Nikon TC-E2 2X Teleconverter Lens for Nikon 4300, 4500 & 5000 Digital Cameras

Great for both portraits and sports photography, this telephoto lens adapter is just the ticket for giving any of your Coolpix 900 series camera some serious reach. When you've zoomed your camera out all the way and it's still not enough, put this adapter in place and find yourself twice as close. The view is equivalent to that of a 230mm lens on a 35mm camera.

1 Excellent, for what it is
I bought this 2x lens to give more zoom capability to my CoolPix 4300 camera. The 4300 only has a 3x optical zoom built into it, which I found is not really enough for taking action shots and that kind of thing. This lens doubles the optical zoom maximum to 6x. That helps a lot for pulling in the subject, but is definitely not like having a 400mm lens on an SLR, for example. For my camera, and I think most CoolPix cameras, you need a small screw-on ring adapter (Nikon UR-E4, for the 4300) to attach this lens to the camera. The adapter can be a little hard to find I discovered, as most photo places tend not to stock it. I did find one though. The lens itself is very well made, lightweight, and comes with a nice little velvet bag and lens caps for both ends. It takes great photos without any weird side effects or aberrations. I've found that it's best if you use it in well lighted situations, or use a tripod, to avoid blurring the subject as a result of camera shake.

2 Get closer.
I have a Nikon Coolpix 5000, and needed this lens to help out the 3x optical zoom it comes with. The lens has great optics. No distortion or aberations. It requires an adapter to use it with the camera. Screw on the adapter and the lens to the camera, tell the camera you are using the 2X lens and you are ready. Wish they had bayonet mounts like the SLRs.

3 Very sharp, superb lens
...this is an incredibly sharp lens.

If you own one of the popular Coolpix cameras and want to increase your zoom potential, this should be yoru first choice. Not only are the optics first rate, but the lens is not overly heavy. This enables you to screw it on and walk aroudn with it. Photos produced with this lens are stunning and very crisp. The only drawback I'd say this has is the limit of only 2x telephoto/teleconverter aspect, but that is what keeps it relatively light! Amazon also sells a 3x version, but it is significantly heavier and it will end up in the closet instead of on your Coolpix.

Get this lens - you will be *thrilled* you did.

4 don't expect too much
Don't expect to be able to capture the stitching on a football during mid-catch from the sidelines with this, but it does exactly what it advertises, magnifying the normal lens by 2x. The caveats are important though: it renders the built-in flash useless, but more importantly, it renders the viewfinder useless as well. This makes taking pictures of moving objects especially difficult, as you need to watch them on the LCD screen. (try doing this in bright sunlight for a real challenge) If your photo requirements are just a little more zoom than default, and you're taking mostly photos of static objects, this lens should perform perfectly for you. Just be aware of its limitations.

5 Great Teleconverter Lens but....
All comments made in this review are based upon my experiences using this lens and CP990 (I have not tried the lens with a 900 or 950).

Nikon is well known for having superior lenses and putting out high quality products. They did their usual excellent work when putting together this lens. The Teleconverter does a nice job of magnifying the subjects you are photographing, however, expectations of prospective buyers should note this is 230mm focal length (35mm equivalent). Therefore, it is more realistic to use this lens for tight portrait close-ups, slight magnification, etc.

When I first began using the lens, I was getting horrific results. Pictures were for the most part underexposed. This was a result of no flash (using this lens causes the CP990 to automatically cancel the flash) and using a large number F stop and too fast of a shutter speed. After some adjustments, I started using a lower number F stop and a slow shutter speed (1/125th and slower). This helped a little bit but I was still unable to get the results I desired. I started using Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority rather than Manual. My pictures improved dramatically and I have since noted the particular settings when in these modes and have switched back to Manual with the same level of success. One important thing to note, I would highly recommend using this lens in conjunction with a tripod to reduce camera shake. This should be a given when using slow shutter speeds (in low light situations I've taken shutter speed down to 2 sec. or slower) but I felt I should remind any prospective buyers nonetheless.

Number of lenses: Four elements in three groups Magnification: x2.0 Combined focal length: 230 mm (35 mm equivalent) Combined F number: f/4 Angle: 11Ą Dimension: 1.77-inch diameter x 2.56-inch length Weight: Approximately 5.29 oz.

6 Nikon is the best.
Nikon makes the best of camera equipment. However, with the best equipment comes a cost that is higher than some. So if you want quality and money is not an issue, go Nikon.