SEL 55-210 + Olympus TCON-17 - any luck?

[Habs Fan27]

I'm thinking of getting one of these as a low cost alternative to the Sony 1.7 Tele-extender. I know there are a few posts with these but most tele-extender posts are with the Sony DH1758. Has anyone tried a TCON-17 or B-300 recently? Let me know your thoughts and what version you have. Thanks

 

[codex22]

Habs Fan27 wrote:

I'm thinking of getting one of these as a low cost alternative to the Sony 1.7 Tele-extender. I know there are a few posts with these but most tele-extender posts are with the Sony DH1758. Has anyone tried a TCON-17 or B-300 recently? Let me know your thoughts and what version you have. Thanks

I couldn't get the DH1758, so I bought a TCON-17X instead. I'm quite happy with that combo!

Can't really see much of a degradation of quality, but I'm not a pro.

Minor downsides are:

- adds quite some bulk

- SEL55210 can't hold the extra weight, so it gets extended and I always have to hold it at the lens (guess there are some tricks to avoid that)

- vignetting at local focal lengths

Overall I can really recommend that combo!

 

[codex22]

Oops, I meant lower focal lengths. Don't remember exactly, but I think you're fine from 80-90 mm on.

 

[BartjeVanIlse]

codex22 wrote:

I couldn't get the DH1758, so I bought a TCON-17X instead. I'm quite happy with that combo!

Can't really see much of a degradation of quality, but I'm not a pro.

Minor downsides are:

- adds quite some bulk

- SEL55210 can't hold the extra weight, so it gets extended and I always have to hold it at the lens (guess there are some tricks to avoid that)

- vignetting at LOWER ( ) focal lengths

Overall I can really recommend that combo!

I also have this combo. And I agree with everything you said. And it was new a lot cheaper than a second hand DH1758 (if you could find one).

 

[Habs Fan27]

When you say it can't hold the bulk, I take it you mean the zoom creeps due to gravity? You don't actually have to physically hold it while shooting by the filter thread area.

 

[zackiedawg]

It's not a bad idea with any teleextender attached to support the lens or teleextender from underneath while shooting. I actually shoot my DH1758 two handed rather than one, and my left hand is always cradled on the 55-210mm lens barrel itself, right at the end of the lens ring. The plastic barrel that extends out when zoomed has the teleextender screwed to the end of it, so that can be a fair amount of weight hanging off the end - the DH1758 is fairly light, but the TCon is a little heavier. I don't think you necessarily have to hold the TCon itself or hold it right at the screw threads...but keeping your hand on the 55-210mm barrel with a finger or two holding the extended plastic barrel would keep excessive weight off the extending barrel mechanism and could just ensure that the weight doesn't throw something off balance or cause wear on the zoom mechanism or gears inside that extend the lens barrel.

 

[codex22]

Habs Fan27 wrote:

When you say it can't hold the bulk, I take it you mean the zoom creeps due to gravity? You don't actually have to physically hold it while shooting by the filter thread area.

Yeah, I meant it gets creepy . The mount can hold the combo easily.

Still I'm usually having a hand on the lens while shooting, I feel like I'm holding it more steady that way (even with the SEL55210 alone). But that's just me.

 

[Habs Fan27]

Thanks guys. Good point on holding the portion of the lens that extends.

 

[Dave Lively]

I had good luck with TCON-17 and agree with the comments made by the other posters. There seems to be a lot of variability in how well the 55-210 works wide open at 210mm. Try stopping down to f8 if your pictures look soft at 210mm.

I have been playing with a Canon FD 300mm L and have not been using my TCON-17 much recently. So I do not have examples to show you but in general the TC seems to work about as well as the Sony 1758. I think the Sony is in such high demand because zackiedawg happened to have one on hand when decided to try a TC on his 55-210. If he had tried the Olympus first it might be hard to find with people asking if the VCL-1758 is any good. It would be interesting to see a comparison of both TCs on the same 55-210.

When I got a TC for my Canon lens I took some boring test pictures of debris in my back yard comparing the Canon to the 55-210/TCON-17 combination. They should give you some idea of what to expect with the Olympus TC. You will get a lot more detail on small objects with the TCON-17 with all the benefits of autofocus and image stabilization.

 

[Cullings]

codex22 wrote:

I couldn't get the DH1758, so I bought a TCON-17X instead. I'm quite happy with that combo!

Can't really see much of a degradation of quality, but I'm not a pro.

Minor downsides are:

- adds quite some bulk

- SEL55210 can't hold the extra weight, so it gets extended and I always have to hold it at the lens (guess there are some tricks to avoid that)

- vignetting at local focal lengths

Overall I can really recommend that combo!

Two questions: Does the TCON-17x have 49mm threads or need adapter?

-and- does it only work with SEL55210 fully zoomed out?

re: "have to use max zoom on your XZ-1" in www.pocket-lint.com

"First up, the Olympus website details that the TCON-17X connects using a bayonet fitting. It doesn't, it's a screw thread and to attach it to your XZ-1 you'll also need the Converter Adapter CLA-12, as a teleside converter. . .

