I can add some personal experience of this:

- The autofocus does not work well with the 55-300, it slows down massively and can be unreliable
- With a DA*300 the AF is barely affected, it is fast and accurate
- With a DFA 100 F2.8 macro the AF works fine
- With a DA* 50-135 the AF is barely affected, it is fast and accurate

This is all due to the maximum aperture of the various lenses and the fact that the 1.4 TC is designed specifically for lenses with a max aperture of F4 or wider. I think you will struggle with the lenses you have listed in this thread and I wouldn't advise purchasing the TC unless you plan to buy some faster glass.

Regards
David

Same here!

Regards
David

Thanks for posting these Alan. They do look very under-exposed to me and the one of the Woodpecker is illuminating as I took some shots of the same species a couple of days ago. I was shooting at -0.7Ev and I would say that my images are very close in exposure to the ones you have shot at +0.7Ev, possibly even mine are bit more exposed. That's almost 1.5 stops difference in the metering with the same camera, same lens and I would presume the same TC. I know my K-3 is working correctly in the exposure department as it produces very similar results to my K-5iis.

I would definitely have blown highlights using this setting, on both the second and third images.

Regards
David

This has been an interesting thread. I'd just like to add that although my laptop has a brilliant screen, the best of any laptop I've ever used, it still does not compare with a good 23 or 24 inch desktop monitor. So, I would recommend that if using a laptop, give yourself the option of connecting it to a quality monitor too.

Regards
David

Maybe it's simpler than that Nigel, maybe Alan's camera is not quite right?

Regards
David

Most of us have some beautiful wildlife in our gardens, particularly birds. One of my photography passions is to record this wildlife, either in my own garden or in other places. This set is about the birds in our gardens and features my favourite British native species, the Goldfinch.

The images are all taken with the DA*300 and 1.4 TC, with a mixture of the K-5iis and the K-3.





























Constructive criticism and feedback is very much encouraged.

Regards
David

I've checked mine and the exposure is not linked to the AF point.

Regards
David

Hi Nigel, I don't use any of the settings you mention. I shoot mainly in AV or Manual, using centre weighted metering and try to ensure I don't have bright backgrounds that would cause metering issues. I'm shooting RAW and aiming for a tad of underexposure, the settings I use produce consistent results both with my K-3 and K-5iis, so I think both cameras are working correctly from an exposure point of view. What puzzles me is Alan's need to us +1 or +0.7, which as I said would result in blown highlights with my K-3.

Regards
David

I'm not sure what you're saying is correct Nigel. For any type of shot, including wildlife, of which I do a fair amount of shooting with the K-3, if I shot at +0.7ev my shots would be ruined by blown highlights. The difference between Alan's settings and mine is quite huge in exposure terms and I think the settings I am using make more logical sense in general terms.

Regards
David

Nice pic again Steven, but I think this is the weakest of the 5 you've posted. A very strong set overall, but you set that bar so high with the second image that I think you made it difficult for yourself after that one! Thanks for sharing, I've enjoyed this series a lot.

Regards
David