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wadge1 · Jan 21, 2006, 10:22 AM

hello to Everybody

This is my second post on this Forum and an excellent forum it is at that.

Without this forum I would have had a hard job deciding what add on lenses to get.

So thank you.

I own a FZ20 and so far I have a t con14b which is excellent. A wcon 35 which i'm still getting to grips with. and recently I have purchased a Raynox 2020 Pro which so far I am not very impressed with , but once again a bit more playing and i might get better results. It definitely isn't has sharp has the tcon 14b.

Anyway sorry about the dribbling but i am on the verge of buying a tcon 17.

I Have had a look on amazon but they are bit pricey but i have seenthe tcon 17 on Novatech for £68.88 inc vat which sounds pretty damn good to me and obviously being that its brand new i will get the 12 month warranty for it unlike if i buy fromebay.

My question is ( Finally I hear you say) on the Novatech Site they have a Tcon 17 and a Tcon 17C the second one being 20 notes dearer can anyone tell me the difference between the two apart from the price that is.

any info much appreciated

many thanks

mark

squirl033 · Jan 21, 2006, 11:04 AM

my first question is why? with the TCON-14B, you already have one of the best teleconverters out there for the FZ20, so unless you're planning to stack them, the TCON-17 would be rather redundant. it's not enough more powerful than the -14B to matter much, and the -14B is abit sharperand less prone to CA.

in any case, you don't want the TCON-17C. - it's a bayonet mount lens that won't fit the FZ20. i assume you have a 62mm adapter such as the Phayee or Pemaraal for your -14B. in order to work with that adapter, you'll need the plain old TCON-17 and a 62-55mm step down ring for the teleconverter.

wadge1 · Jan 21, 2006, 11:22 AM

Thanks squirl033 for the reply

To be truthfully honest with you it never entered my head.

An excellent point why pay more money when i've allready got the perfect lens for the job.

Yes i have got the PD62 adapter for the tcon 14band the wcon 30 lens

and i have a cring on its way for the use of the Nikon 5t that is also on its way.which i can also use for the tcon 14b.

thanks again

Mark

squirl033 · Jan 21, 2006, 12:55 PM

if you have the Pemaraal 62mm adapter, you don't need a C-ring... the TCON-14B and Nikon 5T will both thread directly into the PD62 adapter you have. unless, of course, you just want a different adapter...

wadge1 · Jan 21, 2006, 1:31 PM

aah I thought the 5t was 55mm im getting so confused with all these lenses i've been reading about. ah well no worries no doubt it will come in handy somewhere down the line

thanks again
mark

squirl033 · Jan 21, 2006, 2:04 PM

the 5T and 6T are 62mm; the 3T and 4Thave 52mm threads.

LoveLife · Jan 22, 2006, 10:48 PM

wadge1 wrote:

Quote:

hello to Everybody

This is my second post on this Forum and an excellent forum it is at that.

Without this forum I would have had a hard job deciding what add on lenses to get.

So thank you.

I own a FZ20 and so far I have a t con14b which is excellent. A wcon 35 which i'm still getting to grips with. and recently I have purchased a Raynox 2020 Pro which so far I am not very impressed with , but once again a bit more playing and i might get better results. It definitely isn't has sharp has the tcon 14b.

Anyway sorry about the dribbling but i am on the verge of buying a tcon 17.

I Have had a look on amazon but they are bit pricey but i have seenthe tcon 17 on Novatech for £68.88 inc vat which sounds pretty darn good to me and obviously being that its brand new i will get the 12 month warranty for it unlike if i buy fromebay.

My question is ( Finally I hear you say) on the Novatech Site they have a Tcon 17 and a Tcon 17C the second one being 20 notes dearer can anyone tell me the difference between the two apart from the price that is.

any info much appreciated

many thanks

mark

The Raynox DCr2020 performs very well you just have to understand its limitations. To get the best performance form the lens you need to follow the following rules:

Shoot at 80 ISO at F5 and on a bright day so the speed defaults to at least 1/450. If you can not get that setting you will need a tripod.The lens performance deteriorates if you run at higher ISO. I do not want to go into a long technical explanation and will just say that the lens not the FZ requires these lighting conditions. Check here for my example pictures of the FZ20 with different lens. http://lovelife.smugmug.com/gallery/543892

genece · Jan 24, 2006, 9:53 AM

Good job Lovelife....I have used the 2020pro for 2 years now and while some photos have been very good, some have left a lot to be desired.

Now I will go back thru 2 years worth of photos and check the ISO.

Edit

I went back thru a lot of photos and of the ones I am sure were taken with the 2020 I see no evidence that the ISO or aperture is what causes some to be very goodwhile some are not ..so it must be back to operator error at least in my case.

Almost all my 2020 pro photos are at ISO 80..and while the ones at a hgher F stop seem better for the most part, I think that is just ,there was more available light as I shoot almost everything in P mode.

wadge1 · Jan 27, 2006, 2:11 PM

hi all

Many thanks for the settings info Lovelife much appreciated.

This is early days for me learning as i go along the weather here has been a bit naff of late so haven't had much chance to get out and take some pics.

I have tried the Raynox lens on my Dimage A2 and I got better results on that but there was a lot of vignetting. On the Raynox site it does say that the image quality might be better on a 7x lens which the A2 has got but like i said early days.

