55mm Tele and Macro Lens Question

[mksmith713]

If I have a 55mmtube adapter for my camera and want to add tele or macro lens, will any 55mm lens work or does the lens have to be deigned specifically for that camera?

I see lot's of lenses available on eBay that are 55mm but they all seem to be listed as designed for one camera or another (never mine).

I think because my tube adapter isn't proprietary (default size from the manufacturer is 52mm) most sellers don't list 55mm lenses for my camera.

Just wondering if I can buy any 55mm lenses for my rig......:idea:

[shene]

mksmith713 wrote:

If I have a 55mmtube adapter for my camera and want to add tele or macro lens, will any 55mm lens work or does the lens have to be deigned specifically for that camera?

Those wide angle and teleconverters are not specifically designed for a particular camera, because the optic system in general does not allow it. However, since some cameras have a specific need (e.g., lens extending longer than necessary, etc), a lens not designed for that particular camera may not fit well or could cause some focus problem and even lower image quality (e.g., vignetting). Therefore, if you don't know if a particular lens can be used "properly" on your camera, you'd better go to your local camera shop and do a test.

Those eBay lenses are generic and very likely usable on your cam. However, many of them, especially those cheap ones, may have low image quality. If you adapter tube accepts 55mm thread lenses, you may consider Olympus TCON-17 for telephoto and WCON-07 for wide angle as your initial consideration. Some Raynox lenses are also good. See here http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/egindex.htmto find out if your camera is listed.

If your adapter tube has 52mm thread but you prefer the 55mm thread lenses, then buy a good, thin 52-55mm step-up ring will solve the problem. See here for the rings: http://www.2filter.com/prices/produc...pterrings.html The Kenko rings are of good quality, thin enough for general use, and not so expensive.

Hope this helps.

CK

http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam

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