Nikon TC17E-II teleconverter

The Nikon TC17E II is Nikon latest incarnation of its 1.7X teleconverter.

Specs from the Nikon website:

Magnification 1.7x
Lens Elements/Groups 7/4
Length 1.2" (31.5mm)
Diameter 2.6" (66mm)
Weight 8.8 oz (250 g)

The TC17E-II reduces the effective max aperture of the host lens by 1.5 stops

The TC17E II comes with a one-year warranty and front and rear body caps. It retails for about $400.

Construction is plastic and metal and is consistent with current Nikon lens construction. It is not the solid metal construction of the 70's but the overall feel of the converter is one of a well-built optic. It is not overly large and does not overtly affect the balance of the host lenses it is used with. The teleconverter does not come with a storage case or pouch.

The TC17E II has some pretty important limitations in regards to which lenses it can be used. Pay careful attention to this list because ONLY these lenses will function properly with this teleconverter.

AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR
AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D ED-IF
AF-S 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF VR
AF-S 200mm f/2G ED-IF VR
AF-S 300mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II)
AF-S 300mm f/4D ED-IF
AF-S 400mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II)
AF-S 500mm f/4D ED-IF (II)
AF-S 600mm f/4D ED-IF (II)

There are at least 2 lenses that people sometimes THINK will work with this converter and they do not. The 300mm F/4 AF ED-IF and the 80-200mm F/2.8 ED-IF DO NOT work with this teleconverter. Be certain you have an AF-S lens and that your lens is listed or you will be disappointed.

Performance will vary depending upon what lens you use it with. I have extensive experience with the following lenses:

AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D ED-IF
AF-S 200mm f/2G ED-IF VR
AF-S 300mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II)
AF-S 300mm f/4D ED-IF
AF-S 400mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II)

I do not have experience with the other lenses so I would strongly suggest you try the combo before you buy.

When used with the AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D ED-IF I was pretty unimpressed. I felt that sharpness was a mixed bag and I felt I had to stop down to at least F/8 to get even fair results. I dislike the sharpness with this lens/teleconverter combo so much that I would suggest that you certainly NOT consider buying this converter if this is the only lens you plan on using it with. The TC14E-II can deliver some nice results, but the TC17E and TC20E start really reducing the sharpness on this lens. This is the sharpest zoom I own and you will find many reviewers who feel that this is the sharpest zoom Nikon has ever made....even better than the newer models in the same focal lengths. When used with the TC17E-II the sharpness becomes ordinary...almost amateurish. If you need a 300mm field of view I would strongly suggest a third party fixed focal length 300mm lens rather than suggest using the TC17E with this zoom. Another similar cost option is buying an older Nikon 300mm AF F/4 ED-IF that can be found for less than $400 on Ebay and has FAR superior performance. AF performance with the 80-200mm/TC17E-II combo was still very reliable and I have little to complain about in those regards.

With the AF-S 200mm f/2G ED-IF VR ,AF-S 300mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II), and AF-S 400mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II) I was very pleased with the results. There is no comparison to the 200mm/TC1.7E-II vs. the 300mm F/2.8 or the 400mm F/2 in terms of sharpness. I am able to tell the difference 90% of the time versus the naked lens...BUT the results are still very good and can even be called excellent so long as you make sure to use excellent tecnhique. This is an item that will frustrate even an experienced photographer who decides to get a little lazy and not follow all the "rules" and forgets to pay attention to shutter speeds and proper stabilization of the lens. For the photographer who does everything properly I think most would feel that the TC17E-II delivered very usable results. I sometimes WISH for a bit more sharpness but in reality the PRINTS made from these images rarely appear less sharp than those taken with better lenses since printing technology really lags behind lens sharpness right now. If you are going to look at your pics on the computer then you will notice a difference. If you are going to print them then you might not notice a difference at all. Its important to note that the TC14E-II delivers STUNNING results with these lenses so if you don't need the little bit extra that the 1.7 converter gives you then you might be perfectly happy with the TC14E-II



