Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Top positive review

Use will reduce f stop to f11.

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024

Capturing shots of the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse on 8 April. Worked great, sharp images with a Nikon 200-500mm Telephoto lens giving effectively 1000mm.

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

kaminski

Greatly Disappointed

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2012

Wanted to get a bit more reach with my D7000 + a 70-200 f2.8 to shoot birds in my backyard, so I purchased this and was greatly disappointed. I did several tests comparing the images with and w/o teleconverter at the same subject zoom, and i always got better results by just cropping the 70-200 image to the zoom I wanted. I returned the teleconverter and hats off to Amazon for such great service! I turned around and bought the Nikon 55-300 f4.5-5.6 and wow, I got a bit more reach and a very sharp image. The 55-300 is not a bright lens nor fast at focusing, but it is sharp and for the money a very good way to get to 300mm. I own five quality Nikon lenses and three Nikon bodies and have not been disappointed until now.

41 people found this helpful

377 total ratings, 211 with reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

Neil A. Clark

Use will reduce f stop to f11.

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Capturing shots of the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse on 8 April. Worked great, sharp images with a Nikon 200-500mm Telephoto lens giving effectively 1000mm.

Helpful

kendalltristan

Excellent for what it is.

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

First off, you will lose some sharpness and contrast with this teleconverter. Second off, you will lose some sharpness and contrast with every teleconverter so you should be aware of this before buying one. Third off, you will not lose as much sharpness and contrast with this teleconverter as you will with previous iterations or with generic third party converters. If you need a 2x teleconverter for compatible Nikon lenses, this is the way to go.

I mostly use this with a 70-200mm f/4 as I don't particularly need a faster 400mm nor do I feel like paying for one (let's not even mention how heavy a 400mm prime can be). In this particular case, it's superb and requires just a touch of sharpening and contrast adjustment in Photoshop or Lightroom. Focusing isn't super fast on a D600, but it's adequate. If I was going for better performance here then I would have bought a more substantial 400mm. I've also used it with a 300mm f/2.8 and I can get away without additional sharpening in post, but just because I can get away with it doesn't mean that I will. Focus speed is also pretty excellent with the 300mm (effectively a 600mm f/5.6). Overall, I'm pleased. It does precisely what I want it to, nothing more and nothing less.

28 people found this helpful

Helpful

kaminski

Greatly Disappointed

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2012

Verified Purchase

41 people found this helpful

Helpful

JMoomaw

Provides full lens function but with poor sharpness and contrast on 400mm F2.8 lens

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2015

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I really wanted this to work, and based on some of the positive reviews I was hopeful. However I found it was worse than nothing on the long lens I wanted to use it with. I'm giving it two stars vs. one because it allowed the camera and lens to work properly. The professional lens is on Nikon's approved list for this teleconverter.

I shot several hundred images in the field with a Nikon 400mm F2.8 VR lens and this 2x tele on a tripod with a Wimberley Gimbal head, shooting with a D600 at shutter speed of 1600, F8. Focus distance was 200 feet and beyond. By itself this is a very sharp lens, but none of these images were sharp, all were soft focus. Too soft for me. Lack of animal eye highlights was really an issue. After this I did a simple test comparing an enlarged 400mm image with an 800mm image made with the tele, and found the native 400mm image was far sharper and had better contrast. Example images attached. I finished my field shoot using just the lens, and got results I could live with. In all cases I was better off without the tele than with it, so I've returned it.

I don't think the description is quite right... I didn't get any cleaning set in the Nikon box.

49 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Mechalas

Impressive performance for a teleconverter

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2010

Verified Purchase

I have paired this with the 70-200mm VR II on a D700 and am so far very impressed with the performance. There is some loss of sharpness, but it retains detail far more than I was expecting, and it is much, much, much better than the TC-20E II. Given that the III is also smaller and lighter makes it well worth the extra money in my book. AF with this combination is still fast and sure, about on par with the 70-300mm VR if not a bit snappier and with less hunting, and is fast enough for sports in daylight. I was also surprised by how well the bokeh holds up; there are some weird effects due the TC, but the bokeh (at least on the 70-200mm VR II) still maintains a creamy quality and the artifacts are not as distracting as they are with the previous generation TC's.

It is the only 2x teleconverter I would consider using on the 70-200 (the TC-20E II made everything too mushy). On an FX body, this combination is a very viable alternative to 200-400mm VR if the latter is just too expensive for your budget, too heavy to be practical, or both, particularly if conditions allow you to shoot at f/8 through f/16.

151 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dom

So Far Better Than Expected!

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2014

*: BlackVerified Purchase

First let me say that I'm a novice at photography. About the only thing I don't photograph is people. Lately I have enjoyed photographing birds and that is why I purchased the Nikon TC-20E III 2x Teleconverter. Previously I had been using my Nikon D7000 and Nikon 300mm f/4.0 lens coupled with the Nikon TC-14E II teleconverter which was giving me good results but wanted a little more reach if possible. This converter so far has passed my expectations. I am aware that Nikon claims that the TC-20E III 2x teleconverter will not auto focus with the 300mm f/4.0 lens or the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens for that matter, but in the couple of days I've had it, it has been autofocusing really well. Right after the sun set this evening I attempted to photograph a red finch about 50 yards away and had to manual focus, but had been shooting that distance all day with auto focus and while viewing only with maximum zoom on my LCD screen the results have been looking well.

