I am going out this weekend to shoot a couple of Bald Eagles and 3 babies in a nest. The Nest is about 130 feet from the road and a 300mm just does not get it. My question is this.

1. Should I use a 120-300mm 2.8 with a 2X and a 1X teleconverter on my D800 or D3x.

2. Could I set the D800 or D3s in DX mode and use the same lens and teleconverters.

3. Or use my D3200 with the 120-300mm FX lens to get the CROP and the 450mm plus the teleconverters.

I really don't have or know the answer to this. What would give me the best combination to get the best shop.

Tom

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The goal here is to put as many pixels under the eagles as possible.

This immediately rules out #2 since the DX mode is just cropping out pixels like you would do in post-processing.

I would be tempted to take the D3200 for the resolution (assuming the rest of the camera meets your needs) and the teleconverter.

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Joseph K
Seattle, WA, USA

D700, D200, D70S, 24-70mm f/2.8, VR 70-200mm f/2.8 II,
50mm f/1.4 D, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

So you are saying take the D3200 put on the 120-300mm FX 2.8 with the 2X and the 1.4 teleconverter.

What would be the end focal length when all is said and done.

600mm?????

thanks...

P.S. How do you figure out the 1.5 crop factor with the (MM) lens length?

Tom

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The field of view crop for the Nikon DX bodies is 1.5x, so you just multiply the mm. Your 120-300mm on a DX body will "look like" a 180-450mm without the TC. With a TC, do that multiplication, too.

The big catch here is probably determining which TC you want to use. The 1.4x will give better image quality and eat only one stop of light but does not "reach" as far as the 2x. However, if you have the new "III" version of Nikon's 2x TC, this might be a good option even though you lose two stops of light.

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Joseph K
Seattle, WA, USA

D700, D200, D70S, 24-70mm f/2.8, VR 70-200mm f/2.8 II,
50mm f/1.4 D, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

Joseph, The problem with the 120mm to 300mm is its a Simga lens and you must use Sigma teleconverters, Nikon won't work.

I will be shooting in morning daylight about 8- 9am.

Do you think that both teleconverters would be to much?

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What JosephK said x 2.

300 f2.8 + 2.0 TC = 600mm f5.6 effective.

used on a DX crop sensor camera this gives equivalent field of view of a 1.5 x 600mm = 900mm lens

Some loss in sharpness to be expected when using TC.

D3200 would put 24 Mp into this DX image. The D800 will only pack 16 Mp into the same crop and D3s even less than this.

Limitation is more likely to be the sharpness of the lens plus TC combination.

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In the circumstances you describe, for me the much more effective AF system of the D800 (compared with that of the D3200) would win out over any perceived difference in "reach" between the twon cameras.

I've never had much success with stacked TC's

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
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So if I understand correctly use the 120-300mm on the D800 in DX mode?

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Use DX Crop Mode if you want smaller files or want to avoid cropping in post-processing. Otherwise, shooting in FX and cropping (if required) afterwards brings greater flexibility.

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
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Briantilley

Thank you for taking the time with me and letting me ask these questions.

Cool I think I understand it better. The D800 using the 2x tele will give me 600mm. Then in post processing I can crop in on the bird or birds.

Thnaks

Tom

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Briantilley

I forgot to ask will the Nikon 2x version II work with the Nikon 28-300?

Or can it be made to work.

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The 120-300mm you referred to is presumably the f2.8 Sigma?

A 1.4 TC will lose 1 stop, giving a 420mm f4 combo
A 2.0 TC will lose 2 stops, giving a 600mm f5.6 combo
Stacking these TCs will lose 3 stops (8 times less light entering the camera) giving a 840mm F8 combo in theory. In practice it is probably worse because forcing the light to pass through all that extra glass will cause some extra attenuation. Stacking 2 TCs is likely to cause so much image degradation that I would not hold out much hope of getting a sharp image. At very long focal lengths, vibration becomes a bigger issue too. Reckon you would be better off using the high MP count of D800 and cropping.

Now the 28-300mm. this lens is f5.6 wide open at the long end.
Adding 1.4 TC will lose 1 stop = 420mm f8. the D800 and D3s will still AF but not with all sensors so tracking ability is probably lost if shooting BIF.
Adding 2.0 TC will lose 2 stops = 600mm f11. Auto focus capability is lost and manual focus compromised by dim viewfinder image.
Stacking the TCs = f16 = no AF and viewfinder image so dark that manual focus virtually impossible.

The 28-300 lens is not as sharp as the 120-300 at 300mm. Not even nearly in the same league, so the image quality losses with added TC or TCs will be worse. Added to focussing difficulties and lower shutter speeds/higher ISO forced by the small aperture, I would not rate my chances of getting even a single keeper with this combo. Try it at home before embarking on your trip

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No, the Nikon TC's are engineered to mount only on certain longer "pro" Nikkor lenses. The 28-300mm isn't one of them.

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
Check out the Nikonians Team pages

Hi Tom,

>I forgot to ask will the Nikon 2x version II work with the
>Nikon 28-300?

No! The Nikon TC's will not even mount on the 28-300mm.

>Or can it be made to work.

Personally I wouldn't bother.
The Kenko Pro 300 series TC's will mount though you will likely not be happy with the AF or the optical performance. There might be an interference problem with the rear element of the lens and the front element of the TC that I would check before even considering mounting a TC to that lens.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

Thanks Marty

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I've had great luck with the old 1.5x Kenko converters.
My version was the first to be discontinued and are now worth double what they were new.

The Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 works pretty good with converters.

Although my Nikkor 28-300 is very good at 300mm, I doubt if an f/5.6 lens will focus well with any except the Kenko 1.4x version and only on a D800 or D4.

I would suggest the Sigma 150-500 if my copy wasn't so bad that I had to return it.
The newest 50-500 is supposed to be better. They are both FX

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The best would be D3200 (technically speaking) with 120-300mm and 1.4x
Sigma 2x on 120-300mm is really bad unless you are at F11 and even then not so good.
For this kind of situation I have Sigma 50-500mm OS stopped to F8 (one stop) and it is excellent.
Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 OS is the best lens out there and it works well with 1.4x Sigma TC but that is all you can do.

Do you realize there is no difference between choices 1 & 2?

Tom
D800E, D3, D200, D70, F6, F3/T, F2AS, FM2N


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