The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: teleconverter

Nikon developed a teleconverter for the first generation of its AF film cameras in the mid 1980s after Minolta looked like having the market all to itself. Years later it was discovered that this particular teleconverter inexplicably could be used on the Nikon D2x, a digital camera introduced 20 years later. For a short time I attempted to use these instruments in combination with an old 300mm lens. Had I used a tripod I might have enjoyed greater success.

I like the light falling on these very ordinary objects for much of the day. Here I was using a 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor on a teleconverter giving a focal length of 80mm. As it was on an APS-C camera the field of view was akin to 120mm. I was always attracted to telephoto experiences.

I used a Nikon D2Xs with a Teleplus NAS Macro MC7 (not the AF version) between camera and a 50mm f/1.4 AI-S Nikkor. My model was a nearly exhausted tube of Colgate toothpaste. I did not feel my time in the bathroom had been wasted. Da Doo Ron Ron.

It is a wet summer’s day; I don’t think summer has any business being damp, but it must be endured. Hence the pedestrian subject material. I am using a Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 series E zoom lens on a Nikon D2Xs, which gives an angle of view quite a bit longer than the range on a full-frame camera. Notwithstanding that it must be focussed manually, it represents a bargain for its optical excellence - mine cost £31. Where else can you get 150mm at f/3.5 for such a small sum? With this lens plus a 35-70mm and a 20mm I should be ready for anything when the sun shines again. I have substituted a magnifying eyepiece for the original on the D2Xs. It makes what I see 1.2 times bigger. This is very good for focussing. It is called a Nikon DK-17M. I ought to have bought one years ago.

Photographed in Avebury, Wiltshire, using a Nikon D2Xs with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens from around 1971. The TC-16A is compatible with only a small number of cameras and although Nikon doesn’t officially recognise the D2X as one of them, it nevertheless operates successfully. The Nikkor-H has been factory AI converted, making a functional set of instruments never really envisaged to harmonise. The TC-16A adds 1.6x to the lens it is mated with, so in this case the focal length was 480mm. You really need a fast shutter speed and a bit of stabilisation using a rig this long. I put it on a monopod and the shutter speed was 1/1500th. Mostly you’re forced into using maximum aperture and ISO even in decent light. The results can be mediocre, but now and again you get a sensation of unusual packed perspective. Of course, perspective depends on where you stand, not which lens you use, but you might never choose a tiny area of a picture to enlarge and get this view.

Nikon D2Xs + TC-16A teleconverter + 50mm f/1.8 AI lens.

Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 180mm AF ED f/2.8 lens on a Tamron MC-4 1.4x teleconverter. The focal length of the lens was thus extended to 252mm.

Avebury stone circle, Wiltshire. Tightly framed for perspective effect with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter between a Nikon D2Xs and a Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 series E zoom lens at full stretch. Thus the field of view was about 360mm using full-frame as the yardstick.

Photographed with a Nikkor 200mm f/4 AI lens, made sometime between 1977 and 1981, in combination with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter on a Nikon D2Xs camera. This provided a focal length of 320mm and a field of view equivalent to almost 500mm on a full frame SLR. The TC-16A was designed to work with Nikon's first AF cameras during the 1980s. It enables photographers to mount manual focus lenses and, within certain limits, use them in automatic focus mode. By some strange design quirk, it functions on the D2Xs, Nikon's last professional camera to use the APS-C format. The people pictured were part of a production team for some mediaeval drama being filmed at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, which I happened upon by chance.

Nikon D2Xs + Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 series E zoom lens on a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter.

Photographed in the garden of Avebury Manor, Wiltshire, using a Nikon D2Xs with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens from around 1971. The TC-16A is compatible with only a small number of cameras and although Nikon doesn’t officially recognise the D2X as one of them, it nevertheless operates successfully. The Nikkor-H has been factory AI converted, making a functional set of instruments never really envisaged to harmonise. The TC-16A adds 1.6x to the lens it is mated with, so in this case the focal length was 480mm.

Nikon D2Xs, Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 AI lens on a TC-16A teleconverter.