Lens Review BlogNikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II
December 10, 2009
A fast telephoto lens offering built-in Vibration Reduction (VR II), and the world’s first telephoto converter to utilize an aspherical lens element, extending focal length by 2×, both compatible with the FX format
TOKYO —... + Full Story
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Sigma 17-70mm F2.8- 4 DC MACRO OS HSM
The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the new Sigma 17-70mm
F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM. This large aperture standard zoom lens offers
an aperture of F2.8 at the 17mm focal length and is ideal for many
situations such as portraits, sports, macro and general... + Full Story
Product Description KENKO Teleplus Pro 300 converters are made with high quality multicoated optical glass supplied by Hoya corporation, the worlds largest manufacturer of optical glass. This glass will match the optical quality of the prime lens (even at the edges, unlike many teleconverters on the market today). The optical design of the elements and light path is wide enough not to cause any Vignetting.They are designed specifically to be use with telephoto lenses of 100mm or above, and work best with telephoto lenses of 200mm to 500mm. The PRO 300's can be used with telephoto Zoom lenses as well as prime lenses, but, due to their design, Kenko does not recommend them for lenses that have a zoom range that starts under 50 mm.Kenko PRO 300 converters are intended to be used with expensive telephoto lenses and larger camera bodies. They have all metal lens mounts in both front and rear, as well as a metal core, to support today's heavy professional camera bodies.Kenko PRO 300 AF teleconverter will not auto focus with the following lenses: Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro, Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, Canon EF 300mm f/4 IS USM. NOT compatible with the new Canon EF-S lenses, 18-55 f/3.5-5.6, 17-85 f/4-5.6, 60 f/2.8 macro DG Series New DG Series have upgraded "Gated-Array" circuitry to work better with the digital SLR's and some of the the new digital only lenses. They still work the same with film SLR Cameras and lenses as well
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
An Excellent Professional Teleconverter , Saturday, 07 March 2009
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
This Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG AF 1.4x Teleconverter works well with my Canon EOS 40D with the following lenses: Canon EF 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 IS USM, EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS USM, Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM, and Tamron 28-75mm f2.8. It is well-built and it is on par with Canon 1.4 extender in performance. Given with enough light source, you can get better and sharper images for Canon EF 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 and 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 (at f/11-f/16) and EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS USM and Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 (at f5.6-f/8). I have not tried this TC with lenses above 300mm Focal length.
On the other, the problem that I have using this Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG AF 1.4x Teleconverter is that the camera cannot register automatically in the EXIF data the correct focal length and aperture setting of the aforementioned lenses. However, it is understood that using such TC 1.4x like this a one f/stop loss and 1.4x increase in focal length of the lens being used are expected. But on the other after manually adjusting the aperture setting which is required to get sharper images, the camera can identify now and register the adjusted aperture setting as reflected in the later EXIF data. This is only a minor problem which has nothing to do with image quality of our taken pictures and which can be ignored.
As of the moment, I am happy with this Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG AF 1.4x Teleconverter which is giving me an added range for my lenses without suffering the loss of image quality of my pictures.
I highly recommend this TC for your added range.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
An Excellent Professional Teleconverter , Saturday, 07 March 2009
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
5.0
This Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG AF 1.4x Teleconverter works well with my Canon EOS 40D with Auto Focus/Manual Focus of the following lenses: Canon EF 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 IS USM, EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS USM, Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM, and Tamron 28-75mm f2.8. It is well-built and it is on par with Canon 1.4 extender in performance. Given with enough light source, you can get better and sharper images for Canon EF 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 and 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 (at f/11-f/16) and EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS USM and Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 (at f5.6-f/8). I have not tried this TC with lenses above 300mm focal length.
On the other, the problem that I have using this Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG AF 1.4x Teleconverter is that the camera cannot register automatically in the EXIF data the correct focal length and aperture setting of the aforementioned lenses. However, it is understood that using such TC 1.4x like this a one f/stop loss and 1.4x increase in focal length of the lens being used are expected. But on the other after manually adjusting the aperture setting which is required to get sharper images, the camera can identify now and register the adjusted aperture setting as reflected in the later EXIF data. This is only a minor problem which has nothing to do with image quality of our taken pictures and which can be ignored.
As of the moment, I am happy with this Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 DG AF 1.4x Teleconverter which is giving me an added range for my lenses without suffering the loss of image quality of my pictures.
I highly recommend this TC for your added range.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Pretty good product, Saturday, 28 June 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
3.3
Sharpness
3.0
Build Quality
3.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
3.0
I am more into wildlife and sports photography, and have been using the 100-400 for quite sometime now, mainly coz of its versatility. But there were many a times, when i wanted that extra reach. For this, I got Kenko q.4x pro 300 DG. Obviously, the main factor being the price, but also the reviews i read about it.
