This article features a small selection of images from an M.Zuiko 150-600 with Digital Teleconverter initial test. As regular readers know, I sometimes push myself and my camera gear just for fun to see what will happen.

The intent of this article is not to suggest that people should regularly use the Digital Teleconverter function with the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom lens. Rather it is intended to simply illustrate some initial testing that I did with this technology and the M.Zuiko 150-600… and for some photographs with the MC-14 also attached.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

As is the case when using any camera gear and photographic function, it is important to choose the right subject matter. As you can see with the image above it is important to compose photographs with good subject separation… which was not the case with this image.

You’ll also notice that this image was captured at ISO-3200. Since the output when using the Digital Teleconverter is a jpeg it is important to use lower ISO values to limit the noise that needs to be addressed in post.

The risk of using a high ISO value with the Digital Teleconverter is seen with the image above. While it may be an interesting experiment to capture a handheld image of bird at an equivalent field of view of 3360 mm the resulting photographs are not particularly useable.

Even when we are able to use a lower ISO value, like ISO-640 in the image above, the texture and definition of a bird’s feathers may not be a good fit with the use of the Digital Teleconverter. We may also discover that trying to use it in conjunction with the M.Zuiko MC-14 with some subjects… is simply a ‘bridge too far’ and is unlikely to result in useable images.

It’s been my experience that using the Digital Teleconverter for whole body images of birds doesn’t usually work very well.

Subjects with good separation from the background, along with well formed details are more promising subjects… but as we can see with the image above, using a high ISO value, like ISO-5000, is still problematic.

Even getting our ISO value down to ISO-2500 does not adequately solve the image quality issue when using the Digital Teleconverter in conjunction with the MC-14.

Being able to capture an image of a small bird handheld at an equivalent field-of-view of 3360 mm can be an interesting and fun field test.  Especially when a photographer can fill the frame from 15.3 metres (~50.2 feet) away with a small bird.

Keeping the ISO value to a moderate level of ISO-800 can be helpful when trying to retain some details. While the head, shoulder, and right side of the bird in the above image have held some details… the chest feathers have been smoothed out beyond an acceptable level. No doubt someone with better post processing skills than I possess could have done a better job with this specific image.

All things considered, I wouldn’t use the MC-14 or MC-20 in conjunction with the Digital Teleconverter with the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS when fully extended. And, if I was going to purposely pull back with my focal length anyway, then why use a teleconverter like the MC-14 in conjunction with the Digital Teleconverter at all?

This leads us to the question, “Is using the Digital Teleconverter with the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS worth trying?” The short answer is a qualified yes.

As noted in my M.Zuiko 150-600 vs. 100-400 Comparison article, the 150-600 does perform better optically, including sharpness, than the 100-400, This makes it a better candidate lens to use with the Digital Teleconverter.

A photographer may have occasions when they want to create more of a portrait style image of a subject bird, but they can’t move in close enough to do so. Or, they don’t have enough light to use the MC-20 teleconverter. As long as the ISO value can be kept to a modest value there is potential to create a useable image when using the Digital Teleconverter under these types of scenarios.

Whether the image using the Digital Teleconverter ends up being useable or not, the photographer has lost nothing in the process by trying. Their camera will still create a RAW file at standard magnification. This allows them to still crop and process the RAW file if they are not happy with the Digital Teleconverter version.

Based on my early assessment, it’s my view that the best Digital Teleconverter candidate subjects are birds with a lot of contrast and definition with their plumage, reptiles, insects, or mammals with more coarse fur. As noted, a composition that is more of a portrait style often works best.

As long as these types of subjects are captured in reasonably good light, using the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS with the Digital Teleconverter could be a viable option for many photographers. This can open up even more photographic potential with their OM/Olympus kit.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld with the camera equipment noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from out-of-camera jpegs files using my standard process. This is the 1,372 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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