Test/ First Impression Sigma TC-2011 2x Teleconverter First Impression

[GeorgeHudetz]

I don't have a 2X teleconverter, and a new one is $750 so I'm not too interested in tnat. I can try something with the Lumix 70-200 f/4 and the 1.4X. I would suggest you use LR Super Resolution (or at least compare it to Capture One).

That sounds like you were looking at the Panasonic 2.0 TC; the Sigma is $480. Still, way too much to spend on a whim and/or just to test. Used they tend to be below $350.

In the end, I’m guessing that a 2.0x TC will only make sense for more exotic lenses, like the Sigma 300-600 F4, or possibly the 500/5.6. Maybe a 70-200 F2.8. But my S-Pro is too soft at F2.8 to be able to take advantage of a 2.0x TC. *Maybe* at F4. The Sigma 70-200 also isn’t uber-sharp wide-open, but it is at F4. So that would keep you at F8 with the 2.0x TC.

I do think your skepticism is well placed with 2.0x TCs in general. But with some of these newer, super-sharp lenses, perhaps they have a place, especially for people who would rather get the reach in the field vs. in post.

 

[NFec]

Interesting - the Panasonic 1.4x TC also has the extra pin you circled above. And, while my Panasonic 70-200 has a contact for that pin, none of my Sigma lenses which accept TCs do. I wonder what that extra pin does. Thinking this through, it could be that the Panasonic lenses & TCs use this extra pin to enable the lens to understand the magnification factor of the attached TC - or perhaps even just to detect the presence of the TC - while Sigma - with the updated TC firmware - found a way to do that without the extra pin. This would explain why Sigma lenses don’t transfer corrected EXIF data through Panasonic TCs.

I thought the same way. No sure if i really want to find out by simply covering the one contact with some electric tape….
In case Panasonic really introduced the additional connector, isn‘t that breaking the idea of the standardized and shared L-Mount.

The mount was defined by Leica and it looks Sigma and Leica using the standard to exchange the EXIF data properly…
I found that picture of the Leica 1.4x TC, no additional pins at the bottom

https://www.cined.com/content/uploa...Elmar-SL100-400mmF5-6.3_Featured-1300x750.jpg

 

[CharlesH]

That is a good article, thanks. My thought is modern AI upres can trump a 2X teleconverter.

That's an interesting conjecture. Anyone fancy doing an experiment??

I've been thinking how to do a meaningful test that would show uprez well on this forum. Ideally one could have a resolution test chart setup and compare the line pairs per mm numbers between an uprezed photo and a photo with a 2X teleconverter. But I don't have a test setup like that, and don't intend to build one. In the past I've compared the hi-res functions of Panasonic and Sony cameras to the non-hi-res photos that are uprezed with an AI scaler like Gigapixel. At 2X they have virtually identical resolutions. But the case here is diffferent, it is about taking a taking a picture with, say a 200mm lens, and uprezing it 2X with an AI scaler and then cropping it in half to emulate a 400mm lens photo with the same number of pixels as the original photo.

A problem, I don't have a 2X teleconverter for comparison. Another problem, this gives photos with way more pixels than this forum can handle. But I'll do an uprez example anyway, to demonstrate the process. First, I've never been a fan of Gigapixel; it doesn't handle Panasonic RAW, and it doesn't handle images with fine text well. But I really like Lightroom's Super Resolution mode - it does AI uprez right.

For the test I used the Panasonic 70-200mm f/4, set to 200mm, and my S1RII, and photographed a model race car. This gave a 8144 by 5424 pixel image. Then I made a copy image and uprezed that X2 with Super Resolution for a 16288 by 10848 pixel image. And then I cropped this larger image in half, back to the same pixel size as the original image, 8144 by 5424 pixels, to emulate a 400mm lens. Then I exported both of these images at 3000 by 2000 pixels to use on this forum; they still look pretty good. Here are the results:

200mm photo

• Panasonic DC-S1RM2
• LUMIX S 70-200/F4
• ƒ/8
• 200mm
• 1/200s
• ISO 800

Emulated 400mm photo from the same image

• Panasonic DC-S1RM2
• LUMIX S 70-200/F4
• ƒ/8
• 200mm
• 1/200s
• ISO 800

 

[xaviergut]

Excellent, Charles. Thank you!