New Vivitar 2x TC mini review

Most interesting indeed. My new Vivitar 2X7 AF TC just arrived in the mail. (B&H $157.40 with S&H) Smaller than I expected, about the same size as a Canon 1.4x TC. Does not fit/work with ef-s lenses (now, if it was only closer to April Fool's Day.....) No protruding elements. Non-reporting. (Did I hear someone say - yeah?) Mounted on a f/2.8 lens, for example, it reports f/2.8. This means it produces smooth, accurate, no hunting AF with my EF 500/4! I'm using a 7D body. Now for some strange behaviour. Trying it on my Sigma 150/2.8 and Sigma 50/1.4, it never does AF. Just keeps hunting, jitters, never locks onto anything. It does not like Sigma. Tried it on my Tokina 11-16/2.8 and (suprize) smooth, accurate AF. AF works fine on all Canon lenses. Sharpness? I selected my EF 70-200/4 L IS lens for the sharpness tests. IS off, tripod, remote switch, LiveView 10x for MF, lens at 200mm. I see so many asking how the 70-200's do with TCs, I thought it might be a good test. I must say the results were very pleasing to my eye. Center crops - Vivitar 2x TC is sharper at f/4, f/5.6. Tie at f/8, Canon 2x TC sharper at f/11, f/16, by a small bit. Edge crops, the Vivitar wins at every aperture. I will re-do that part of the test, as I did not expect that result. I'll be doing sharpness on my 500/4 next. I think for many the price and performance will mkae it worth getting. The issue with non-function on some other brands may turn some away.

wow cool, surprising results from Vivitar's TC is very cool. I might have to pick one up.

If only one of the manufacturers would give us what we really want... a "selective" reporting TC. I.e. if the resulting f-stop were over f/5.6 it wouldn't report itself, and if not it would. That would be kinda cool I think. Especially if it always modded the lens name EXIF. So you can still search by that EXIF.

Because to some degree, the AF system just does a check for an f-stop f/5.6 or lower (and f/8 on the 1D's), so if it isn't reporting an f/5.6 or smaller the AF would continue to work.

Not only do I like the non-reporting part, (I have so many MF lenses that missing the EXIF data is not unusual to me) the non-protruding part (like Kenko and Tamron) means it will fit any EF lens. More tests to follow but it may become glued to my 500/4.

gasrocks wrote in post #9554185
Not only do I like the non-reporting part, (I have so many MF lenses that missing the EXIF data is not unusual to me) the non-protruding part (like Kenko and Tamron) means it will fit any EF lens. More tests to follow but it may become glued to my 500/4.

Hehe. Yeah my cheapo Bower 2x doesn't have a protruding front element and can be mounted to any EF lens, still didn't make it a very good 2x. If you're saying this is worth a shot, I'll give it a try.

Do you have Kenko Teleplus 300 PRO DG 2x to compare it to? Because based on the quality of my Kenko 1.4x, I've been considering that one.

Reporting/non reporting...... my Kenko is selective. It does not report with my 85 but does with my 300.

gasrocks -

Great report, interesting news. I am looking forward to your report on the 500mm test!

Very cool, especially for $150, to hear its better than or equal to the Canon surprises and shocks me

I had a Tamron SP 2x TC. Very much the same as my Canon EF 2x TC. Just more universal and cheaper.

Nureality - you made me think of an idea - I doubt it would be too hard for someone to put a small switch on the side of a TC that disconnects 3 wires, turning the TC into a non-reporting one. I can see it now, soon all TCs will have switches on the sides.

Thanks for the review!

Now I am thinking that maybe I should get 2 of the new Vivitar 2x TCs. I do have some lenses that just eat TCs for lunch (i.e. work really well with any number of TCs.) Ok, 4x is getting a bit "out there," pun intended.

OK, I went outside and did a few quick shots with the new Vivitar 2x TC and my EF 500/4 on a monopod. Impressive IQ and smooth, accurate AF in real life conditions. If you call all this %$&^* snow real life.

gasrocks wrote in post #9560566
Nureality - you made me think of an idea - I doubt it would be too hard for someone to put a small switch on the side of a TC that disconnects 3 wires, turning the TC into a non-reporting one. I can see it now, soon all TCs will have switches on the sides.

I'm full of great ideas. Sometimes I share em with the world.

Well, full of something...... good no doubt.