Sony DSCH-5 Telephoto Adaper

[TomT]

Hi, All,

I just purchased the Digital Optics 2158T adapter for my Sony H5. The results I'm getting are 1.39 X instead of 2X and decidely soft focus in the autofocus mode. Has anyone had experience with this lens or the Sony brand 1.7 X adapter. Am I doing something wrong? I set the mode to telephoto but am disturbed by the soft images.

Could there be something wrong with my camera? It's only 6 months old.



TomT

[shene]

TomT wrote:

I just purchased the Digital Optics 2158T adapter for my Sony H5. The results I'm getting are 1.39 X instead of 2X and decidely soft focus in the autofocus mode. Has anyone had experience with this lens or the Sony brand 1.7 X adapter. Am I doing something wrong? I set the mode to telephoto but am disturbed by the soft images.

This lens is soft at corners and has chromatic aberration for sure. But, how did you come up with the 1.39X rather than 2X (if the marking is 2X)? When you are measuring the "power" of a converter, you should focus at infinity rather than any subject in near distance. Please see my "On Converter Power ..." page of my Panasonic FZ-30 user guide. You also find a number of good teleconverter tests using Panasonic FZ-30. While there could be variation from camera brands, the trend is fairly consistent.

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

[Sintares]

You also have the problem of the tcon being crap and not being worth the money.

These cheap lenses for digicams (not dslrs) commonly found on ebay or in camera shops in bargain binsbycompanies such as Tokina, Digical Optics, Opteka or those that have the descriptorof HiDef,Titaniumetc are generally best used as paperweights.

The only recommended lens for the H series is the one designed specially for it, the Sony VCL-DH1758.

The olderand heavierVCL HGD1758 is also decent andsome find the various Raynox tcons as not being too bad and a viable alternate plus there are other decent makes the Nikon, Olympus etc as detailed on shenes pages.

[TomT]

Hi, Shene,

Thanks for your reply. I determined the 1.39X vs. 2X by carefully measuring image sizes on prints of photos made with and without the tele converter. Camera focus was at infinity on both. The focus is soft overall not just in corners which leads me to believe that the mounting distance from camera lens to tele adapter may not be correct. The tele adapter has 58mm thread, same as Sony 1.7X model. Vendor says he has tested this adapter on Sony H1 with excellent results. All sites offering the lens say it works on H1 through H5. Visual examination of the lens leads one to believe it's of reasonably high quality and is made in Japan. Specs show lens elements/groups greater than Sony model. Could be junk but looks as good as some of my better Olympus film camera lenses.

I have return privileges, but I was hoping that I could find a solution.

Thanks for your inputs and site references. I'll post more info after further diagnosis/tests



Tom

[TomT]

Hi, Sentares,

This is same reply that I sent to Shene since you both raised valid issues.

Thanks for your reply. I determined the 1.39X vs. 2X by carefully measuring image sizes on prints of photos made with and without the tele converter. Camera focus was at infinity on both. The focus is soft overall not just in corners which leads me to believe that the mounting distance from camera lens to tele adapter may not be correct. The tele adapter has 58mm thread, same as Sony 1.7X model. Vendor says he has tested this adapter on Sony H1 with excellent results. All sites offering the lens say it works on H1 through H5. Visual examination of the lens leads one to believe it's of reasonably high quality and is made in Japan. Specs show lens elements/groups greater than Sony model. Could be junk but looks as good as some of my better Olympus film camera lenses.

I have return privileges, but I was hoping that I could find a solution.

Thanks for your inputs and site references. I'll post more info after further diagnosis/tests.



Tom

[TomT]

After extensive on line chats with Sony support I have retested this lens shooting distant objects with and without the teleconverter. By selecting the "Scene" camera mode and adjusting auto focus to use the small center spot the overall focus has improved but is still soft. There is marked yellow fringing and softness at the edges, but no noticable vignetting.

Still puzzling is that this purportedly 2X lens only increases image size by about 1.3 - 1.4 X as measured on printouts. The vendor has agreed that I may return the lens which I intend to do. There is some speculation that this lens will work with the Sony H1 but not the H5. I am querying Sony on that issue.

Happy New Year to all.

TomT

[Sintares]

The H5 is a fantastic piece of kit with a great lens.

I still don't understand why you are trying to fit the optical equivalent of the end of a coke bottle to the front of it .

The majority of quality tcons for digicams are around x1.5 with only a few reaching x1.7 and the only semi decent one above that would be the Raynox 2020, a x2.2.

Even the best tcons will degrade the image slightly, introducing softness or adding to fringing problems and $100 or less will buy you the Sony vcl-dh1758 a x1.7 tcon, which is specially designed for the H series cameras.

The dh1758 has been used to great effect by many people, with proven results, so why go with a generic brand that no one regards ashigh quality?

I know its difficult to buy a tcon and find its poor quality, I did it myself before I knew better.

Bought a tokina x3, the seller had all these cool quotes about it being hidef, digital quality with high quality glass, but in the end i realised the tcon was not particularily cheap and for sure crap.

I ended up buying the proper tcon and its miles better.

[maryccc]

I just got the Sony VCL-DH1758. I can't tell any difference in the zoom. It is the same if I use my regular zoom and when I add the lens. Am I doing something wrong? When I use the sonylens it gets very blurry.

[Sintares]

You should for sure see a difference in the reach at the tele end with the tcon on.

Take a full zoom pic then add the tcon and take a comparison picture.

You will easily see the difference then.

With the tcon attached the reach is over 700mm (equiv) so make sure you have enough shutter speed to negate shake or use a tripod.

[maryccc]

thanks. I want to take some pics of the moon. Will this telelens help?