New Tiffen 2X tele-converter.....

I recently bought a G2 and am still learning the ins and outs, so far so good. I ordered a Tiffen 2X tele and it just came today. I have played around a bit with it and it seems pretty good, but I will note however that there is some very slight vignetting in the corners. I don't think that it will be a major problem for me, but for those of you who don't like any faults in your equipment, well, take note. Also, it should be noted that this converter can only be used in full telephoto mode, any zooming will cause vignetting. However, this is the case with all converters, Canon even says on their web-site that their converter (only 1.5X) must also be used only at full tele.

One other problem that I have noticed is that the lens, due to its 67mm "business end", will cause some blockage of the AF assist beam. Is this just a problem for low-light shots, or is this a BIG problem ? I would estimate that 30% of the beam is blocked. It still seems to focus fine when used outdoors, so it doesn't seem to be an issue.

I'm getting ready to sell my Tiffen Megaplus 2X because I can't stand the vignetting, having to clean it up in PS or crop it out. I have a B-300 on order, and I understand you can back off of full tele some with it without vignetting.

Laura

I just examined a picture and determined how much I needed to crop to eliminate the vignetting. It turns out that I needed to eliminate 18% of the pixels to totally eliminate the vignetting. Of course, after doing that, you still retain the full 6X Tele on your subject. When compared to the 5.25X achieved with the Oly, i think I will stick with my Tiffen for a while and see how I like it.

One nice side note, the 43mm Tiffen adapter is just the right size to accomodate the Canon lens cap. It looks a bit funky (black adapter), but it works.

Laura Davis said:

I'm getting ready to sell my Tiffen Megaplus 2X because I can't
stand the vignetting, having to clean it up in PS or crop it out.
I have a B-300 on order, and I understand you can back off of full
tele some with it without vignetting.

Laura

Click to expand...

It would be interesting to compare the result you get with a Tiffen 2X shot cropped to eliminate vignetting and the 1.7X B-300 - I think the coverage would be close. If coverage is equalized, then you'd have to compare based on sharpness, contrast, brightness, handling, and cost - pros & cons which are split between the 2.

Markep said:

One nice side note, the 43mm Tiffen adapter is just the right size
to accomodate the Canon lens cap. It looks a bit funky (black
adapter), but it works.

Laura Davis said:

I'm getting ready to sell my Tiffen Megaplus 2X because I can't
stand the vignetting, having to clean it up in PS or crop it out.
I have a B-300 on order, and I understand you can back off of full
tele some with it without vignetting.

Laura

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I am also interested in this test.
Pls!
--S30 :: my choice

I wish that I had a B-300 to run a test, but I am a little confused on what you mean by equalizing the coverage, tell me if I am on the right track here....

Due to the 5.1X max on the OLY versus the 6X on the Tiffen, you will simply get a more "close-up" photo from using the Tiffen, at the same pixel resolution. If you crop out the 18% pixels on the edge to eliminate Vignetting, I suppose the best comparison would be to crop the OLY image to match the new Tiffen image. When you do that, I believe that you will lose (6.0/5.1)^2 of your resolution with the OLY, or 38%, correct ?

Seems like the OLY would have to be a lot better on the other factors to compete with that pixel reduction.

WH Yi said:

Markep said:

One nice side note, the 43mm Tiffen adapter is just the right size
to accomodate the Canon lens cap. It looks a bit funky (black
adapter), but it works.

Laura Davis said:

I'm getting ready to sell my Tiffen Megaplus 2X because I can't
stand the vignetting, having to clean it up in PS or crop it out.
I have a B-300 on order, and I understand you can back off of full
tele some with it without vignetting.

Laura

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

My B-300 is supposed to arrive in mid-March. If no one else posts comparison pics between it and the Tiffen by then, I'll do it before selling the Tiffen!

Laura