Gear-reviews
The web is awash in photography gear reviews. Some of them are really product endorsements, some are page after page of un-objective comments by people who are in love with their equipment, and some are useful. I have listed some useful ones in my links section. My reviews are based on my own personal experience of using the piece of equipment in question for nature photography. The main gear section contains a list of all the equipment I use, along with some brief comments as to why.

Tamron SPAF 1.4 tele-converter

Tamron SPAF 1.4 tele-converter
This is an important piece of equipment for the Nikon photographer, particularly if they are using the using the 500 mm f/4 P lens, as it allows matrix metering to be maintained on modern Nikon bodies. Until now the only option to maintain matrix metering with the 
500 mm f/4 P has been to use the expensive TC14b on an F4 body. Now, however, with an F100, a second-hand 500 mm f/4 P and a Tokina 400mm f/5.6 the Nikon photographer has a relatively affordable system for photographing birds, both stationary and in flight. The previous option would have been an F4, TC14b and 500 mm f/4 P, plus an F100 or F5 to drive the Tokina 400 f/5.6 for shooting birds in flight using autofocus (the F4 does not have adequate autofocus speed for this). Of course you could always just use spot or centre weighted metering only. However, for shooting birds and other wildlife, matrix metering often has an important advantage in terms of speed of working. 

Of course all the above is meaningless unless the Tamron can provide performance as good as the Nikon TC14b. I tested both the Nikon and Tamron tele-converters with my 500 f4 using Fuji Provia 100, a Nikon 801's and a Gitzo 410 tripod, shooting a page from a map. I find that this is the most practical "real world" way of testing lenses and more meaningful to me than the pseudo-scientific methods that are often used. One of the most important things to remember is to shoot at a range of different apertures and take careful notes. Then when your slides come back form the lab, label them and then turn them over before viewing on the light box. This way you don't know which image was produced by which of the lenses you are comparing, and you wont be swayed by your preconceived ideas. 

Using the above technique I was able to clearly identify those images shot without a teleconverter as being the best, but I was unable to tell the difference between those made with the Nikon and those made with the Tamron tele-converter. In fact on balance I marginally preferred those images made with the Tamron tele-converter.

In conclusion I would have no hesitation in recommending the Tamron SPAF converter (the Kenko Pro is same converter in different clothes). My only reservation would be for applications where autofocus speed is important. The Tamron slowed the relatively sluggish focus speed of my 80-200 f/2.8 to a point where it was useless for moving subjects. In reality if you want autofocus speed with Nikon then you really need their AFS lenses, or you need to use the Canon system - which if you have the money is in my opinion currently the best system available for photographing birds and wildlife.

Bruce and Tamy Leventhal have also have a good review of the identical Kenko 300 Pro AF 1.4x converter at their excellent site Owlseyenaturephotos.com.

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