Teleconverter for PnS

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Sagar,
I agree with Aditya.

All Teleconverters lower the quality. Also, it is very important to start with the highest quality lens and slap a teleconverter on it. The teleconverters work the best with SLR lenses.

Canon's EF 1.4x II TC that I use is the best and the costliest. It costs about 300 USD ie. about 14k INR. Third party converters like Kenko etc cost much less. I would not spend the 10k on a converter. Rather save it for investing in a DSLR system.

In the film days, a 500mm lens used to work as a 500mm lens as there was no crop factor. People used to stalk, crawl, wait in a hide etc to move closer to birds or animals. In bird photography no lens is enough. Even people use a 1.4x TC with a 800mm f5.6 lens. So one has to use the camera and lens within its limits.

I would suggest you to learn the ropes with this camera. And when you are ready move in to the next level and get a DSLR.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Dear Sagar,
I used to have (and still use) a Lumix FZ18, a vary capable P&S with 18x zoom, 512mm equivalent in SLR jargon. On this is I had a Olympus TCON-17 with a DMw55 adaptor from Panasonic to make the Olympus and Lumix compatible. The whole package cost me 13000(camera)+ 3000(adaptor)+ 6000( TCON17) approximately Rs 22000 for 800mm reach....!!!!

The results are very decent in themselves for the kind of reach vs Price that this package offers. Of course it cant compare with an SLR and a L series prime but at 1/10 th of the price, a full manual mode aswell as RAW shooting, its a great start off point. For those who cant wait or afford to spend 2,00,000/- for a decent reach of about 400mm, this is a great option, use this package for a couple of years, see your interest and comprehension of the basics developing and then invest. (Completetely personal opinion, I went down that route and i use this combination for record shots quite often )

I am attaching a pic of a Short eared owl in Flight over the fields of Sultanpur, the image has neumerous shortcomings, but the reach is there...!!!

cheers
Dipankar

[Aditya Panda]

Dear Dipankar, for that kind of money (Rs. 22, 000) I honestly think one is much better off purchasing a used/cheap DSLR for about Rs. 15-20,000 along with a typical Tamron/Sigma 75-300mm lens which is widely available for prices hanging around Rs. 5000. With this set up along with cropping, one can get that 'reach' and still retain higher quality than the PnS + TC combination.

Cheers,
Aditya