Photo Teleconverter

For some time, I have had a desire to own a good macro lens and a 400mm telephoto lens.  The cost of such good quality lenses has put me off buying them.  However, investing in a teleconverter has given me the potential I need for a fraction of the cost.

 The first job I had in mind for a macro lens was to be able to take close up pictures of the fossil trilobites in my collection.  Using an 18mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter has made this possible without losing too much definition.

 With a reduction of about 1 f-stop, this combination works quite well on most of my specimens.  The results are far better than I have previously been able to achieve by cutting down close images.  I can take the pictures and display them at full frame now.

 Even the fossils with low contrast differences to the matrix can be photographed in some good detail.

 This pyratized assemblage of carapce bits is very difficult to photograph normally, but in bright light it works well.

By fitting the teleconverter to my 300mm lens, it becomes a 420mm lens, capable of capturing this juvenile blackbird in the holly hedge of our garden.  This simple 1.4x teleconverter has extended the range of every lens in my camera bag.  Of course, at this end of the spectrum, hand held can be very shaky.  Perhaps the next shots will be done on a tripod!