Best Tele-Converter for use with Pentax 100mm Macro Lens

I want to improve my insect photography capability. Which is the best tele-converter for use with the Pentax 100mm Macro Lens, from both past and present production tele-converters. I recently purchased a 'ASAHI OPT..TAKUMAR-A 2X TELE-CONVERTER' from 'e-bay' but I have been disappointed in the resultant images! They lack that crispness that I expect from my Pentax 100 mm Macro lens! As can be seen from my recent spider image added to the gallery on 25 May 2012.

Regards Photon

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All five minute jobs take a minimum of eight hours!

Most 2x TC's will knock the edge off IQ. A 1.4x TC or the Pentax 1.7x AF works much better.

Best regards

Tele converters are best avoided with a few exception. Pentax sold some Takumar branded low end lenses for a while, best avoided too.

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Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -

Adding some cheap extension tubes will increase magnification with the M 100mm macro and you shouldn't see any loss of quality. It will increase the length of the lens, but no more so than a teleconverter would have.

I have a Macro teleconverter I use with manual lenses and I would be hard pushed to see any loss of quality when I use it. That said if I used it as a 'proper' teleconverter to double focal length it's useless. Perhaps the same is true of a normal teleconverter, but in reverse ie. o.k. for distance, hopeless for macro?

Colin.

Don’t beat yourself up over your spider image, its better image quality than I have obtained using the, Pentax 100mm 2.8 WR macro lens, straight on a K5.

Also you did get it to work.

I tried a Vivitar x3 converter on my K5, with the Pentax 100mm macro, the camera just locked up and would not do anything, just displayed an error, can’t now remember what the error was, but it did scare the hell out of me at the time, as I thought I my have damaged the camera, but all was well after removing the converter.
Just mentioned this, as maybe, Vivitar converters are not compatible ?. It was manual.

Take care.

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Chris R.

I. El. (Eng). (Rtd).

Aparently the Pentax 1.7 works really well with this lens.

I've been using mine with tubes and haven't tried with a teleconverter. I have old vivitar ones that worked really well with my sigma and vivitar macro lenses without any noticeable loss in image quality.

If you like I'll have a try with it later and see what the result is.

One thing - did you use a tripod to take that picture ? Obviously the greater the magnification the more any tiny movement of the lens or creature is magnified as well.

Kind regards
Charlotte

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Pentax Photo Gallery
Photography blog

Pentax 1.7x converter is a superb match with the 100mm macro. Mine is attached 90% of the time.



Spider by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



Dragonfly by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



Spider having lunch by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



Caterpillars by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

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. My Flickr

Great shots (examples) there Mr Pursey.

Best regards

Some flies with the DFA100 and f1.7:











For wildlife work a bag with the the 100macro, 300 and the f1.7 gives a lot of coverage.

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You can see some of my photos here if you are so inclined

Teleconverter is better for macro than tubes or not? Or would you say the teleconverter is more versatile, being able to use it for other stuff?

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This space deliberately left blank.

I'd agree here, I generally carry a Tamron Di 90/2.8, Pentax DA*300/4 with Tamron-F AF1.4x Pz-AF MC4 and Teleplus 1.5x Pz-AF SHQ, Teleplus Pz-AF 1.7x SHQ allowing various set-ups. All the TC's work well with the Tamron Di 90 Macro.

John

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PPG link

In LBA hiatus.

Dont confuse teleconverters with extension tubes, they do different things. An extension tube allows you to get closer, a TC allows you to be further away

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Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -

@ Mike-P & DrOrloff, great pictures - I've gone off the idea of making lunch!

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Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -

With old vivitar 2 x converter - just taken, lens at full magnification, camera held by one hand as it's so windy I had to hold the plant still with the other.

Excuse dust spots - I can't be bothered to work on them and exposure is probably off but I didn't want to waste time sorting out lighting.










One taken with tubes the other day for IQ comparison;

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Pentax Photo Gallery
Photography blog

ROTFL.

It takes me about a day to find one ruddy fly and you go outside and get those in a just over an hour.

Excellent shots Charlotte ...

DrOrloff : very nice .. I really should do something to diffuse my lighting more.

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. My Flickr