I think most readers are going to care about the results with the AF-S 300mm f/4D ED-IF because it is the only "affordable" fixed focal-length lens in the bunch. At $1200 it is not cheap but its $3000 cheaper than its F/2.8 cousin. When using the lens with the TC17 EII you get an effective 510mm and approximately an F/6.3 aperture. I feel strongly that the results with the 300mm F/4 mirrored the results with the 300mm F/2.8 with the exception of focus hunting. With a max aperture a little bit over the normal F/5.6 limit that Nikon recommends for accurate autofocus you will certainly encounter some situations where the light will not allow for accurate or fast autofocus. In strong light you will notice no difference but low light might require the occasional manual focus assist. Luckily, the TC17E-II only works with AF-S lenses so that manual focus assist is accomplished simply by grabbing the focus ring and there is no need to flip a focus switch on the body or lens.
Sharpness with the 300mm F/4 and TC17E-II combo is still impressive but not the razor sharp results I would expect with a 500mm F/4 Nikkor. I will say that the resulting images from this combo are FAR superior to other 500mm lenses I have used from third parties including 500mm mirror lenses, the Sigma 50-500mm, Sigma 170-500mm and several Tokina lenses. In addition the distortion is FAR superior vs. these other lenses. Further, most of these other lenses have similar max apertures and as a result suffer from the same focus hunting problems.


Overall I love the TC14EII when used with the 300mm F/4. This was the reason I bought one. I also own an 80-200mm and I have little reason to use a TC with it since I own the 300mm. I think the TC17E II offers great value when used with a fixed focal-length lens but is not worth the money when used on an 80-200mm zoom. It's not a replacement for a 500mm lens but since most of us will likely never be able to afford a Nikon 500mm F/4 ($9000) I can fairly say that it is as close as most of us will ever get in terms of performance at that focal length.


The reason why I still give the converter 5 stars despite less than perfect results is that I feel that FOR THE MONEY the teleconverter delivers very good results with fixed focal-length lenses. In addition, I feel the results exceed the performance of the other lower cost third party lenses of the same focal length. In other words, for $400 you are getting better performance with a 300mm or longer Nikon fixed-focal length lens/teleconverter combo than you get with dedicated 500mm mirror lenses and several MUCH more expensive long reach zooms like the 170-500mm and 50-500mm Sigma. To get better performance you really have to consider a dedicated third party fixed focal lenght lens or a Nikon tele-exotic and either of those situations will easily cost 5 times the cost of the teleconverter. I guess what Im saying is that if you have a fized focal length lens that is compatible with this converter that the $400 investment is well worth the money.









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Teleconverter background info:

Teleconverters have been around for a very long time. For most of their history they have been looked down upon as being cheap and ineffective. Nikon has a long history of making expensive teleconverters supposedly optimized for their lenses and the results have been a mixed bag. Third parties have made them for Nikon mounts with even more unpredictable results.

A teleconverter functions by magnifying the image produced by the host lens. Typical magnification factors include 1.4x, 1.7x, 2x and 3x. This magnification is not without consequence. Issues common to teleconverter use are as follows:

1. Lens sharpness is reduced by an amount equal to the magnification factor of the teleconverter. So a lens that appears sharp when used alone may show noticeably reduced sharpness. Lenses that work best with teleconverters are those lenses that resolve more sharply than the naked eye can see. If a lens is extremely sharp it may be possible to use a teleconverter and still produce images that appear razor sharp.
2. Depth of field is also reduced. You may have to step down the lens further than normal to achieve the same depth of field you once enjoyed with your “naked” lens. This effect is directly related to magnification so a 1.4x teleconverter will exhibit this effect less than a 2x teleconverter.
3. The teleconverter reduces the effective maximum aperture of the lens. In general the stronger the magnification, the greater the loss in transmitted light. A 1.4X teleconverter typically reduces the transmitted light by 1 stop, while a 2x teleconverter typically reduces the transmitted by 2 stops. In practical terms this means that your F/2.8 lens is now an F/4 lens and will function accordingly. With a 2x teleconverter your F/2.8 lens is now a F/5.6 lens. Auto-focus performance on cameras is directly related to the amount of transmitted light that hits the AF sensor. The more light that strikes it, the faster and more accurate the autofocus performance of the camera. It is generally accepted that you need a max aperture of F/5.6 to achieve reliable auto-focus performance in most lighting conditions. Once your effective aperture exceeds F/5.6 you should expect your auto-focus performance to suffer and perhaps require you to manually focus the lens
4. In addition to magnifying the focal length of the lens, Teleconverters have the added advantage of maintaining the minimum focus distance of the lens. So if you have a 200mm lens that can focus to 6 feet, then a teleconverter on that lens will still focus to 6 feet while a standard 300mm or 400mm lens might normally require 10 feet minimum focus.

