Z981 Lens adapter

[sakisf]

Just received this item today from China. My expectations were not high but I believe it's ok given it's price (15 uk pound). The quality of the adapter material (anodized aluminium) is perhaps a bit better than the hard plastic of the camera. The only drawback is the 2 screws that you have to screw so that it can hold on it's place. They push forward a lamina (?) on the place where the name of the lens is written. Without much screwing (1.5 turns) it catches itself firmly there (and doesn't do any scratches). But the screws are small and can be easily lost - will have to look for replacements which can be turned by hand. If you use the full barrel (2 pieces) at wide angle then you can see the inside of the barrel, the 2nd is used only for telephoto.

The photos:

From the side, camera is shut down:


From the side, the screw and tool:


Front pic, at super macro (it fits!):


Front pic, wide angle (no vignetting/barrel view - can also be used as hood):


From the side, full telephoto extended (perfect fit):


Front pic, full zoom:

[mtclimber]

Congratulations! I am glad to hear that you found a workable solution.

Sarah Joyce

[sakisf]

Thank you Sarah. I have ordered a couple filters (CPL & Infrared) and as soon as I receive them I will post images to make sure that everything is alright

[Blueangele]

excited to see how the filters work! Is this the same adapter on ebay? How long did it take to get it? Sorry for all the questions, my camera should get here tomorrow or thursday and I am geddy with excitement LOL

[sakisf]

Yes Blueangele, I picked this one from ebay. Now I see it appears in more and more sites if you search on google. I received it in about 10 (8 working) days from China, usually it takes close to 20 to receive anything from there. I have ordered the filters when I received it, so it will take some time until I can post a photo with them in use.

[mtclimber]

sakisf-

Thanks for the update. Please keep us posted.

Sarah Joyce

[cinderhawkcreative]

Wow, very cool! The one I bought it almost identical to that, but I'm still waiting for it to get here. I bought it for the z980 instead of the 81 but for the price it was worth a shot! Looks great on your camera though!

[sakisf]

Ok, as promised here are the photos. For some odd reason we have no sun in Greece for the past 2 weeks so I am just shooting at some sky opening opposite my balcony.

1. Normal shot

2. CPL

3. ND8

4. UV+ND8

5. UV

6. Gradual ND2 (cokin)

7. Gradual ND4 (cokin)

8. Gradual ND8 (cokin)

9. Gradual ND2+ND4+ND8 (cokin)

10. +10 close up on super macro

The vignetting can go if you click a little bit of zoom, just wanted to keep the lens fully opened. All photos were shot at AE at 2.8 aperture, ISO 100. The CPL is the only semi-expensive filter, being a Kenko Pro-1D ultrawide CPL. The ND8 & UV are Green-L filters at about 4-5 usd each. ND8 gives a heavy reddish tone on the image, even when combined with the UV filter (read somewhere that this might reduce the effect but didn't work on mine, probably need a more expensive MC UV to do it). Gradual ND's are Fogra brand, which are 10 usd for the whole pack. They do not look bad when used single, but when combined they look really ugly! The cokin holder is a Tian Ya and I admit being cheap there was a bad decision, because the original costs only 2-3 usd more and this one is badly made (middle filter does not stay in place).

I also bought a +10 close up, which is only good when you attach it at super macro (1cm focus) to keep any dirt from getting on the lens. Does not work on telephoto and smooths badly the corners at wide angle.

[sakisf]

...continued...

[sakisf]

Well, if you really need to use filters with your Z981, buy only what you really need and make sure they are of good quality (and probably expensive ones because of 72mm). I am happy with my CPL and cheap UV, not really with the rest, but I guess I am not going to really use them other than for fun Will post a photo taken with the IR 720 too once I receive it.