100% crop of the Blue Tit:

David, No offence taken

As I said, I used 'Catch in focus' so the camera decided when to fire, not me. Therefore (technically) it should have been spot on!
TBH I think the slight softness is, probably, induced by the TC. All my other shots with this lens have been crisp and sharp. If the weather is good tomorrow I shall recreate the setup, without the TC, so that we can do a direct comparison.

The feeder is still there, I'm sure the bird will come back and, unfortunately, I still have the rest of the kitchen to fit

I assume that I need to calibrate my lens then

Not quite a 'spuggie' and a bit more than an eye but not a bad test of the TC. I know it's a bit lazy taking back garden, bird feeder shots, but I had a kitchen to fit

Taken with the K5iis, DA* 60-250 + 1.4 TC. 350mm @ f5.6, 1/500, ISO 400. Using 'Catch in focus'. Stuck the lens on manual, camera on the tripod, continuos mode, locked the shutter and left it to play.

My wife wishes that I didn't

Remember this; "a small shop in Watford" also sells a big chunk of its stock online. As does Wex, Park Cameras, etc. etc.
The 'High Street Shops' that have adapted to the new ways of selling have survived and, in some cases, thrived.
Online sales may well have kept them afloat and 'saved' their businesses rather than ended them.

I'm lucky that I live 25 miles away from on of these outlets and can go and 'handle' the goods.

Ah, I see.

I did try setting it up for some bird shots but couldn't get the 'catch in focus' to work as the lens has no MFN switch and I didn't have the time to start taping up terminals etc.
I'll try and set something up at the weekend.

I, honestly, have no idea what that is!!! Sounds very dubious to me

LennyBloke, I simply kept the camera static and took the shots with and without from the same position. TBH I think you could crop the normal image and achieve results that would be difficult to tell from the TC results.

Is it worth £350? Juries out at the moment. I have tried several different shots with my 60-250 and haven't achieved particularly good results. However that could be me. I need to spend a bit more time with it.

I specifically bought this for a whale watching trip I'm hoping to do, in Iceland, in July. I wanted to maintain the weather sealing and extend the reach of my lens. I had thought about a Bigma 150-500 but it seemed a big lump to carry around just for one event.

A couple of macro shots with the DA100WR macro:

Without TC:



With TC:



Straight from camera with no PP just exported from DNG to jpg using LR4. K511s Mounted on tripod, used AF, 2 second timer, ISO 80, AV mode, f32 just using available light.

I took a sequence at f5.6, 8, 16, 22 &32 both with and without. You should be able to view and download the full size images here: link

I shall try some more comparisons later, right now I need to get on with some work (unfortunately )

Having checked my previous two images, please ignore them

Jonathan-Mac and Algi are correct in that the second image is softer. I took this standing in a draft passage between my house and garage, handheld, in a hurry without really setting anything up.

The exif data is telling me: Exposure program 4, f27, 0.3 second for both shots. One at 250mm and the other at 350mm. 0.3 of a second, handheld at 350mm, in a windy passage is hardly a fair test.

It's a nice day and I am at home this morning so I shall get the tripod out and do some genuine, controlled, side by side shots. We have sone nice daffs and crocuses (croci) in the garden so I will have the chance to get those macro shots LennyBloke wanted.