Lenses Lenses Lenses.... arrrggggggg

[Efrain]

I have a FujiFilm MX 2900 zoom with the basic lenses, (or at least what I percieve to be basic lenses, one is a uv filter and the other is... well ... is! I was told when I bought the camera that the darker of the two is a uv filter which dampens the brightness of the light when taking pictures outside on a sunny day. What the other clear one is for... I have no Idea.) an adapter which allows you to use other filters and lenses (I think) of the 43mm variety and a step up ring that goes from 43mm to 46mm that allows you to use other filters and lenses (I think). Now, Onto my questions.

1: what is the difference between lenses and filters

2: what lenses and or filters can I use with this camera either with the current accessories or by themselves.

Please let me know, thank you.

P.S. Steve, it was your evaluation of the MX 2900 zoom that convinced me to buy it. Thanks, it was a great buy especially at the price.

Efrain

[Lin Evans]

Both lenses and filters qualify as "lenses" in the relevant sense, but a filter, with the exception of a "closeup" filter usually affects the spectrum of light passing through rather than changes the focal length (such as telephoto or wide angle). Common filters are for ultraviolet, infrared, or to add a tint or change the amount of light reaching the film or sensor.

It's difficult to know exactly what the two filters you received are - best to take them to a camera shop and ask...

You can use wide angle and telephoto adapters with your camera. The wide angle will make things look farther away and you will get more horizontal area in your images (hence 'wide' angle) and the telephoto adapters will bring things closer like looking through a telescope. In fact, for the fixed lens cameras like yours, the tele adapters are really little monoculars which fit on the end of your existing lens. Soon there will be more posts here and more information about various tele and wide angle adapters - stay tuned...

Best regards,

Lin

[Efrain]

Lin,
Thank you for the input. I was kinda waiting for some more input but I guess that once your reply was read people figured what the heck... I can't really add too much to that and have skipped me. I have one more question if you don't mind. I am trying to figure out what would be a good lens package (if a package is the way I should go) consists of and what price range should I be looking at, especially since I am a beginner. I think that the simpler to use would be the best but then again... I don't know any better. Please let me know what you think.


Thanx for your help ... again...
Efrain

[Lin Evans]

A lot depends on what you like to do as a photographer. Your camera has pretty good macro (close-up) capabilities without adding too much in the way of lenses.

I think until you get the "bug" to do something special, you might just want to get something like an Olympus B-300 1.7x telephoto lens and wait until you get some more experience with the camera to decide on what and "if" you need anything beyond that. With your camera it will give you 178.5mm focal length and a little zoom range without vignetting.

The nice thing about the B-300 is that is will work with a wide variety of cameras - so some day when you trade your Fuji for another camera, you can still use this telephoto adapter.

I wouldn't invest too much in peripherals because the digital camera world is changing so rapidly that you may indeed be in the market for a different camera in a year or so. This may seem strange right now, but it's proven to be the case with so many who never intended to get another camera.

I think I would wait and not be too quick to buy a lot of peripherals which might not work with other models - once you are sure what you like to do, then you can take another look at the situation and decide which way you want to go.

Best regards,

Lin

[sreyes7]

:shock: I couldnt Help but Read this. Thank you so much.. I will wait to purchase Lenses.

Thanks again...

[shene]

Originally Posted by Efrain

I have a FujiFilm MX 2900 zoom with the basic lenses, (or at least what I percieve to be basic lenses, one is a uv filter and the other is... well ... is! I was told when I bought the camera that the darker of the two is a uv filter which dampens the brightness of the light when taking pictures outside on a sunny day. What the other clear one is for... I have no Idea.) an adapter which allows you to use other filters and lenses (I think) of the 43mm variety and a step up ring that goes from 43mm to 46mm that allows you to use other filters and lenses (I think). Now, Onto my questions.

1: what is the difference between lenses and filters

2: what lenses and or filters can I use with this camera either with the current accessories or by themselves.

I believe the clear one is a UV filter. For the darker one, check to see if you can rotate the front end of the ring. If it rotates, it is a polarizer (or polarizing filter). Frankly, the UV filter only serves a protection of your lens most of the time. The polarizer can help reduce reflection making the colors more saturated.

If the darker lens does not rotate, it is perhaps a neutral-density (or ND) filter.


A filter modify the color characteristics of the incoming light (i.e., filtration). Thus, there are color compensation filters, color correction filters (e.g., similar to white balance), special effect filters (e.g., 4- or 6- point stars), polarizers and so on. They change the color characteristics; but do not change the basic optical properties (e.g., focal length etc). A lens does change the optical properties. For example, a wide (resp., telephoto) converter reduces (resp., increases) the focal length of the on-camera lens, and a close-up lens allows us to move the camera much closer to the subject for higher magnification.

I do not have this camera. In theory, you can use virtually ALL filters and some lenses, as long as you get one with correct thread size. Here, "some" means wide angle and telephoto converters. Usually, to get the best result with vignetting, you'd better use matching converters.


My Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/4500 user guide has a "Filter" section that discusses the use some filters and step-up and step-down rings. The Coolpix 2500 page has a "Close-Up" page on which some basics of close-up lenses are discussed. Note that the use of filters and close-up lenses is camera dependent.

Hope this helps.

CK
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam
Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/2500/4500 user guide