, anda 200mm pentax