Sony 1.4X Teleconvertor for Wildlife Photography - Is It Any Good? Review of 1.4XTC with Samples

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I've had lots of requests for a review of the Sony 1.4X Teleconvertor so in this video I answer those questions about this product. The 1.4X TC is placed between camera and lens and this small device then magnifies your lens power by 40%. When added to a full frame camera and 600mm lens you'll get 840mm of power. When added to a crop sensor camera body and 600mm lens you'll get 1260mm of power! Is this thing any good? Should you get one? And of course...is it sharp? This video is my honest review....I do need to mention that the 1.4X TC does "take away" 1 stop of light so that when used on the Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm your largest available aperture will be f/9.0.
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Опубликовано:

5 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 97

@mickyd628 Год назад

Wonderful review! This has built up my confidence to buy the 1.4X teleconverter for my Sony 200-600 mm G lens, the sample photos are really sharp and impressive, thanks Don for your excellent work, awesome photos and kind experience sharing!

@DonMammoserPhoto Год назад

Hey Mike, thank you for watching. We appreciate the positive feedback. When used correctly the 1.4x can give great results.

@ronschuddeboomdigiscoping3693 3 года назад

Very informative as allways, Don thank you😀👍greetings from Amsterdam

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hey Ron, thanks as usual...kind regards from USA

@GapeGang 3 года назад

Great pictures Dom, thanks for the information.

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Glad I could help. You are welcome.

@Richcovephoto 2 года назад

Thanks for the vid and review. Very helpful.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hey Rich, Glad I could maybe help a bit. Thanks for watching.

@robertbohnaker9898 3 года назад

Excellent review. Great results. Looks like the Sony a6600 can do the job ! Thanks 😊 Don !

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hi Robert, thanks for taking the time to watch and write. Yeah, the 1260mm of power is really nice to have when you need it!

@SimoneAlbini-channel 3 года назад

exactly what I wanted to know, I have the same cameras and lenses as you. Thanks for this very useful video

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to watch. Glad I could help out a bit. Stay tuned for more.

@laframe1016 2 года назад

Thanks for the review!!!!

@stephenelderphoto 3 года назад

Good review Don. I have the 1.4 myself and the only thing I would add to your review is that the light loss of using it with the Sony 200-600 fully zoomed to 600mm can be problematic. I live in the UK and light levels can require the use of high ISOs to compensate for the restricted apertures with the 1.4 extender. Two stops is a lot when you’re trying to keep detail and avoid noise. I’m really enjoying your content since finding your channel just yesterday. Thanks for your time Don 🙂

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hi Stephen, welcome to my channel. Thanks for the kind comment. Yeah, I meant to say that the 1.4x uses up 1 stop of light and ended up putting that little fact in the description of the video. Thanks for the reminder. I also try and keep my ISO as low as possible. Gotta hate noise!

@ridingdreamer 11 месяцев назад

Thanks for the review. Recently bought the 200-600mm and 1.4TC combo for my a7iii. Yet to get out to get the big stuff but the tests went fine. I have set the lens custom button to switch between APSC and FF and I have a virtual a6600 on the click of the button, hopefully it would give me good results!

@DonMammoserPhoto 11 месяцев назад

Hi ridingdreamer, Glad you liked the video. Sounds like you have a good set-up there. Yes, the virtual a6600 is nice...I do the same thing but with an A9Ii only get about 7-8MP with the crop. Thanks for watching!

@stevea406 3 года назад

You talked me into it Don. I just got the a9ii and the 200-600 zoom. I was real nervous because I have a Nikon D500 with a 300mm f2.8 prime with a 1.7x teleconverter and my experience is that the teleconverter slows down the AF and some amount of fuzziness on the quality of the photo's of moving birds. I've been real impressed with the Sony camera and lens and my immediate nervousness was set to rest after todays fun with hummingbirds on different blossoms and catching a rare yellow warbler in the back bushes. I agree with your assessment of A- although so far its an A for me.

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hey Steve, Thanks for writing. It seems to me that the Sony products are impressing more and more photographers. I know I was hesitant at first as well but once I tried Sony there is no looking back. Sounds like you had a ton of fun today. Love it.

