Stacked Converters

[Alfred Forns]

From this morning at Loxahattchee we had some luck with the snail kites perched but not flying. Posting this to show a sample of stacking converters, at times a good option. Made wide open to show possible quality, stopping one would be recommended.

Comments welcome and much appreciated

Canon 1DMk3
500 f 4.0 IS 1.4X 2.0X
f 11.0 1/1000 sec
Av 1+
ISO 800

[Doug Brown]

I'd call that acceptable sharpness Al ! :) Great open-beak pose; love the cute little tongue.

[Leo Berzins]

Pretty impressive. (But you missed a dust spot above the base of the bill).

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Thanks Al!

[Octavio Campos Salles]

That's good sharpness indeed, considering the situation!

[Steve Maxson]

OK, Alfred, I'd say this is acceptably sharp. :) The open beak and protruding tongue are big pluses. Also good head angle, exposure, comp, and background. Well done.

[Jay Gould]

Al, I don't want to do the math; you are in the stratosphere in focal length! :eek:

I just want to capture the image a well as you did. :cool:

Yeah, I know, practice practice and more practice. ;)

Love, it! :D

Keep 'em coming.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Good to show the possibilities Al. thanks for doing that. It is more than acceptable quality as far as I am concerned. great pose!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Amazing detail for stacked converters. I might crop some off the top , but just my taste. Still a sweet image.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Wow, I didn't know you could do that.
Thank you for sharing. Great looking bird!

[Mark Fuge]

Nice shot Al, I did that a few years ago with my 300 f/2.8 and got excellant results. Don't use it too often, but it was fun and it does work. Loose autofocus and light, but if it is right it is fun.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I can just imagine the focal lenght when this stacked combo is attached to a 800mm!! Good example to show the possibilities :-)

[Brian Barcelos]

This is unbelievable Al. Super portrait by the way, Love the tongue and very nice catch light

[Chris Kotze]

Excellent close up and detail. Sharp and well exposed

[Stu Bowie]

Super portrait, and the open beak, and the hint of the tongue takes this over the top. Well captured Al.

[Ryan Lambert]

The detail is really good for stacked converters, I have never been able to get images this sharp when trying to stack...

[Kiran Poonacha]

Superb portrait this Alfred, great focus.. loved the details, great HA and the open bill add very well to this, Congrats

[Krijn Trimbos]

Show off!! ;) Great sharpness for wideopen and a nice portrait! Would probably crop this a bit tighter around the bird. Thanks for showing!

[Mark Fuge]

One question for clarification Al, When I did it, the extenders required an extension tube to separate them. Is that still required with the extenders that you used? I know they were redesigned, but don't know if you can stack them directly now. Just wanted to clarify for others who may or may not have the same extenders.

[David Fletcher]

:) Pretty cool Al. Pretty awesome long lens technique. Thanks for sharing.

[Alfred Forns]

One question for clarification Al, When I did it, the extenders required an extension tube to separate them. Is that still required with the extenders that you used? I know they were redesigned, but don't know if you can stack them directly now. Just wanted to clarify for others who may or may not have the same extenders.



Hi Mark With the Canon system you can just stack together without problem, with the Nikon is not possible and you would need the ext tube which will affect far focusing ability. The main point to remember is the extreme magnification, need to hold steady !!

.... btw with Canon it actually auto focuses .. painfully slow but works. Best to go manual.

[Mark Fuge]

Hi Mark With the Canon system you can just stack together without problem, with the Nikon is not possible and you would need the ext tube which will affect far focusing ability. The main point to remember is the extreme magnification, need to hold steady !!

.... btw with Canon it actually auto focuses .. painfully slow but works. Best to go manual.

I do shoot Canon and it was Canon (EOS1 film camera) that I used. But they must have updated the extenders, in the newer models, as mine requires the extension tube. George Lepp had an article in Outdoor Photographer a few years back on the setup. That is where I got the idea. There is a "nose" piece, on the extender, that otherwise will not mate. I also do not have autofocus option, so manual was the only way. I was told focusing to infinity was not possible, but I did that as well as my subject was beyond the limits.

Steady as she goes is right. No way possible to hand hold! :eek:

I've attached a copy of the image. Not for critique, as it is a very poor scan of a slide. But you will get the idea. I used a insulation pipe wrap tube on my car's power window for the "window pod"! Works great and costs a lot less than a Gitzo with Wimberly setup! ;) :D I carry a couple of pieces in my car at all times. Never know when ... ;)

[Rene A]

Al,

Thanks for sharing. How much PP did you use if any?

[Hugh J McLaughlin]

Nice technique in very capable hands. Hope to see you back at Lox soon.

[Alfred Forns]

Rene just about out of camera Sharpening wise just use my normal PhotoKit sharpener !!!

... Hugh last time it was some kind of hot .. take lots of water !!!!

[Juan Aragonés]

Hey Al very good job with the stacked TCs. I have read a lot about stacking TCs and my main conclusion is that you get decent results (with Canon system, it is not possible with the Nikon system) in a very, very low percentage of the situations and the examples I have seen are at the same level of quality of a proportional image upsizing in photoshop. What do you think about that? (I am very interested in having more opinions about that because I am working in an article about TCs for a spanish magazine).
The examples I have had on my computer (from a friend that shoots a Canon 400 2,8) are not better than a upsizing in PS. I also think that the performance of stacked TCs highly rely on th efine tuning of the bare lens that you are using with them. You know what I mean, not all the copies of a lens has, unfortunatelly, the same sharpness.

[Gal Shon]

Good results with 2 tc's togher.
I like the beak and pose.