Steve'sDigicams

thwim · Nov 13, 2007, 7:12 PM

I am new to the forum and have bought a FZ 18 which so far is way cool. I am a real estate agent and sometimes need a wider angle lens then the 28mm. Panasonic sells one, the DMW-LW55. Does anyone have any experience with these type lenses. I need something that has little to no distortion. Raynox does not advertise as having one yet.

shene · Nov 14, 2007, 7:27 PM

thwim wrote:

Quote:

I am a real estate agent and sometimes need a wider angle lens then the 28mm. Panasonic sells one, the DMW-LW55.

I do not have a FZ-18; but, I would believe its lens structure is similar to those of FZ-30 and FZ-50. If this assumption holds, the LW55 is a very good one. The Raynox HD6600pro-55 is a good choice; however, its performance is very convincing at corner. You can find a comparison in my FZ-30 user guide.

CK

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

Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/2500/4500/5700, Panasonic FZ-10/FZ-30 and Canon A95 User Guides

Greg Chappell · Nov 15, 2007, 12:05 AM

The DMW-LW55 is very, very good. I use it with an FZ50 and an FZ8.

Conversion lenses like this do introduce an amount of bent line distortion, but the program PTLens (all of $15 for a license) has a profile for the FZ50 and/or FZ8 with the DMW-LW55. Once applied, images come out very well. With the FZ50, it's the equivalent of 24mm, or 25mm with the FZ8..

thwim · Nov 15, 2007, 8:15 AM

Thank you both very much. I really need someone who has the FZ 18 as the Venus III compensates for the CA and the lens distortion. I don't know how it would do with an add on lens. I would guess the Panasonic lens would be compensated in some form.

Greg Chappell · Nov 15, 2007, 12:56 PM

So far I have seen nothing that says the DMW-LW55 will be useable with the FZ18. It may be the FZ18's 28mm is already too wide. I know several who are waiting for the adaptor tube for the FZ18 which is not yet out there for sale, but the people I know that are waiting on that will be using it with a telelens to go longer.

One of the main reasons for me recently buying an FZ8 to go with my FZ50 instead of the FZ18 was because I knew my DMW-LW55 was useable with the FZ8 and gave a wider view than the 28mm end of the FZ18.

As long as you shoot JPEG, then yes, the Venus engine does compensate for distortion inthe FZ18 lens, but I have seen images from people shooting RAW, and there's definitely some bent line distortion in FZ18 RAW files that areuntouched by the Venus enginethat will require some user correction.

Here is the review of the FZ18 at DCResource...

http://dcresource.com/reviews/panaso...ew/index.shtml

If you scroll down that review, there's a list of accesories for the FZ18 which lists the tele lens, the DMW-LT55, but the DMW-LW55 is conspicuously missing on that list. An ommission on the author's part? Who knows, but I'd find some verification it will work on the FZ18before spending the $200 or so the DMW-LW55 costs.

thwim · Nov 15, 2007, 8:51 PM

:?Thanks Gregg, of course you are correct. I was looking at the option list that came with the camera and when I looked again I saw small print. It says not for the FZ 18.

DigitalGal · Feb 11, 2008, 7:51 AM

Thank you for posting these nice photos.. A wider angle gives really many opportunities to capture interesting scenes..

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Nov 13, 2007, 7:12 PM	#1
thwim Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 8	I am new to the forum and have bought a FZ 18 which so far is way cool. I am a real estate agent and sometimes need a wider angle lens then the 28mm. Panasonic sells one, the DMW-LW55. Does anyone have any experience with these type lenses. I need something that has little to no distortion. Raynox does not advertise as having one yet.

Nov 15, 2007, 12:05 AM	#3
Greg Chappell Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Dallas, Texas USA Posts: 6,589	The DMW-LW55 is very, very good. I use it with an FZ50 and an FZ8. Conversion lenses like this do introduce an amount of bent line distortion, but the program PTLens (all of $15 for a license) has a profile for the FZ50 and/or FZ8 with the DMW-LW55. Once applied, images come out very well. With the FZ50, it's the equivalent of 24mm, or 25mm with the FZ8..

Nov 15, 2007, 8:15 AM	#4
thwim Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 8	Thank you both very much. I really need someone who has the FZ 18 as the Venus III compensates for the CA and the lens distortion. I don't know how it would do with an add on lens. I would guess the Panasonic lens would be compensated in some form.

Nov 15, 2007, 12:56 PM	#5
Greg Chappell Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Dallas, Texas USA Posts: 6,589	So far I have seen nothing that says the DMW-LW55 will be useable with the FZ18. It may be the FZ18's 28mm is already too wide. I know several who are waiting for the adaptor tube for the FZ18 which is not yet out there for sale, but the people I know that are waiting on that will be using it with a telelens to go longer. One of the main reasons for me recently buying an FZ8 to go with my FZ50 instead of the FZ18 was because I knew my DMW-LW55 was useable with the FZ8 and gave a wider view than the 28mm end of the FZ18. As long as you shoot JPEG, then yes, the Venus engine does compensate for distortion inthe FZ18 lens, but I have seen images from people shooting RAW, and there's definitely some bent line distortion in FZ18 RAW files that areuntouched by the Venus enginethat will require some user correction. Here is the review of the FZ18 at DCResource... http://dcresource.com/reviews/panaso...ew/index.shtml If you scroll down that review, there's a list of accesories for the FZ18 which lists the tele lens, the DMW-LT55, but the DMW-LW55 is conspicuously missing on that list. An ommission on the author's part? Who knows, but I'd find some verification it will work on the FZ18before spending the $200 or so the DMW-LW55 costs.

Nov 15, 2007, 8:51 PM	#6
thwim Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 8	:?Thanks Gregg, of course you are correct. I was looking at the option list that came with the camera and when I looked again I saw small print. It says not for the FZ 18.

Feb 11, 2008, 7:51 AM	#7
DigitalGal Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 696	Thank you for posting these nice photos.. A wider angle gives really many opportunities to capture interesting scenes..