@sabyasachibanerjee124 2 года назад

Practical and useful advice.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi, thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, I appreciate it.

@666JustWatch 2 года назад

Hay Don, thanks for the review. I just wanna share my recent experience while testing the a6400 + TC 1.4 + 100400 GM. The AF seemed to be little bit struggled maintaining the sharpness of small, long distance birds, particularly during limited light. I had to do some correction using MF through peaking mode in order to get a sharper image. Nonetheless, i am still satisfied with it and cant wait to test it for BIF.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi, thanks for watching and I agree with your scenario - when shooting birds far away and using 1260mm of power lots of times the atmosphere itself will degrade the image or make the AF not as accurate as it could be. Still It's nice to have such power when needed.

@drewzze Год назад

Thank you for the info!

@DonMammoserPhoto Год назад

Hey drewzze, no problem, glad to help!

@ericrobinson8078 Год назад

Nice shots.

@acme9538 2 года назад

This is a fare assessment and a good review. I have the 1.4 teleconverter as well and use it with a 100-400mm GM mounted on an a7iii . Because the focus system on the the a7iii is probably inferior to the a9ii , I find that I need to keep my settings spot on to maintain good consistent sharpness. I too have found that subjects further away are tougher to get good sharpness . . . but overall I am very happy with the 1.4 TC and have no intentions of selling it. Great idea to use the a6600 for even more reach ! Thanks for the great review.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi, thanks for the kind comment. Glad I could maybe help a bit and yes when the extra reach is needed the 1.4TC comes in handy. Stay tuned for more.

@ridingdreamer 11 месяцев назад

Just set the lens custom button to switch between APSC and FF and you have a virtual A6600 on the click of a button!

@richardbedford6166 2 года назад

Great video, thank you.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Thanks Richard, appreciate it.

@ExplorerMelanie 2 года назад

Hi Don, thanks a lot for the review! Thought about buying the 1.4 tc for a while now and your video really helped me out. 😊 There is one thing I want to mention: Talking about "extra reach" with aps-c/crop sensors is a bit of a misconception in my opinion. As the word says, these sensors are cropped (in comparison to fullframe sensors). So if you take the same shot on a fullframe sensor camera and crop it in post-processing, you'll get the "same" optical result (reach-wise). It's not "physical" additional reach. Depending on the camera, the final photo from an aps-c might have more pixels than a cropped shot from a fullframe camera but that still doesn't give "real" extra reach as pixel-size is different. Anyways, your video was interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing more from your channel 👋

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi Melanie, Thanks for watching and for the comments. I agree with you and have always taught that there is no "free lunch" in photography. Everything has its trade offs. More videos to come, stay tuned.

@philipgowdy 2 года назад

Your right but what you do get is a more accurate focus view through the viewfinder. Generally ending up in better shots.

@basiljose6233 2 года назад

Hii Don.. Nice video. Did you use any de-noise software in this images?

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi Basil, Not many of the images had a lot of post processing but on a few of them I did use Topaz denoise plug-in software.

@gusa1071 2 года назад

Hi Don! Thank you for the video,it's very helpful. I have the A9 ,the 200-600 mm and both,the 1.4x and the 2x tcs For bird's photography I only use the 1.4 tc , but for BIF I need to increase the ss to compensate the impact of hand/body movements in the photo's sharpness(trade off for the extra reach),needing to increase the ISO to get a right exposure(bringing more noise). Do you use the same settings with and without the TC?(if you want to compare 2 photos of the same bird with the same ambient conditions and from the same distance) You mention that sometimes you use Denoise.Do you use Sharpen AI too? Perhaps in next videos you could include photo's info,post and technique used. Congratulations,you pictures are really impressive !

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi Gus, Yes I also try to increase the ss when using the 1.4x tc. Obviously even faster shutter speeds are needed the longer your focal length. Otherwise my settings are the same. I do use Topaz denoise AI when the ISO is high enough that there's lots of noise. It works wonders. I'll take your suggestion for a new video and try to get to it as others have asked as well.

