Stacking Teleconverters

[Yi-P]

Sorry to sound dumb,

Is it practically possible to stack teleconverters from different brands?

Say, stacking a Kenko 1.4x with a Nikon 2x (TC20E). Will it work at all despite all the 3 stops of lights lost all together?

[Glen]

It is possible but you will suffer image degradation plus loss of light. What combo are you thinking of, there is often cheaper solutions especially in manual?

[gstark]

It's generally put into the "not a good idea" category.

[Yi-P]

It is possible but you will suffer image degradation plus loss of light. What combo are you thinking of, there is often cheaper solutions especially in manual?

I just want a closer view of the moon


With my 300 f4 + 1.4x TC and then borrow a 2x Nikon TC

[Glen]

Stand on your roof. Honestly the 300/4 and new 1.4 is a top combo, not familiar with the old 1.4 but you will get a better result with your 300 + 1.4 and a very good tripod, then crop, than stacking teles.

[Big V]

YiP, see if you can get in touch with someone who has a telescope, these are normally in the 1000mm to 2500mm range and will give you a far better result.

[Raskill]

For the sake of focal length you would greatly degrade image quality. This is about as good an idea as trying to fashion wings from wax and feathers.... (except of course, you wont die from TC failure....)

[sheepie]

If the moon is what you're after, get your hands on a cheap telescope and a T-adapter (?). Given the moon is almost as bright as the sun, you don't need a long exposure, so a simple telescope mount (provided it's solid) will be sifficient - no needing to track the movement of the stars

Probably end up being cheaper than a heap of teleconverters, and a hell of a lot better quality

[Yi-P]

Looks like I may just stick to my 300/4 + 1.4x TC (420/5.6) Combo...

Well, effective focal length in 630mm with the DX, I think its still possible to get clear view of the moon

[Big V]

YiP, you will be able to get clear pictures with your set up but you are not going to fill the frame or get anywhere near it..you should still be able to produce a good picture though. Now it would be remiss of me to allow a misconception to flourish..the full moon is no where near as bright as the sun. The sun is magnitude -26 roughly and the moon is -12 roughly. Each magnitude step is a brightness factor of roughly 2.5, so the sun is many many many times brighter than the full moon. Think about it, it does not hurt your eyes to stare at a full moon but only an idiot would try that with the sun. The moon is roughly 400,000 km from earth and it is being illuminated by the sun which is roughly 150 million km from earth and the reflected light we see comming off it is being reflected off of mainly basaltic rock.. end of rant
Yip this is what you might produce with your lens..

and this is what a telscope will get you..

[Glen]

Big V, thank you for clearing up that misconception, I had heard it enough to believe it

[obzelite]

get something big, you mite find the monn landing site if there was one