Spot Metering and Auto Focus Settings FZ20

[wadge1]

Hi all

A question about spot metering and auto focus settings.

I have done some comparison shots today with a Tcon14b, Minolta ACT 100 and the Raynox 2020 Pro. I have used the settings F4 to F5.2 and 1/400 to 1/25 and i have had spot meteing on the third option and AF mode on the 4th option on the menu.So enabling me to pinpoint the subject ( I Think) whilst the Tcon 14b did the excellent job the minolta was pretty good to but the Raynox got the head of the subject quite sharp but then fade away down the rest of the subject and the background was blurred out.

The question being what settings should I have with the spot metering and the AF mode or is this not the problem.

The subject was about 15feet away and all comparison were done using a tripod.

Here is the Tcon 14b Pic

[wadge1]

this is the Minolta pic

[wadge1]

and finally the Raynox pic



And a big thanks to Lovelife for the sttings for the Raynox

Any comment much appreciated

[wadge1]

oops forgot to mention pics have resized but no cropping.



thanks

mark

[squirl033]

i don't think it's an AF or spot-mode problem, though you'd probablyneed to use the spot-focus modeto get a clear lock on such a small subject. the real problem here, i think, is depth of field and aperture. the first pic was shot at f8, the second at f5.6, and the third at f4.6. the difference in DOF between f8 and f4.6 might well account for the blurry background, especially at very short (for that set-up)range. your shutter speeds also varied greatly (from 1/15 to 1/60 for these three shots) because of the changes in sensitivity. try the same test series again, but this time don't change settings. use "m" mode,but select the same aperture and shutter speedwith each lens, so the images will all have the same exposure and DOF, and see if that helps. you will certainly get a more valid comparison.

just as an aside, the TCON-14B, though not quite as powerful as the other two, is one of the clearest and sharpest converters available for the FZ20.

[wadge1]

thanks for the info squirl033

will give it another go later its getting a bit cold now

not really much of a comparison if i'm using different settings.

cheers

mark

[genece]

I am suprised you got the Raynox to focus at 15 ft ...been my experience it takes about 20 ft to focus .

There is just something about the Raynox some pictures are good some are not.

I used spot meter and focus on the FZ20.

I looked back thru many photos from the last 2 years that I am sure were taken with the Raynox 2020 pro and I have good and bad photos at all ISOs and most F stops.

It would be a great lens if I could count on the quality more often.....Maybe a huge hood...Don't know for sure.

On the FZ30 the lens is better as far as light fall off and vignetting but still not consistant photos ..at least not for me.

It seems that if the camera is in the shade shooting into good light the results are better...but maybe thats my imagination.

Maybe its my lens ...I would think its not the camera as I have used it on 3 different FZs.

Of course operator error is a huge possibility. (at least in my case)

[wadge1]

Hello Genece

Thank you for the comments.

I think moreso in my case it would be user error.

I have got better results on my Dimage A2 but the vignetting is very apparent with the Raynox but the picture quality is much better and that is handheld

Here is a Test shot i took with Dimage A2 + 49mm-62mm Step up Ring and Raynox 2020 pro In P Mode.

I like the raynox lens because it's light.

Hopefully with a bit more practice i'll be able to get some good pics with the fz20 and the raynox.

[rduve]

It appears to me that it's not a focus problem with the Raynox, but edge softness on anything outside the of center. You canclearly see a cirlce of sharpness and the image softening dramatically outside of this circle. This is a softness in the optics unrelated to focusing or DoF from what I see here.

I personally love the crispness of the TCON17.

Here is a shot I took earlier:

[genece]

Yes the TCon17 works real well on the FZ30, it was not that sharp on the FZ10 or 20

The Tcon 14B was the hands down winner on those cameras, but not on the FZ30.

And with the Raynox I needed to go to about 14 X to get pretty good sharpness edge to edge on the FZ20 ,but the edges are better on the FZ30.....its just I can not get the consistantly good photos trom the Raynox as I can from the Tcon17.

I would like to get it figured out before vacation time.