This week I will catalog and review my photos in Lightroom. Also I plan on taking the trip into the forest or one of the lakes to see if I can capture a bald eagle.

If I experience problems in the future I will update this review. But at the present the TC-20E III 2x Teleconverter will remain attached to my 300mm f/4.0 lens as did the TC-14E II previously. On another note it works quit well with my Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens, but since I have the Nikon TC-14E II teleconverter it will probably remain a part of my micro lens.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Carla

Great for daytime shots

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I was looking for something to add extra zoom to my sports photos, specifically outfield baseball and football. Works great with my Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 lens. It does knock down a couple f-stops so depending on the lighting at evening or indoor sports it does impact clarity of photos a little but still produces great shots.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Steve and Amy

Why would they limit this?

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2019

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I've had a Kenko 1.4 teleconverter for years that works with every Nikon body and lens that I own including the 28-300 that I got with my D810. I figured it was time to increase the power and thought it was worth spending the extra money for Nikon equipment. Nikon has always boasted compatibility, that's why you stick with a brand. When I bought this there was a dropdown to select your camera which I thought was odd as it is a Nikon, I just figured maybe it was auto focus or something which doesn't bother me. But when I got this teleconverter something was wrong, the lens wasn't going to fit. So I spent some time searching online and found Nikon doesn't care so much about compatibility and even had an excuse that you wouldn't want to increase the power of your zoom. What? It was obviously an excuse, who wouldn't want to convert their 300 to 600 or even 900 in DX mode even it's not perfect. What a huge disappointment. Really decreases my desire to upgrade to the new mirrorless cameras...

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. Swager

Does the intended job well

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2012

Verified Purchase

Bottom Line: If you need to resort to using a TC due to cost, space or other limitation then this is the best 2X TC out there for the Nikon Mount. With proper technique on a high quality lens it will give excellent results. However...

1. TCs in general are specifically designed for longer focal length lenses; at least 100mm and usually 200mm and longer. They are not intended to be used on your 28-70mm!

2. This TC in particular is designed and will work on only a limited set of AF-S and AF-I longer focal length(Read that big and expensive) Nikkor lenses. Even then, it will not permit AF on a lot of them. Googlle Nikon's TC Compatiblity Chart.

3. There will be 2 F-Stops of light loss. This is a result of physics and is unavoidable. For autofocus and unless you have good eyes and aclimate to low light levels for manual focus, you need to use this product on a lens with at least a maximum f stop of f/2.8 because it turns this fast lens into a slow f/5.6 lens. What is the minimum f stop recommened for AF: f/5.6! So on an f/4 lense, AF is a no go!

4. With high magnification, technique becomes extremely important. Adding 2x magnification to a long, heavy, high magnification lens means mounting on a solid tripod or other platform and a remote or timed release of the shutter. It means reducing wind and sources of vibration.

5. A 2x TC paired with a XXXmm lens will never equal a similar quality 2XXXmm lens in sharpness. Even with high quality lenses, you will be cutting the into the resolving power of the lens. A lens is designed to resolve an image circle of a particular size. By adding the TC, you are taking a much smaller image circle and spreading it over the same area. This is almost the exact opposite of putting an FX lens on a DX sensor camera and cutting the best part of the image out.

73 people found this helpful

Helpful

JJS

Better than expected but not perfect

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2014

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Purchased this teleconverter to pair with my Nikon D4S and 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II lens. The extended range is great running up to 400mm and that's definitely a plus versus carrying (or purchasing a true) 400mm lens. Many people say that the images are a bit soft and I would agree with that. They definitely are a bit soft. If you pixel peep, you'll definitely see the softness. If not, the pictures can still look really good out of the camera. With a little sharpening help in Lightroom, they get better. I used it to shoot a daytime baseball with full sunlight. Running in manual mode with shutter speeds between 2000 and 3200, I shot at f/5.6 (the widest with the teleconverter) and set the ISO max to 400. Most of the photos were coming in at ISO 320 and 400.

Overall I was happy with the output. Focusing had some hunting issues here and there but for some fast paced action, but held up well. I'm still undecided on whether I'll keep this. I don't shoot sports all that much and with the f/5.6 level, indoor sports are going to be an issue. I'm not sure I see too many other uses for the teleconverter to justify keeping it for the price. I'm glad I at least tried it though. If the pictures would have been sharper, it would definitely be a keeper. They're sharp...just not tack sharp.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Need customer service?

‹ See all details for Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus...

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Nikon Auto Focus-S FX TC-20E III Teleconverter Lens with Auto Focus...

›

Customer reviews