Pro-Optic 2X Tele Converter Review (on a budget)

As soon as I received my Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6III USM I wanted to get even closer(on a budget). I started to look in to different tele converters… 1.4x, 2x, Canon, 3^rd Party… It took me weeks to make a decision on what I wanted to order, and I finally have… and here is my review of what I wound up with…

The Pro-Optics 2x Teleconverter DG (C/N)AF

Overview
The exact model I ordered is for canon EOS bodies, and does pass through Auto Focus/Aperture connections…

Coming in at $90 the Pro-Optics 2x Teleconverter is quite the bargain as well…

It is openly admitted by Pro-Optics that if you are using a lens that is as fast or faster than f/5.6 (aperture goes as low as 5.6) that Auto Focus will work. If the lens is slower than that, then Manual Focus it is. This is NOT 100% true, but we’ll cover this later on…

Also, your Depth of Focus is cut in half… this is most evident below in the white balanced photos…

Also, this converter comes in Canon AND Nikon Variations…

First Shots

Right out of the box, I strapped it in behind my Canon 75-300 Lens… and immediately got out the tripod. At 600mm you MIGHT be able to get away with shooting at 1/600 of a second hand held… Generally speaking to shoot hand held, for every mm you are zoomed, you should be at that number in tenths of second (50mm = 1/50^th sec, 100mm = 1/100^th sec).

On a tripod it shot fine, and the converter doesn’t add that much weight (although it is a solid seeming metal construction)…

First impression though, it does add an extra Inch onto the lens, which does, indeed, make your shutter speed slower… also, it adds 4 more pieces of glass for the light to go through, making your shutter speed, once again, slower (I’m not sure if this is avoidable with any teleconverter).

An odd yellowish tint also appeared, but I believe it was due to zooming and being near a window (florescent light mainly, and when zoomed you’re getting more of the natural light from the window).

Test Shots

After a little playing around at the bird feeder, I was off to the “lab” to test this thing out a bit…

The following are the results of my tests… first a table, which shows f/stop and shutter speed w/ and w/o the converter (to show slowing of shutter speed)… and then some test shots shown in multiple ways…

So as you can see from above, with the addition of the 2X Tele converter, my shutter speed goes up by an average of X5-6… which when you’re outside on a sunny day isn’t the biggest deal, but for any kind of night time sports, dusk shots… not so good. Luckily I Plan on using this for mostly wildlife. Not to say bird’s aren’t fast, but when I’m talking 1/1200 of a second shutter speed to start with… 1/200 is acceptable (tripods IS A MUST).

Now, here are a few sample images… I personally can’t see any degradation of the image at all, aside from a yellow tint (fixable in Aperture/Gimp for me).

Here are two images @ f/5. The First w/o the Teleconverter, the Second with.

Here are two images @ f/11. The First w/o the Teleconverter, the Second with.

Here are two images @ f/22. The First w/o the Teleconverter, the Second with.

And finally here are two images @ 200mm. Both color corrected w/ the white of the rubix cube selected as the pure white of the image. Note: the white of the rubix cube IS NOT pure white, which is why there is weird coloring in the background. This is meant only to show both w/ and w/o the 2x Tele Converter in the same exact coloring.

Also, notice in these images that the depth of field IS cut in half. The background isn’t quite as nicely blurred in the photo w/ the teleconverter as w/o.

First image is with out the teleconverter, and the second is with the teleconverter…

The only defect i can see is the white balance issues.  The lens seems to be more sensitive to light (this is inside w/ florescent light w/ natural light in the background)… Notice something else? Leave a comment!

Wrap Up

Okay, there are obvious draw backs from using a 2x tele converter of any quality. I happened to be on a budget, and ordered an inexpensive 2x tele converter. For the few drawbacks, the main advantage is still there. My 75-300mm lens is now a 150-600mm lens. I can correct the coloring issue (which will most likely not be an issue outside) and I have a tripod to counteract the slowness created.

I’ll have some real life in the field photos up from this camera soon either on…

Flickr
Schoon Multimedia Photo Blog

Pros
Doubles the Zoom of any Lens
Metal Construction
There is no avoiding using a tripod
$90 Dollars!?!

Cons
Slows your shutter speed
More sensitive to different spectrums of light (tinting)
There is no avoiding using a tripod (you should be all the time anywho)

All said and done, I’ll give this…

***/***** (3/5)

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Canon EOS Autofocus SLR Cameras.

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Nikon Autofocus SLR Cameras

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Maxxum and Sony Autofocus SLR Cameras

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Pentax Autofocus SLR Cameras.