Lens Test Glossary     About these reviews

I'd get mine here

I'd get mine here

Introduction

This is an expensive 1.7x teleconverter. You lose 1.5 stops of light and get 1.7x the focal length.

It ONLY works with expensive AF-I and AF-S ultra telephoto lenses. One CANNOT mount any other lenses on it unless one grinds down certain lugs on the female mount at a machine shop. It works with both current AF-S and earlier AF-I lenses.

Nikon makes NO AF teleconverters for its general line of AF lenses. One must instead use the manual focus TC-200 and focus manually, or mess with discount brands and hope the matrix metering couples correctly.

To retain AF ability with ordinary AF lenses one must slum it with a discount brand teleconverter.

Specifications

It has seven elements in four groups.

It's 2.6" (66 mm) around by 1.2" (32 mm) long (mount to mount).

It weighs 9 oz (250 g).

Nikon Product Number: 2151 (TC-17E II) , in catalog as of spring 2008.

Performance

I've used the TC-20E with the 400/2.8 AF-I and the 80-200/2.8 AF-S. See those reviews for details of performance with that converter.

This TC-17E was introduced to support the VR functions of the newest multi-thousand-dollar AF-S VR ultra-tele lenses.

The sharpness of a system with a TC is dependent more on the prime lens and dumb luck than the TC itself. The TC magnifies the image from the lens. A lens needs to have over twice as much sharpness to look good with a 2x converter. The 400/2.8 AF-I doubles great. Remember that zooms have come a long way today, but when you double them you just may not have the excess performance you need to get what you want with the TC.

Therefore the TC-17E should be great with fixed focal length f/2.8 lenses, but be careful with the 70-200 VR and other zooms.

Don't use this TC-17E with lenses slower than f/2.8 since the final speed isn't fast enough for the AF system to be happy.

Recommendations

If you have an f/2.8 AF-S or AF-I fixed focal length super telephoto lens this is a very handy addition. Forget about it otherwise; this is for professional use with the super teles.

I wouldn't suggest it for any zoom. I know you all want to use it with the 70-200 VR, however it probably works more poorly than the straight 80-400 VR does without a TC. I have used the 80-200 AF-S with the TC-20E and that combo was softer wide open than the 80-400VR. Don't let me stop you and by all means give it a try with the 70-200; just that for less money you can get the 80-400 instead with probably better performance out at 400mm.

It is useless unless you have an AF-I or AF-S lens of f/2.8 or faster. One CANNOT mount any other AF or manual lens or accessory to the front because it is keyed mechanically to prevent this.

It makes little sense to use this with the 28 - 70 AFS, and you'll damage the system if you set the 28 - 70 lens to its shorter focal lengths since glass will collide. Only silly people worry that this can't attach to the 24 - 120mm VR, 24 - 85 mm, 17 - 35 mm, or 12 - 24 mm AF-S lenses because the TC needs to extend into the back of the lens. The shorter lenses all have glass clear out to the back of the lens mounts; the super teles just have air at the rear.

Just for fun you can attach another manual focus teleconverter to the rear of this, but not the front.

This converter is intended for professional use with long super telephotos. It is not like the old TC-201 teleconverter that was intended for general use to make a normal lens into a telephoto.