Considering that the light is good, say you can shoot at a min of 1/500 shutter speed, at f/15, this TC gives great images. The autofocus is a little slow, but then, thats how it was supposed to be. The extra range doesnt really get noticed unless you are shooting something further than - say 400-500mts.
There is one problem though. (well yes, it was to come :P ) My EXIF data doesnt show correctly, when used with the TC. at times, it adds the TC and many a times, it just doesnt show the correct focal length and aperture setting. It sort of, just gets ignored.
Nevertheless, for the price i paid for it, its pretty good. Doesnt take too much space in the bag. Plus the reviews had already warned me about the extra light it eats up.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Kenko has surprised me with quality, Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I have been pleasantly surprised by the image quality of this Kenko extender. Many years ago when I tried extenders they were horrible. I read many reviewers being happy with this extender and I thought I'd try this one as I wanted to be able to use it on lenses that the Canon extender would not work on. With my Canon 300mm F4 it also helps with close focus- almost macro work! I would recommend it without hesitation as long as you can live with the one stop loss.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Nice addition, Saturday, 24 November 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
3.8
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
3.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
I've used this with my 70-200 2.8. Outside, it performs excellently. When I tried it inside, I had significant Banding. Overall, it's a keeper.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Very high quality., Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I own both Canon extenders, and bought the Kenko 1.4 extender to see how it would work on lenses that the Canon extenders do not fit. The primary lens was the EF 70-300 DO IS lens. The Canon extenders just don't fit it.
The Kenko fit just fine, and performed very well. It is a very high quality optic, and I have no issues with it at all. Mounted on the 70-300 DO IS lens, it transformed it into a 98-420 mm lens with a max aperture of f/8 at the long end. Mounted on both of my 30D bodies, AF was fully functional at every focal length. That was a bonus that I expected to have to live without, as AF can be spotty at best at f/8.
It works fine, and the captured images are very fine. I like this TC. I also tested it against my Canon 1.4 extender on my EF 70-200 f/2.8 IS L lens, and found little to choose from between the two. They can also be stacked on the 70-200 f/2.8 lens (not all lenses, as the stack will only work if the Canon extender fits to the lens, and the Kenko fits to the body), and the image quality is as good as the Canon 2x extender by itself. You can see many possibilities here....
The Kenko is very well built, but it isn't really cheap. It is on par with the Canon in performance, and fits more Canon lenses than the Canon extender, but only the Canon extenders are weather resistant. They incorporate an O ring that seals to 1D series bodies, and to weatherproof L lenses. If that isn't an issue for you, the Kenko is a great product.
I'll buy another similar Kenlo product without hesitation. By the way, the Kenko and the Tamron extenders are identical except for branding. As best as I can tell, they are both built by Hoya/Kenko, so I went with the Kenko brand. I have handled both though, and they are the same product.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
This is an exceptional teleconverter for Canon EOS, Monday, 12 February 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
This is an exceptional tele-converter for Canon EOS lenses. There are a number of tele-converters out there for current Canon SLR's and lenses (Sigma, Tamron and of-course Canon just to name a few). The Canon converters are only compatible with Çanon L series lenses and will only auto focus with apertures of F4 and larger (for 1.4X) and F2.8 and larger (for 2x). The Kenko PRO 300 has the same aperture limitations (unless some of the pins are taped) however it will work with most Canon lenses. This is definitely a quality PRO product. When used with a high quality lens (I use it pretty much exclusively with my EF70-200f4L) the IQ (image quality) is almost indistinguishable from the lens. In addition focus speed seems just as fast as the lens with out the tele-converter (assuming your lens has an F4 aperture or larger). The general consensus seems to be that the Canon converter is slightly sharper on the edges with the Kenko being equal at the center. For those shooting with a 1.6 crop camera the Kenko should be indistinguishable from the Canon for about a $100.00 less. On the plus side (other then price) the Kenko is more compact and can easily fit in you pocket and can be used with far more lenses (again, the Canon converts can only be used with L series lenses). On the down side, if your using L series lenses, is the color. The Kenko is black while most L series lenses are white (as are the Canon tele-converters). What you get with the Kenko PRO 300 is an excellent tele-converter designed for digital cameras. The elements are special coated to reduce reflections from the image sensor back into the lens. I've yet to notice any Chromatic aberration or vignetting. The color and sharpness are as good as the lens you're using.
In summery, this an excellent product. Image quality (especially on a 1.6 crop camera) is about as good as it gets. It's electronic circuitry accurately passes all exif data to the camera. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because the mount between the lens and converter seems to be a little stiff though it has yet to give me problems. On the other hand the mount from the converter to the camera seems to be quite smooth.
