fz18 lens?

[dunkyg99]

i recently bought a lumuxfz18 and i love it! but i have seen 3x tele lenses on ebay for it and wondered if these would be good, or a waste of time? also, would that put my 18x zoom upto 54x zoom? i dont fully understand what adding lenses does to zoom! all advice much appreciated in advance,
cheers, Dunk

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by dunkyg99

i recently bought a lumuxfz18 and i love it! but i have seen 3x tele lenses on ebay for it and wondered if these would be good, or a waste of time? also, would that put my 18x zoom upto 54x zoom? i dont fully understand what adding lenses does to zoom! all advice much appreciated in advance,
cheers, Dunk

i'm not an expert - being pricipally a dslr user but some models of these are good - the one everyone raves about is the raynox dc150 - take a look at some of the pics by mat xyz in the Gallery to see what this can achieve - hes also the main man for advice on these jobbies so you might want to pm him if he doesnt respond to the thread.

[Pete Collins]

I've looked on that well know auction site (not sure we're allowed to mention it) - the 3x converter appears to be made by Tokina. Doing a google on 'Tokina 3x telephoto', I came across a review saying it was no good (couldn't see the actual review because you needed to be a member of the site). What I saw seemed to imply it was poor over 1.5x. It seemed remarkably cheap compared to the official Panasonic 1.7x converter (which I've just ordered for my FZ18) - it seems too good to be true, so I suspect the quality isn't great.

I've just ordered a 1.7x tele converter (DMW-LT55) for my FZ18. Problem is you need a lens adaptor (DMW-LA3) to go with it, and these are very hard to come by at the moment (I've ordered one from abroad).

Yes if you can get a 3x converter that would give you up to 54x zoom. The 1.7x converter will take it to about 30x.

I did mention this on another thread, but nobody replied. If you reduce the resolution of your FZ18 from 8.1mps to 5mp, the zoom can be increased to 23x, and if you go down to 3mp the zoom goes to 28.7. And this is optical not digital (I don't use the 4x digital zoom, as everyone says its better to process the photo on your PC). I'd like to know if the extra zoom really compensates for the reduction in resolution. I've been using the 3mp/28.7x setting, and getting reasonable results.

[colincurry]

The Olympus Tcon 17 fits the FZ20 and FZ30 and scores quite highly in reviews. I have one and it works well. In one of the reviews, it compared most favourably with the Panasonic and cost a good deal less. It has a 55mm thread and screws directly onto the FZ20/30. I don't know if this would apply to the FZ18. I would beware of the 3x advertised on ebay - it sounds too good to be true and how would you keep the camera and extender steady without a sturdy tripod. One of the pros for having an FZ18 is presumably that it is light and very portable.

I also have a Raynox DCR150 which works very well. I must say that I have just ordered a dedicated macro lens to go with my 30D but there will be times when I revert to the FZ30/DCR150 combo for convenience.

Hope this helps

Colin

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Pete Collins

I've looked on that well know auction site (not sure we're allowed to mention it) - the 3x converter appears to be made by Tokina. Doing a google on 'Tokina 3x telephoto', I came across a review saying it was no good (couldn't see the actual review because you needed to be a member of the site). What I saw seemed to imply it was poor over 1.5x. It seemed remarkably cheap compared to the official Panasonic 1.7x converter (which I've just ordered for my FZ18) - it seems too good to be true, so I suspect the quality isn't great.

I've just ordered a 1.7x tele converter (DMW-LT55) for my FZ18. Problem is you need a lens adaptor (DMW-LA3) to go with it, and these are very hard to come by at the moment (I've ordered one from abroad).

Yes if you can get a 3x converter that would give you up to 54x zoom. The 1.7x converter will take it to about 30x.

I did mention this on another thread, but nobody replied. If you reduce the resolution of your FZ18 from 8.1mps to 5mp, the zoom can be increased to 23x, and if you go down to 3mp the zoom goes to 28.7. And this is optical not digital (I don't use the 4x digital zoom, as everyone says its better to process the photo on your PC). I'd like to know if the extra zoom really compensates for the reduction in resolution. I've been using the 3mp/28.7x setting, and getting reasonable results.

Not strictly correct re using the lower resolution to apply more magnification. It's not optical as in altering the lens, it actually restricts to the centre area on the sensor, giving a magnified image. It's better than digital zoom, which just stretches and fills in pixels, but it's nothing that can't be done later with a full resolution image in your favourite editing package.
It can help produce better images in one way though, you get a magnified image so allowing for more accurate metering and focusing.

[Pete Collins]

Thanks for that Graham (I rather thought it was too good to be true! )