But lets face the FZ20 has the 12x lens so when the sun decides to come out I'll be out with my tripod and give that ago.

I did get some okay shots but it was a windy day and i was only using it on standard settings. Not really getting too adventurous.

But here 's a shot that i took with the Fz20 and the tcon 14b which i'm quite happy any comments very welcome.

squirl033 · Jan 27, 2006, 2:43 PM

looks like your camera locked in on the branch instead of the bird... he;s a little bit soft. for shots like this, especially from a distance, you might find it helpful to use spot focus, which forces the camera to focus on a much smaller area... very useful for when you want to focus on something that's only a small part of the image, or that is partly obscured or behind other objects like branches. other than that, looks like you and your FZ20 are well on your way!

Jan 27, 2006, 2:11 PM	#9
wadge1 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 163	hi all Many thanks for the settings info Lovelife much appreciated. This is early days for me learning as i go along the weather here has been a bit naff of late so haven't had much chance to get out and take some pics. I have tried the Raynox lens on my Dimage A2 and I got better results on that but there was a lot of vignetting. On the Raynox site it does say that the image quality might be better on a 7x lens which the A2 has got but like i said early days. But lets face the FZ20 has the 12x lens so when the sun decides to come out I'll be out with my tripod and give that ago. I did get some okay shots but it was a windy day and i was only using it on standard settings. Not really getting too adventurous. But here 's a shot that i took with the Fz20 and the tcon 14b which i'm quite happy any comments very welcome. Attached Images

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Jan 21, 2006, 10:22 AM	#1
wadge1 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 163	hello to Everybody This is my second post on this Forum and an excellent forum it is at that. Without this forum I would have had a hard job deciding what add on lenses to get. So thank you. I own a FZ20 and so far I have a t con14b which is excellent. A wcon 35 which i'm still getting to grips with. and recently I have purchased a Raynox 2020 Pro which so far I am not very impressed with , but once again a bit more playing and i might get better results. It definitely isn't has sharp has the tcon 14b. Anyway sorry about the dribbling but i am on the verge of buying a tcon 17. I Have had a look on amazon but they are bit pricey but i have seenthe tcon 17 on Novatech for £68.88 inc vat which sounds pretty damn good to me and obviously being that its brand new i will get the 12 month warranty for it unlike if i buy fromebay. My question is ( Finally I hear you say) on the Novatech Site they have a Tcon 17 and a Tcon 17C the second one being 20 notes dearer can anyone tell me the difference between the two apart from the price that is. any info much appreciated many thanks mark

Jan 21, 2006, 11:04 AM	#2
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	my first question is why? with the TCON-14B, you already have one of the best teleconverters out there for the FZ20, so unless you're planning to stack them, the TCON-17 would be rather redundant. it's not enough more powerful than the -14B to matter much, and the -14B is abit sharperand less prone to CA. in any case, you don't want the TCON-17C. - it's a bayonet mount lens that won't fit the FZ20. i assume you have a 62mm adapter such as the Phayee or Pemaraal for your -14B. in order to work with that adapter, you'll need the plain old TCON-17 and a 62-55mm step down ring for the teleconverter.

Jan 21, 2006, 11:22 AM	#3
wadge1 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 163	Thanks squirl033 for the reply To be truthfully honest with you it never entered my head. An excellent point why pay more money when i've allready got the perfect lens for the job. Yes i have got the PD62 adapter for the tcon 14band the wcon 30 lens and i have a cring on its way for the use of the Nikon 5t that is also on its way.which i can also use for the tcon 14b. thanks again Mark

Jan 21, 2006, 12:55 PM	#4
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	if you have the Pemaraal 62mm adapter, you don't need a C-ring... the TCON-14B and Nikon 5T will both thread directly into the PD62 adapter you have. unless, of course, you just want a different adapter...

Jan 21, 2006, 1:31 PM	#5
wadge1 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 163	aah I thought the 5t was 55mm im getting so confused with all these lenses i've been reading about. ah well no worries no doubt it will come in handy somewhere down the line thanks again mark

Jan 21, 2006, 2:04 PM	#6
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	the 5T and 6T are 62mm; the 3T and 4Thave 52mm threads.

Jan 24, 2006, 9:53 AM	#8
genece Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 2,111	Good job Lovelife....I have used the 2020pro for 2 years now and while some photos have been very good, some have left a lot to be desired. Now I will go back thru 2 years worth of photos and check the ISO. Edit I went back thru a lot of photos and of the ones I am sure were taken with the 2020 I see no evidence that the ISO or aperture is what causes some to be very goodwhile some are not ..so it must be back to operator error at least in my case. Almost all my 2020 pro photos are at ISO 80..and while the ones at a hgher F stop seem better for the most part, I think that is just ,there was more available light as I shoot almost everything in P mode.

Jan 27, 2006, 2:43 PM	#10
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	looks like your camera locked in on the branch instead of the bird... he;s a little bit soft. for shots like this, especially from a distance, you might find it helpful to use spot focus, which forces the camera to focus on a much smaller area... very useful for when you want to focus on something that's only a small part of the image, or that is partly obscured or behind other objects like branches. other than that, looks like you and your FZ20 are well on your way!