Teleconverters?

[Onwuma]

(Noob question) I've yet to figure out exactly what a teleconverter is and does... can anyone explain them to me?

[CyberDyneSystems]

Welcome to the Forum Onwuma :)

I can do you one better...;)
There are a group of links at the top of the EOS forum labeled "sticky" ... these threads contain answers to some of the most commonly asked questions on the forums.

Click on the "sticky" labeled -=READ FIRST=- and you will see a few more interesting links :) (at some point you may want to read them all ;) )

The third link down -=TELECONVERTERS DeMystified=- may explain it all for you :)

[Andy_T]

The teleconverters for Canon EOS lenses are little 'extenders' that you put between your Canon camera and lens with optical elements in them.

They enlarge the image so that the focal length of your lens is multiplied by a certain factor. (most used are 1.4 and 2.0).

They can degrade image quality to a certain extent (small on the 1.4, more on the 2.0) and will not work on all lenses.

There are two considerations ... physical lens build and aperture. While the Canon teleconverter will not work with many lenses because the front optical elements protrude and would collide with the lenses rear element (so it's just not possible), the camera will no longer have working AF if the slowest speed of the lens is slower than f/5.6 (and a 1.4 teleconverter adds 1 stop, a 2.0 teleconverter adds 2 stops). There is a tape trick, however, that might help you here.

Most likely, the Canon teleconverters will NOT work (physical build) on your 80-200 lens, but there are others from Sigma and Tamron that might.

If you want to get into more detail, look here (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41922)!

Best regards,
Andy

[Onwuma]

Thanks, i read the sticky and it really clarified. I don't plan on spending money on a new lens to soon, so i wont worry about the T-con. Thanks again.