Anyone have a Tamron 2x teleconverter?

jenf22

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Sep 26, 2011
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I'm taking an Alaskan cruise in September and I've been looking at the Tamron 2x teleconverter. I have a Canon T2i and a Tamron 18-270mm lens. I looked at the Canon teleconverter, but it's not compatible with any of my Canon lenses. So that leaves me with the Tamron. It's got decent (though mixed) reviews on Amazon. Does anyone have one of these? Can you recommend it? I know it knocks down f-stops, and I would like to still be able to use auto focus. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
putting a teleconverter on a super-zoom lens *may* work, but i think you will be really disappointed with the performance and the IQ. At the long end of your lens, you're already at a very slow f/6.3, with a 2x you will lose two f-stops.

stolen from another website:
"You don't get something for nothing, and with teleconverters you will lose light. A 1.4x teleconverter will lose you one f-stop, a 2x will lose you two f-stops. Losing this light has an impact on many camera's ability to auto focus as most cameras do not like to auto focus when presented with less than a combined lens + teleconverter f# above f5.6, most Canon camera will totally refuse to auto focus when presented with worse than f5.6."

If you need more reach, renting a 300 f/4 and a 1.4x would be a lot better option.
 
As Joe mentioned, 2x teleconverters are usually a fair compromise, even for the very best ones with very good lenses. When paired with more consumer-grade and travel lenses like the 18-270, it's not generally a good pairing except for emergencies. And almost certainly, you will lose autofocus capabilities (it's not just a Canon thing...virtually no camera will autofocus at over F8 - and a 2-stop teleconverter paired with an F6.3 lens will definitely be over the limit).

I regularly use an expensive matched teleconverter with a long prime lens - it's a 300mm F4, paired with a 1.4x TC. The results are excellent, but that's a matched TC designed for that lens, it's only magnifying 1.4x, and the lens is fast enough that with the 1 stop loss, I'm still shooting F5.6 which means I can still autofocus.

I do have a Tamron 2x teleconverter, however I lose autofocus on most of my lenses I pair it with - and the quality does take a noticeable hit in softness and contrast. Sometimes it's worth it for extreme situations, but honestly I don't use it much, and never on my more basic lenses like my 18-250mm. In fact, the primary use for the 2x TC is paired with my Tamron 200-500mm lens when I'm shooting moon photography, so I can shoot at 1500mm, more than enough to make up for the slight loss in image quality due to the ridiculous reach! But it's manual focus all the way, the stabilization system can't keep up with it, and you need a lot of light with the 2-stop loss.
 
Thanks guys. I think I'll skip it. I've got a Canon 70-300mm, so I think I'll bring that and the Tamron 18-270mm on the cruise. I'm too lazy to manual focus, especially if I'm reacting to seeing an eagle or seal or whale or all the other animals I hope to see on this trip. I was just hoping for a cheap, easy way to get more zoom. I'll just set my camera to the maximum resolution and crop! Thanks again!
 

I have one, bought it a few years ago. Bought a 200mm/2.8 prime. I'll shoot a few test shots and let you see.
 


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