@GiuseppeGessa 2 года назад

Basically I had the same result with a Sony A9 + Sony 200-600G + 1,4x TC and with Sony ZV-E10 + Sony A9 + Sony 200-600G + 1,4x TC. Really far subjects are challenging, due to the big amount of air between the subject and the lens, so it's clear that having sharpness images is really, really hard, and you need to be lucky.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Agreed. Anytime there is a ton of distance between you and your subject, simple haze or air particles can be enough for blurry images. Thanks for watching.

@nithinpallavi 2 года назад

A big like from Kerala ❤

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Thanks!

@denischasse3567 2 года назад

thank you for your excellent video my friend! with an a7111 what do you think ??? 🎥🎥🎥

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi Denis, thanks for taking the time to watch. Sure, why not give it a try and if you like the results all is good.

@joey_outdoors 2 года назад

I was wondering about this combo because I have an A6600 and want to get the 200-600. Think I might hold off on the TC for a bit.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hey, Thanks for watching. You'll love the 200-600mm if you get it. Great combo for wildlife!

@davidn8117 2 года назад

Hi Don, thanks for the review. Have you tried the Clearimage zoom built in to the camera (at least on my A7iii)? That gives you up to 2x. I’m guessing the quality degrades a bit but Sony seem to say not.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hey David, Thanks for watching and for the comment. I must say that I hadn't tried the ClearImage zoom feature and actually didn't know exactly what it was till you brought it to my attention. I've been trying it just at home for the last couple hours...will test in the field and do a video regarding this. Could be some potential here on slow moving subjects. Thanks!

@davidn8117 2 года назад

@@DonMammoserPhoto Thanks, Don. I did a very brief trial yesterday but it wasn’t conclusive. I guess the downside is that it only works with JPEG files so people who shoot RAW so give more flexibility in post processing probably won’t use it + it seems almost too good to be true!!

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

@@davidn8117 David, Yeah I am planning more tests as well. I think for certain things it could work: Tripod, non-moving subject, good, bright, sunny light, shy animal, JPEG needed. Still I thank you for drawing my attention to it.

@asbjrnhagennielsen6560 5 месяцев назад

Crop sensor camera do not give 1.5 reach! -It just crops the picture (x1.5) giving a limited view. It's the sensor density that do a difference. So using an a7RIV or a7RV will do just as fine as the a6700 (28mp in crop mode). Otherwise a great review :-)

@YosiRubin1949 2 года назад

Great Review, i have Sony 7iii + Sony Lens 70-200, f4, can i use the telecoventer 1.4 for this combination? thanks

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi Yosi, Thanks for watching. Yes, you can use the 1.4TC for the equipment you listed. This would give you the effective focal length of 98-280mm on your full frame 7iii.

@Fat-totoro-cat 5 месяцев назад

Having done some comparisons on the A7RV, I found that you are better off just upscaling the image.

@asbjrnhagennielsen6560 5 месяцев назад

I also tried on an a7RIV with no gain. Gave up on it. But now I bought one again, and will try one more time. I'm suspect it's the 60mp sensor -without an anti aliasing filter, that is on/ beyond the limit of the 200-600mp. But I could create better details in pictures taken under controlled tests. Money bill, on 10 m., trypot, sunlight, 5 sec shutter delay. So perhaps, under the right circumstances..

@enricollen 2 года назад

Thanks

@johnzhengphotographychannel 2 года назад

I have a 2.0TC, I also use 200-600mm, my camera is A7R4, 2.0TC does affect the image quality, so I am now hesitant to buy 1.4TC. But I am also a video shooter. I found that using 2.0TC has little effect on the video quality. I use A7S3.

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi John, I haven't used or tested the 2.0TC and I don't think I will as the loss of light has always been so detrimental in the past when I've tried other 2.0 TC's that they become unusable. That's why I was surprised at the quality of the 1.4TC and the fact that the AF doesn't slow down at all. I'll stick with the 1.4TC.

