Customer Reviews

Nikon TC-E3ED 3X Teleconverter Lens for Nikon 4300, 4500, 5000 & 8400 Digital Cameras

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I first saw tis lens I was excited about the possibility of converting my coolpix from a 38-115mm to a 114-345mm lens. Since this lens front mounts to the existing lens it vignettes at the wider end of the lens all the way to approx 85mm. Leaving you with an effective approx. range of only 250-345mm. While shooting in this range you better have a lot of light on your subject or a tripod. Otherwise you will get the predictable blurs from using such a long lens hand held. Since the cool pix is not the greatest in low light situations this extender compounds those blur problems. It also blocks the crappy built in flash if you are using it. Another problem you may notice is the size of this converter. It's huge for such a small camera. If you bring your camera for some quick snaps you may not want to lug this lens around.

On the plus side this lens is produced with the quality that you expect fron Nikon optics and if you want to get long, this is the ticket.

In the 6 months that I've owned the 3x teleconverter I have been happy with it's performance. I had been frustrated taking photos in the great outdoors, as my subjects frequently showed up as specs in my prints. To a great degree, that has now changed. This summer marmots, deer, mountain goats, friends, flowers, fungus, and more have easily filled my frames. Some advice to those who buy: use a tripod and make sure your subject has plenty of light. I've found the photos will blur otherwise.

This lens has the great optics I expected and performs well in both distance and macro (close-up) situations. When focusing manually for macro close-ups, throw out the distance units and use the focus confirmation option to get your shots in focus -- the distance units are useless in this mode. Bright light is the only situation where you will be able to handhold this lens; (it is heavy for the small camera body) though I have gotten some acceptable shots in less than perfect light using a bean bag and my knee to support the lens. A tripod is better.

. . . but once you adjust to the fact that you can not use the view finder, you will be pleasantly surprised at how good this lens is.

Nikon has always been the leader with their lenses and this baby keeps up the tradition. Top of a skyscraper, piece of cake; a picture of the Jersey shore up close while you're standing on the Manhattan side, it looks like you were standing only a few feet away from the subject, not miles.

The clarity of the finished pictures is awesome. Yes, the lens is a bit on the clumsy side for the Coolpix camera but as it is so easy to install (screw on, set camera to M and that's all folks), I simply remove it when I'm carrying the camera waiting to shoot the next subject.

Now, if Nikon could only do something about getting the lens to work with the viewfinder. On sunny days, the LED screen doesn't work that well. Also, you might find it an additional boon to getting perfect pictures to use a tripod when you have the TC-E3ED on the camera. Just a thought but despite these drawbacks, here is a lens that is worth having.

I take anywhere from 100-500 pictures in a month. i have used this lens several time. if you are looking to get close to you subject from far this one works great. picture quality is amazing and really is worth the money if you take enough pictues. Bottom line is if you get out enough and love nature like i do, this can't be beat with my nikon 4500.

This lens has allowed me to get all kinds of shots I used to miss. If getting in close matters, this lens matters. If getting the picture matters, Nikkor lenses matter.

Get this lens.

I got this item wondering how good a converter lens might actually be, I expected degradation in the image because of the additional glass. I also wondered why Nikon would make me pay more by using ED glass. However, when I began to use the tele-converter more, to my surprise the tele-conversion actually makes the existing lens better!

The camera needs takes photos in low light, at faster shutter speeds, because the teleconverter lens enlarges the light-capturing surface of the lens and lets you take crystal clear shots in relatively low light.

If you are willing to spend on it, I am telling you without a doubt this buy is worth it.

Ordered it 5 weeks ago and still haven't got it. I had to put in 1 star to get the review through.

So I thought it was a good deal till what appears in the mail;
a used lens...no warranty or data fact sheet, in a used box.
AMAZON...NEVER AGAIN!!!