Olympus EC 20 Teleconverter - Review

[Jaedon]

After being able to play with this new device for a little bit I am now ready to give my opinion on it.

First off losing 2 stops of light is difficult for any photographer, but the extra reach you can get with it on bright sunny days is definitely worth it. When out chasing birds or wildlife during the day and you wish you had just that little more reach the EC 20 gives you what you need for sure.

I have found a few problems with using it however. When coupled with the Bigma (Sigma 50 - 500 f4 - 6.3) it can be very useful but as you approach the end of the zoom length the focus is very hard to control. The slightest adjustment makes a HUGE difference in what you see and with the 2 stops light loss the AF has a really hard time grabbing the focus as well. For a wildlife shooter if all you really want is an ID shot at max zoom you can achieve that easily. After about 750mm (combined focal length) the focus remains soft and hard to control. Having to bump the ISO to get the shot in lower light situations leads to noisy and soft focused images. Still getting the extra 50% reach with a sharp focus is nothing to complain about.

Using it with the kit 40 - 150F 3.5 - 4.5 lens is a very nice combination. The AF works nicely at this level leaving your "Wide open aperture" setting at F8. No need to bump the ISO now so shooting at max zoom (300mm combined focal length) is a breeze due to the weight factor alone. Having a 300 MM lens that weighs next to nothing (less than 2 lbs combined weight) compared to the Bigma's 9 lbs almost left me feeling like something was missing.

The AF speed is uncompromized by the Teleconverter regardless of which lens I tried it with but the AF accuracy works better with the shorter faster lenses. The higher the aperture number is the less accurate and less sharp the focus seems to be with all lenses tested.

Sample shot are taken with the 40 - 150 kit lens at F9 ISO 200 first shot with and second shot without the EC 20 attached.

[HelifaxNZ]

Hi, I am seriously thinking about getting one of these telecoverters. First and foremost so I can use it with my 35mm Macro lens.

So if I understand right, if I add the EC-20 then the 35mm, it will then double it to 70mm.

Does that mean for macro shots I can stand a little further back to take the same composition as if I was closer?

I read somewhere that if you add an extension tube, you will have to get closer to the subject so it confused me a little, so come here for clarity.

Thanks!

[Jaedon]

I haven't tried this extender with a Macro lens... I have no idea what it would do.

I have only used it for telephoto shots. I don't own a macro lens however and have to use a macro tube so the combination would not work for me at all I don't think

[HelifaxNZ]

I received my new toy last week. Yes the EC-20. I've only had a quick play with it in the weekend.

The reason I chose to go with the EC-20 instead of the 50mm Macro or the Sigma's 105mm Macro lens is that being 2x teleconverter, this will be more practical and cost effective, as it will make my 35mm Macro lens into a 70mm Macro which will give me just that much more reach that I need for my macro shots.

One thing I instantly noticed was the weight. It feels a lot heavier than my macro lens and maybe the other kit lenses, but it did feel solid and oozed professionalism :thumbsup:

I've attached the EC-20 with my 35mm Lens.
First impression. It was darker. You needed better lighting to take good shots. I've found taking macro shots, I needed to up the ISO to 400 + which isn't good for noise as Jaedon has mentioned. With macro shots, I need sharp shots with minimal noise and with the E-300 you start to see a little noise, and if you bump it up to 800 or 1600 it's just no good for enlargements or even seeing it normally on your screen. BUT it does work!

Automatic focus can be hard when there is no "Bright" light. Even using the built-in flash to help focus doesn't work as well as can be. In situations like that, manual focus is the only way.

If you can get it focused, it produces great results. Just as good as having only the 35mm lens, but I find I get mixed results (at this time) with using the EC-20 with the 35mm.

I need to persevere and do some more tests to find ways of overcoming the issues.

Here are some examples:











Notice the more softer focus on the corals and shell. With less light, this is what I get at the moment.

[Greg McCary]

Wow those are some great pictures. You have a great start on a review. Please be sure and post one. I am amazed at these pictures. Converters have came a long ways since I use one for my old Yashica film camera. Thanks for sharing and the update as well.

[Jaedon]

Try using a reflector for adding more light if you can. I get my 5 year old to hold a reflector for me and you can gain 1 - 1.5 stops of light that way making up almost completely for the teleconverter.

I started finally using it with a tripod (I am such a hand held shooter that I forget I own such equipment sometimes lol. Here is a shot that I posted in the nature forum which was taken at 500MM + EC-20. This is what 1000 mm can look like if you are perfectly still. Using the remote trigger for this one also really helped.



This was taken with the E510 at F12 ISO 400 and 1/60th if memory serves.

[HelifaxNZ]

Very nice. At 1000mm you do need a tripod. I wouldn't be able to take that type of shot at that distance without help of some sort. Yes I guess you can use a reflector. Do they come hands free?!

[fly4meair23]

Hi to all, I am looking to buy the EC-20 2X Teleconverter for my E-510 to go along with my 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 lens. I am primarily looking to use the teleconverter to gain the extra zoom for basketball games, in particular the NBA and college games where I am sitting in the upper deck of a stadium so I can get some closer shots. I know that I will lose 2 f-stops by using the teleconverter but the games have pretty decent lighting (not as bad lit as a low level gym). So my question is, does anyone have any experience/results with using one of these for shooting indoor games because I do not want to throw $400 out the window for some below average results. Thanks for the help!

[billy320]

I just started using mine here is a picture I took, I was standing about 20 feet away. How could I have made it a better shot. no tri pod



Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/11.2
Focal Length: 600 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Camera ID: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Lens Type: Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6 (pre-release)
Extender: Olympus Zuiko Digital EC-20 2.0x Teleconverter