@albertnebe8795 3 года назад

Thank you very much for the review! I own the A7iii and the 200-600 lens and I am very happy with the sharpness. Recently I bought the a6100 Just for the "extra reach", but I have to say, that IQ drops more than I hoped.. would you say, that the IQ holds better with the teleconverter than with the crop camera?

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hi Albert, thanks for taking the time to watch. With my 2 set ups, I find that the images are best with the full frame camera and 200-600 lens without anything more. That said I sometimes need the extra reach and then put on the 1.4x tc. IQ drops a little with both the cameras but not enough for me to hesitate grabbing that TC. Careful technique is super important though.

@albertnebe8795 3 года назад

@@DonMammoserPhoto thanks for the fast respond! So what do you think is sharper: the Fullframe camera with the 1.4 teleconverter or just the crop camera without the teleconverter? Both systems give about the same aquivalent focal lenght..

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

@@albertnebe8795 Hey Albert, I'd have to say the crop sensor camera without the TC would be a tad sharper than the full frame with the TC. But...the noise level on the crop camera is a bit higher than I like. Tough choices all around but that's half the fun yeah?

@albertnebe8795 3 года назад

@@DonMammoserPhoto thanks a lot for the helpful respond! I'll probably go with the crop camera for extra reach :)

@666JustWatch 2 года назад

@@DonMammoserPhoto finally, i got my answer here. thanks don. Recently, i was considering whether i should go with a7riv or a6600 for my 200-600 + 1.4x TC. after i watched your video (again), i would definitely go for a6600 since shooting bird is my main objective (reach would be my priority). the a7riv is really expensive for me anyway. what do you think don?

@peterdyer2706 2 месяца назад

I think you should do this with the a9ii and 209-600g

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 месяца назад

Hi Peter, yes I will. Just gathering a few images first. Stay tuned and thanks for watching.

3 года назад

Nice video, Like 15 and Bye from Italy :)

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Ciao and grazie tante. I appreciate you watching.

@hitthestreetsphoto1253 Год назад

Actually you get an extra 25.2mm’s when shooting with the a6300 or any Sony crop sensor camera. The crop factor is 1.53 which brings the 600mm with the 1.4 TC to a whopping 1285.2mm’s focal length.

@rikutalvio Год назад

Focal length does not change with sensor size. Be it full frame or APS-C, 600mm x 1.4 is always 840mm.

@photogl 2 года назад

Sony 2x converter sure did’t work well with my 70-200 Mk II on my A1. Images were soft and Bird Eye detection was slow and mostly off. I returned the converter as I don’t own any prime lenses…. I mainly use the 200-600, 24-105 and 20. 1.8 Sony lenses….

@ericrobinson8078 Год назад

First thing I have to say is adding the 1.4 does not in any way increase the amount of atmosphere you have to shoot through, the subject distance is the subject distance regardless of focal length ..but any atmospheric distortion may well be more noticeable at higher focal lengths, though to be honest Im not sure if thats the case. Shutter speed may well be more of a factor. Increasing focal length with a TC reduces light and requires higher shutter speed and higher ISO. This tripple whammy of less light, higher shutter speed, and higher ISO may be the major factors that need to be born in mind. Im contemplating buying a 1.4TC to use with a 200-600 on a Sony A7R5. Living in Scotland I plan to restrict its use to when the weather and light allows me to shoot above 1/2000 and a max of 1000 ISO. Thanks for the video, all this information input is so useful so well done you.

@DonMammoserPhoto Год назад

Your comment is correct about the amount of atmosphere you are shooting through, but with a 1.4x TC you will certainly try and photograph subjects that are further away and then you would increase the subject to camera distance vs. shooting the lens without TC. The other trade-offs you mention are correct as well but are often worth it. Wildlife photography is simply addicting to me. Thanks for watching.

@ericrobinson8078 Год назад

@@DonMammoserPhoto on no … the thanks is all mine. You put in all the effort and did all the work from which I and a whole bunch of others benefited. The other comment or question is. Does the camera make a difference? My previous one A7R3 compared to my new shiny A7R5? I think it may well do for two main reasons. Improved AF. The bird autofocus on the A7R5 is insane in that it locks on to the birds eye! The other is the improved IBIS. The bigger the focal length the more chance of camera shake inducing blur. I’m hoping that the extra 1.4 plus the extra 1.5 when in APSC mode will turn my 200-600 into a 1200mm plus lens! I realise there will be sever limitations as to the circumstances in which this focal length monster will work, but I’m looking forward to giving it a go.

