Sigma 15FE + Kenko 1.4 on a D800?

Anyone shot the Sigma 15mm FE with the Kenko 1.4 teleconverter on a full-frame camera like the D800?

I know it's not ideal, but I'm here in Fiji wishing I had a little more reach and have sorted out these bits from the camera bag. Seems to focus quickly and very close here in the room.

Would appreicate thoughts on this idea soon...

Jack

Well the answer is that it works out fine. On the Nikon D800, it seems to render CF/WA without the FE effect, and gives a little better reach to the shots. Sharp as heck, and the AF was quite quick, even without a focus light. I used a Nauticam 8.5" arcylic dome with a 20mm extension.

_DSC7753.jpg by Pixel Letch, on Flickr

Soft Coral & Gorgonian Fan by Pixel Letch, on Flickr

Jack

Nice images, thanks for the test!

Looks great Jack. This may be the ideal setup for reefscape type images with this camera. Of course it's hard to see just how much detail there is on the computer screen, but I expect that some people are going to be creating some pretty impressive large prints of reefscapes with this combination.

Which dome BTW?

8.5" Nauticam acrylic + a 20mm ext.

Just an easy bit of gear to carry that most people already have as well...

Here's another, might of been better w/o the teleconverter, but it renders it without distortion...

Soft Coral on The Great White Wall by Pixel Letch, on Flickr

Jack

Never tried it so I have a quick question: Would the Kenko 1.4 work on autofocus with the 16mm Nikkor Fisheye? Anyone tried the combination?

Yes, 16mm works, but not a good combo with a mini-dome (because of minimum focus).

I believe that this is a useful combo, although for many scenic shots divers could always zoom with their fins, rather than using a teleconverter. With scenery the answer is often to get closer and use the prime lens.

Not an option with all subjects.

This was shot recently with Nikon D4 and Sigma 15mm and 1.4x TC: http://www.naturephotoblog.com/index.php?showimage=705

And this was shot a long time ago with Fisheye and Teleconverter:

Alex

Fantastic photos Jack! I just got a D800 last week (hope to get it wet tomorrow) and am planning an XMas trip to Fiji. Your photos are lovely and really upping my excitement level. I'll definitely be bringing along my Sigma 15mm and will give the TC a shot.

Thanks for sharing.

8.5" Nauticam acrylic + a 20mm ext.

 

Just an easy bit of gear to carry that most people already have as well...

 

Here's another, might of been better w/o the teleconverter, but it renders it without distortion...

 

Soft Coral on The Great White Wall by Pixel Letch, on Flickr

 

Jack

Like shooting a mid-range wide zoom, it's all in the port. The fisheye/zoom combination is quite happy in a big dome, but loses one point of the combination, which is to shoot close-focus, close-up images with spacious backgrounds using a small dome...

... the resolution of my first attempts was unimpressive, to say the least.

Hello,

Which Kenko1.4 TC model do you use with the FE 15mm sigma, the PRO 300 AF DGX 1.4X or the MC4 AF 1.4 DGX ?

Regards

stéphane

Really nice pictures with the 1.4 konverter! I am looking forward to soon get my D800 in the water. The housing is here, just waiting for some lenses. I heard, mainly from Alex.M here in the forum that Kenko 1.4pro tele is not sharp and good inaf for the D800 resolution. What do you think about that? Is it worth upgrading to Nikon telekonverters?

Really nice pictures with the 1.4 konverter! I am looking forward to soon get my D800 in the water. The housing is here, just waiting for some lenses. I heard, mainly from Alex.M here in the forum that Kenko 1.4pro tele is not sharp and good inaf for the D800 resolution. What do you think about that? Is it worth upgrading to Nikon telekonverters?

Nikon TC's are great, but were really designed for use with telephoto lenses and I don't think they work with any fisheye lenses.

I think the Kenko with Sigma 15mm, even if it's not the sharpest possible combination on the D800, will still give you as much if not more detail than any other camera lens combination. Jack's images are evidence of that.

Yep, that's right Jeff - Nikon TCs won't fit on fisheyes, but the Kenkos do.

I think that there is a need for a TC if there is a specific shot to take or a real need to narrow the angle of coverage down of a lens for a specific subject. But such a combo will not get the best out of the resolution potential of the D800, but will work fine.

However I think it is not wise to use this for all wide angle as 95% of the time a full fisheye view will make for more impactful scenic photos. It is easier to use a fisheye with a TC (it is a bit like using stabilisers/training wheels on a bike), but worth learning to master the full fisheye view.

Alex

Hi Guys! Thanks for response! Okey, but how is the diffrent between the telekonverters for Macro use? With a 60mm or the 105mm on the D800. I had 60mm and 2x kenko 300 pro on my d300s. I loved it! But I heard that on the D800 you need the Nikon telekonverter for good quality? What you guys says about that? or shall I stay with the Kenko´s?

The photo above was updated so here's a better link:

Orange Soft Coral on Great White Wall by Pixel Letch, on Flickr

Ryan and I were talking about this and he says it tests at quite a bit less quality, but what you're seeing is increased magnification that's capturing more detail.

I dunno Alex, I guess I like the less distorted view for CF/WA.

Jack

Hi Guys! Thanks for response! Okey, but how is the diffrent between the telekonverters for Macro use? With a 60mm or the 105mm on the D800. I had 60mm and 2x kenko 300 pro on my d300s. I loved it! But I heard that on the D800 you need the Nikon telekonverter for good quality? What you guys says about that? or shall I stay with the Kenko´s?

This issue of the D800 not producing good quality images with anything but the best lenses keeps coming up and I think is misleading. Any lens combination that produces good images with any other camera setup like a a D700 will still produce images that are as good if not better on a D800. So if you got great images with a Kenko and 60mm on your D300s you will get great images of very high resolution on your D800. It's just that because the D800 is such a high resolution camera, if you want to squeeze every last bit of resolution out of it, then using the best available lenses will be necessary.

Hi Guys! Thanks for response! Okey, but how is the diffrent between the telekonverters for Macro use? With a 60mm or the 105mm on the D800. I had 60mm and 2x kenko 300 pro on my d300s. I loved it! But I heard that on the D800 you need the Nikon telekonverter for good quality? What you guys says about that? or shall I stay with the Kenko´s?

Nikon TCs only fit to the 105 mm AF-S macrolens and not to the 60 mm AF-S (fysically it doesn't fit). The 105 mm + 2x Nikon TC can still autofocus, but the closer you get to closest focus, the more difficult it gets. The diafragm closes to f/4.5 when it's widest open at closest focus. So with a 2x TC makes effectively an f/9 lens at closest focus: you'll need a bright focuslight to make your sensor perform well at these aperture values.

cheers, Udo

I'm a bit late to this conversation. I've been shooting the Sigma 15mm FE with my D800 for some time now. I'm intrigued about the idea of combining it with a TC.

My question, is this combo a good solution for shooting wide angle inside of of ship wrecks where barreling effect comes into play? I'm assuming the barreling effect will be reduced using a TC or should I think about using a rectilinear lens like the Nikon 16-35?