Some assumptions that can be safely made regarding teleconverter use are as follows:

1. Teleconverters work best with fixed focal length lenses. Fixed focal length lenses are ones that do not zoom. They are typically more optically simple and they usually have better sharpness, color response and distortion characteristics than zoom lenses. Many of the best zoom lenses do indeed function on par with similar focal length fixed lenses BUT when used with a teleconverter the zooms tend to perform far worse than the fixed focal length lenses.
2. Teleconverters work best with fast constant-aperture lenses. This is an auto-focus issue. An F/2.8 lens will typically focus faster than a F/5.6 lens. You are reducing the amount of light passing to the camera. If you begin with an F/4 lens you can assume that a 2x teleconverter (which will create an F/8 effective aperture) will have poor AF response.
3. Teleconverters mostly make sense with extremely long focal lengths. It makes little sense to attach a teleconverter to a 100mm lens because the cost of the teleconverter probably exceeds the cost of the lens you are trying to "create" and in addition the teleconverter/lens combo will probably perform worse than the bigger lens. The main reason teleconverters are so attractive is that tele-exotic& lenses over 300mm often cost over $5000 and have no cheaper consumer versions available. A 600mm Nikon F/4 costs over $9000 and is so large it requires a beefy tripod and gimble to operate. Since nobody makes a 600mm lens that is cheaper (at least for the Nikon mount) you can ONLY achieve these focal lengths with a teleconverter.
4. As focal length increases it is more important that you make certain you are using PERFECT technique in order to achieve excellent results. By adding a teleconverter you are already reducing the optical performance of the lens. In order to get good results you are going to want to tripod mount these lenses and use perfect technique to get the best results. Using mirror delay or mirror-up along with a cable release or self-timer will often result in images that are STUNNINGLY better than ones that are taken free-hand even when the shutter speeds are very fast. With a 300mm lens and a 2x teleconverter you will AT LEAST need 1/600 sec shutter speed to be able to get fair results hand-held and to be honest the number is more like 1/1000. There is good reason that the “pros” at foot ball games tripod mount those huge lenses (aside from the fact they weigh so much).


Additional things that will influence your decision to buy a teleconverter:

1. The current crop of Nikon teleconverters are EXTREMELY specialized and are designed to be used with a very limited range of lenses. That range is so small that I can list them right here and pay close attention to this list, because if your lens is not on it then you simply cannot use a Nikon teleconverter TC14EII, TC17EII or TC20EII.

AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR
AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D ED-IF (this is NOT the same thing as a 80-200mm F/2.8 AF ED-IF)
AF-S 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF VR
AF-S 200mm f/2G ED-IF VR
AF-S 300mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II)
AF-S 300mm f/4D ED-IF (this is NOT the same thing as a 300mm F/4 AF ED-IF)
AF-S 400mm f/2.8D ED-IF (II)
AF-S 500mm f/4D ED-IF (II)*
AF-S 600mm f/4D ED-IF (II)*

NOTE: Autofocusing only possible when used with D1, D1X, D1H, D100, F5, F100, N90s, N80, N75, N65 AF SLR cameras, or any newer models. I can add to this list…the D50, D70, D70s, D200 and D2X all work well with these converters

(*) Note: Only limited AF possible with AF-S 500mm f/4D ED-IF (II) and AF-S 600mm f/4D ED-IF (II). In addition the 300mm F/4 will also have some focus issues with a TC20eII in poor light.
2. AF-S lenses are electronically and mechanically different from non AF-S lenses. Nikon made the teleconverters so they will not mount on non AF-S lenses. While it is technically possible to modify the teleconverter so it will mount on a non AF-S lens, it voids the warranty and likely will NOT give you very good results. I have not seen many reviewers who praise the performance of these modified converters when used on non AF-S lenses.
3. Nikon does not make a teleconverter that will work on a non AF-S lens. As a result it is tempting to consider a third party teleconverter. If you consider this please make certain that the teleconverter will work with your camera body. There are only 1 or 2 current makers of third party converters that will guarantee full functionality on Nikon digital backs. Many converters will physically mount on a digital back but have no AF or metering. Owners of older non AF-S lenses might consider buying a used “b” series converter from Nikon. These converters are manual focus but do allow for proper metering on many digital backs. On a similar note, many third party “inexpensive” long focal length lenses like the 500mm mirror lens will NOT focus or meter on a Nikon digital back. You technically can still use the lens but it is a step back into the dark ages.
4. Make sure that the teleconverter will allow you to be able to do the kind of work you want to do with it. If you have fantasies of handholding a 300mm F/4 with a TC20EII attached you will get a 600mm F/8 and it’s going to be pretty hard to get good results in anything but the strongest light.