The TCON-17X contains two glass elements, but is a straight converter and contains no moving parts. In fact, once you have the adapter in place, you are restricted to that one focal length, the new 190mm. It gives you 1.7x magnification over the 112mm (all in 35mm terms) maximum that the standard lens provides. Once the converter is in place, you'll have to use max zoom on your XZ-1 to avoid seeing the inside of the assembly."

Loading…

www.pocket-lint.com

 

[zackiedawg]

Cullings wrote:

Two questions: Does the TCON-17x have 49mm threads or need adapter?

I believe the Tcon, like the DH1758, has 55mm threading, while the Dh1758 has 58mm threading...both are attached using a 49mm step up ring to the extender's native thread size.

-and- does it only work with SEL55210 fully zoomed out?

Most of the add-on extenders will become useful about 1/3 the way, or less, into the 55-210mm's range...about 75-85mm or so you should see the vignetting disappear and can use it all the way to 210mm. You can actually USE the extender the entire 55-210mm range, but from 55mm to about 85mm or so you'll see vignetting and distortion in the corners.

 

[Dave Lively]

Cullings wrote:

Two questions: Does the TCON-17x have 49mm threads or need adapter?

The TCON-17 and TCON-17X are not the same adapter. I got the TCON-17 which just needs a filter adapter. The TCON-17X seemed to be a lot more common but I never did find out if it had threads or some sort of special bayonet mount. There was also a TCON-17C which as I recall was too narrow to fully cover the front element of the 55-210. Buyer beware.

There are also a couple of different Sony TCs with one being designed to a larger lens and being much larger and heavier.

 

[codex22]

49mm -> 55mm

 

[Finntiger]

Almost full moon photo using said combo on NEX-7. 100% crop. Notice the CA - orange to the lower left, blue to the upper right? Anyone care to speculate if it's due to the combination?

Taken on a tripod with 2 sec shutter timer. By no means a stellar (or even lunar) picture, but shows what I was able to do with the combo. 210mm x 1,7 x 1,5 (crop factor) = 535 mm, which is nowhere near enough to fill a significant portion of the whole APS-C frame with the moon.

 

[Habs Fan27]

You could probably correct it in lightroom or a similar program.

I ended up getting a b-300 yesterday and did notice a drop in contrast and some haze compared to the the 55-210 without it. I took a few more images today and will have a look on the computer tonight.

 

[BartjeVanIlse]

I opened a topic about moonphotography a few months ago. Learned a lot.

Same combo, faster shuttertime:

 

[Finntiger]

BartjeVanIlse wrote:

I opened a topic about moonphotography a few months ago. Learned a lot.

Same combo, faster shuttertime:

Mmm, much better than mine, congrats, nice shot. But surely you mean slower shutter?

Yours is 1/50, mine was 1/320. Also apertures were different.

Care to share the link to the moon photography discussion? I'd really like to read that.

 

[BartjeVanIlse]

Finntiger wrote:

BartjeVanIlse wrote:

I opened a topic about moonphotography a few months ago. Learned a lot.

Same combo, faster shuttertime:

Mmm, much better than mine, congrats, nice shot. But surely you mean slower shutter?

Yours is 1/50, mine was 1/320. Also apertures were different.

Care to share the link to the moon photography discussion? I'd really like to read that.

Well for some reason I read in the exif data it was a 2s shutter speed. Don't know where I got that... Strange.

Anyway, here is the link: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3549431

 

[Habs Fan27]

I've played the the B-300 a little bit the past couple of days and here are some observations.

MFD seems to be longer now which I guess would make sense. I'd say close to 2 meters which is not really an issue unless you are shooting test patterns. I also loose probably about 1/3rd a stop of light. AF is a little more sluggish. All these things are to be expected i guess.

As far as image quality, there is a very minor bump in sharpness and this is only visible past 1:1 view. I had OSS enabled so I was wondering for all you Teleconverter users, do you switch off OSS when you have a TCON mounted? I would guess the lens is under correcting since the actual focal length would be longer. But is some correction better or is it better to leave it off totally and bump up my shutter speed to over 1/500.

So far I don't think the TCON is worth the extra hassle but it could just be that the b-300 is a bit older and not as good as newer TCONs.

 

[Cullings]

elieve the Tcon, like the DH1758, has 55mm threading, while the Dh1758 has 58mm threading...both are attached using a 49mm step up ring to the extender's native thread size.
Most of the add-on extenders will become useful about 1/3 the way, or less, into the 55-210mm's range...about 75-85mm or so you should see the vignetting disappear and can use it all the way to 210mm. You can actually USE the extender the entire 55-210mm range, but from 55mm to about 85mm or so you'll see vignetting and distortion in the corners.

Your comments are "right on". I just received my TCON-17X. I used a Tiffen 4955SUR step up adapter. The vignetting disappears at about 86mm (Sony EXIF info). Therefore, with the TCON-17X I have a usable zoom range of 146 to 357 mm. (219 to 535 mm applying the 1.5 crop factor).

The 1.7x teleconverter works great. Thanks to codex22 for the initial info and great photos. - John S.