[Ashley beolens]

Right straight to it

1) Do these devices aid in photographing fast moving birds like warblers?

2) Do they help in photographing flying birds like raptors?

3) Is there a shop that sells a range of these (including the eagle eye 5x) where I can try them for myself?

Thanks in advance.

[IanF]

Straight answers then, IMHO of course -

1) Yes and No. Yes because they get you that much closer to the subject and for some converters there is no noticeable light loss so no f-stops are lost ie maintaining a high shutter speed. No because some converters such as the EagleEye and Kenko etc lead to 2 or 3 f-stops meaning slower shutter speeds and blurred photos unless you are very good at panning.

2) Likewise see answer above.

3) I've never found a shop seling the EagleEye let alone the other brands. It's a question of reading reviews and seeking advice from those who have them.

Fo bird photos you obviously need very good optics to give at least some feather detail. Most converters don't give you that good a result. Personally I still like the EagleEye for optics but it's a heavy lens really needing a tripod to ensure steadiness especially as you lose around 2 f-stops unless you combine it with the likes of the B300.

[rka]

Hope this may be useful:

I have used the Olympus C210 (1.9X) Teleconverter with pretty good results. Will be ordering the TCON-17 (1.7x) shortly which is supposedly very similar in quality to the much renouned Oly B300 lens.

rka

[Glen Tepke]

If you are using a Nikon Coolpix, Nikon's 3X teleconverter is very good with no loss of light or sharpness. But it's only 3X. I have several pics in the Gallery taken with that combo: Wood Duck, Heermann's Gull, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Humpback Whale. Note that these are all fairly large birds or a very large mammal. I have had some success shooting flying pelagic birds with it, but the birds were too distant and the results are too heavily cropped to serve as an advertisement for the lens. I think you could get sharp flight shots with this lens if you have good light and close birds. Glen

[bcurrie]

Sorry to join in late, just to add on, the TCON 17 is actually a little bit better than the B-300 in regards to less CA. I have the B-300, but will also be getting the TCON 17 sometime in the future.