Teleconverter for 350D, 55-200

[Adam G]

Hi, this is my first post on the forum and I'm not particularly 'camera literate' so please bear with me!

I have a 350D with a 55-200 USM lens that I've used to take some pretty passable wildlife shots. It's been suggested that I try a teleconverter to up the reach without shelling out too much, is there anything I should specifically avoid or consider?
I'm afraid I've no clue about the subject, would 1.4x or 2x be better? Please point out any pitfalls...
Thanks very much in advance.
Adam

[postcardcv]

Hi Adam and welcome to BF

I'm not sure I'd agree with the recommendation of adding a TC to this lens. In general TCs don't work very well with zoom lenses (with the exception of a few expensive zooms). When you add a TC you will almost certainly lose AF, or if you still have it it's likely to hunt a fair bit and be slower. If you do decide to add a TC a 1.4x would be a much better choice than a 2x, 2x only work well with the very best prime lenses. If you know someone who has a TC try and test it on your lens.

Given the price of a 1.4x tc you might be better off buying a cheapish 300mm zoom (such as the Sigma 70-300), I would expect this to perform better than the 55-200 with a 1.4x tc and will give you a bit more reach. If you can stretch your budget even further look for a secondhand Sigma 135-400, these crop up regularly for ~£200 and are great value.

[Adam G]

Thanks for the reply, I'm glad I asked the question! Looks like there's no cheap and easy way of getting more reach. Has anyone tried a TC on this lens?

[g8ina]

I think it would depend on the aperture of the lens you have. Doesn't a 1.4x drop 1.5 stops and a 2x drop 2.5 stops (if not, it can't be too far off).

IIRC, the Nikon and Canon DSLRs need about f6.5 max to use AF successfully.

I'm looking at alternatives for myself right now. I have a 28-300mm Tamron on my D70, at f3.5-6.3, and it certainly doesn't like any sort of tele converter :(

[Roy C]

I think it would depend on the aperture of the lens you have. Doesn't a 1.4x drop 1.5 stops and a 2x drop 2.5 stops (if not, it can't be too far off).

IIRC, the Nikon and Canon DSLRs need about f6.5 max to use AF successfully.

I'm looking at alternatives for myself right now. I have a 28-300mm Tamron on my D70, at f3.5-6.3, and it certainly doesn't like any sort of tele converter :(
A1.4 tc loses 1 stop and a 2x loses 2 stops

[cliffhanger]

Hi
I have 1.4TC Teleplus which i use on my sigma 70-300 and my sigma 400 f5.6 ( on a Nikon D70) and it retains autofocus on both and metering and gives brilliant results. I am really impressed with it, perhaps see if there is a BF member nearby who might let you try it or go to a camera shop with the lens and fire off a few shots and see what they look like.

Cheers
Pete

[Keith Reeder]

Care to post up some examples, Pete?

David, by taping over some of the contact pins on the converter, Canon cameras can AF until there's no useful light left.

Adam, I'd agree with PostcardCV that results from the combo you ask about might well be iffy...