On teleconverters and choosing best lens

I was eluding earlier to the fact that recently I changed my Nikon D300 to another Nikon body, D800. I am still in the process of writing a post why I ended up with D800 and what I think about this camera, but meantime, it went for its first reality check. It was going with me to Oshkosh. Yes, I had it rented for Airventure last year, but I also had the Sigma 50-500 mm lens.

This time, I ended up taking only one lens, my full-frame zoom, Nikkor 28-300 mm. I really feel a little bit more is needed for better photographs of airplanes in the sky. The almost last minute decision was to add a teleconverter to it. Nothing fancy, just 1.4x, to get just a little bit closer. I am glad I decided to rent instead of going ahead and just buying it. A quick look at the page on LensRentals (the company I use to rent my gear) revelaed, it will not work.

It makes sense, when you think about it. The zoom lens is only f/3.5-5.6. At 300 mm, it is just too dark to focus. Is the convenience of universal zoom lens worth the limits it imposes? I am not so sure anymore.

UPDATE – I found very useful article on LensRentals blog about teleconverters, why they do not work with some lenses and general rules with which lenses they do work.

Team AeroDynamix at Airventure 2013, Oshkosh, WI

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