This article features a selection of digital teleconverter extreme test images captured handheld during this past weekend in my backyard. As regular readers know, on occasion I enjoy conducting extreme tests with my camera gear. This helps me better understand the limitations of my camera equipment, as well as assess my current level of photographic skills.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

In order to conduct an extreme test of my E-M1X’s digital teleconverter I started by deciding how I was going to set up my camera gear.

As you examine the EXIF data from the images in this article you will notice that I used an M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS fully extended to 400 mm. In addition, I used an M.Zuiko MC-20 Teleconverter and my E-M1X’s in-camera digital teleconverter.

This combination creates a focal length of 1600 mm. For readers who relate to full frame terminology this is an equivalent field-of-view of 3200 mm.

I used my trusty stool so I could get close to the ground and achieve more pleasing shooting angles. For the most part I was photographing bees, flies and ants in bright sunlight, so I used -0.7 EV exposure compensation for the majority of my images.

All of the images featured in this article are full frame captures without any cropping done to them at all. When using the digital teleconverter the output is a jpeg file.

These were adjusted modestly in post using PhotoShop CS6, and out-of-date versions of the Nik Collection, Topaz Denoise AI and/or Topaz Sharpen AI. I was situated about 1.3 to 1.5 metres away (~ 4.3 to 5 feet) from subject insects for most of the photographs in this article.

To say it was challenging to locate insects in my viewfinder at this extreme focal length on a handheld basis… and in such close quarters… is an understatement of significant proportions.

I was not expecting to create any high quality images given the aggressive settings I was using… i.e. a zoom lens fully extended to 400 mm… with a 2X teleconverter… shooting at f/13…. and with a 2X digital teleconverter.

As could be expected, there is a loss of image quality when shooting with such extreme settings… especially when the output is a jpeg file. The image above was created from the corresponding RAW file… which excludes the digital teleconverter effects. If you toggle back and forth between the two previous images, you can see more details and better colour rendition were possible from the RAW file. This is to be expected.

Photographing bees during this digital teleconverter extreme test was a difficult enough task. Trying to capture images of ants as they scurried about ramped that challenge up to another level.

I found that I needed to back off the focal lens of my zoom lens to help find the ant, then quickly zoom back in on a subject ant once it was located in my viewfinder. This was one of the few times that I’ve ever noticed the “non PRO” zoom action of my M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS lens to be a bit problematic. It is a bit stiffer than the M.Zuiko PRO 40-150 mm f/2.8 and it did cause me to miss a few image captures due to a slightly rougher and slower zoom action.

The ultimate challenge during my Digital Teleconverter extreme test was attempting to photograph flies. They were by far the most skittish and fastest moving subjects… and created another level of difficulty above the ants.

The surface area of my garden where I conduced my Digital Teleconverter extreme test is mostly covered by dark brown mulch,  with some occasional bare soil visible. This made spotting the flies quite difficult as there wasn’t much colour contrast. Further complicating my image captures was the fact that the flies would only stay on the ground for a couple of seconds before they took flight again.

One of the sidebar benefits of my digital teleconverter extreme test was experiencing what a fantastic exercise in eye/hand coordination this challenge represented. I found the degree of concentration and physical precision required was substantial. Anyone looking for an intense exercise to help build eye/hand coordination should give this digital teleconverter extreme test a try.

While the resulting image quality from the out-of-camera jpegs from this digital teleconverter extreme test may not meet every photographer’s requirements, I found the challenge in capturing them was significant, fun, and very rewarding.

 Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from out-of-camera jpegs using PhotoShop CS6, the Nik Collection, and Topaz Denoise AI and/or Topaz Sharpen AI. All photographs are displayed as full frame captures without any cropping. Images were resized for web use. This is the 1,311 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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