@DonMammoserPhoto Год назад

@@ericrobinson8078 Hi Eric, Yeah, I sometimes do that as well. Using my Sony a6600 with the 200-600mm lens and a 1.4x TC gives 1260mm. If I have proper technique and lots of light the images are great. Fun sometimes to have such zoom power! I hope all your light is magic. Cheers!

@MarkusGebhard Год назад

@@ericrobinson8078 how did your new set-up work out for you? Would love to hear your feedback on it. Been thinking about saving up for this combination too

@ericrobinson8078 Год назад

@@MarkusGebhard it works reasonably well but you have to be mindful of the conditions and of course the shutter speed.

@bluecheese20401 Год назад

The idea that using an APSC gives u extra reach is bunk imo. You just get a smaller image. Genuinely think we need to challenge this idea

@sosomelodies659 3 года назад

1.4x tc with 200-600 on first gen A9 body works fantastic. Paired with A7RII body not so great.

@DonMammoserPhoto 3 года назад

Hey, I only have the experience of the 2 cameras I listed in the video. Maybe Sony will put out an update to improve the pair with other bodies as well.

@susieaerial 2 года назад

Soso Melodies, can you tell me what is the problem with the A7RII? slow AF or what?

@sosomelodies659 2 года назад

@@susieaerial yes slow af acquisition, slow tracking, and hit or miss results when trying to shoot birds in flight.

@susieaerial 2 года назад

@@sosomelodies659 thank you for the answer, the A7RII is slow in af anyway...

@stan2990 2 года назад

Bonjour et merci pour la traduction en français👌

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Thank you...merci!

@jamesseward9263 2 года назад

Which do you prefer to use with this lens, full frame or the crop sensor? Thanks 😊

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hi James. Definitely prefer the full frame camera with the 1.4x. I will put it on the a6600 but when you have 1260mm of zoom power lots of things can go wrong and every mistake is amplified. Still I'll do it sometimes.

@jamesseward9263 2 года назад

@@DonMammoserPhoto thank you! If I get the 200-600mm then I would guess I’d probably be better off shooting in crop mode on my a7 IV than buying an a6600. Have you tried the 2x TC yet? Thanks ☺️

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

@@jamesseward9263 Hi James. That one is debatable. I still enjoy putting my 200-600 on my a6600 with or without the 1.4x TC. Having that extra reach sure is nice sometimes. I also use crop mode on my A9II with the 200-600 so I kind of try out all combinations for the gear I own. I have not tried the 2x TC.

@shaggysk8r1 2 года назад

Running a crop sensor camera does not actually increase the magnification power, it just gives you less field of view compared to the full frame version. But it does fill more of the frame which sort of gives the impression that your lens had more reach.

@MikeTaffet 2 года назад

"effective magnification" is still useful magnification.

@asbjrnhagennielsen6560 5 месяцев назад

Quite right. -Not many understand that :D Crop mode just crops. Very simple really. It's more about sensor pixel density.

@deeyoucee7637 2 года назад

you can get 1260mm on the A9

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hey, yeah that's true. I do that sometimes as well, except that you lose lots of MP that way. Still in a pinch it works.

@Quebec2Arizona 2 года назад

Hi, I do like your videos and I have been watching a few of them but I truly hate the loudness of the bird chipping for your intro. It's just soooooooo loud compare to other YT channels and it always get that same reaction and sometime I may even not open up your videos just not to hear that loud intro. Nothing is wrong with your intro sound except for the loudness. Please don't take this the wrong way but I feel like this I am sure I am not the only one. Please keep up with your videos, I do love your work. Take care :-)

@DonMammoserPhoto 2 года назад

Hey Eric, I appreciate your honesty and I will take it into account. I'll try to lower that bird song a bit!