Telephoto Lens Question

[annie57]

I hope to purhase a telephoto lens in the near future for my FZ-30. I have priced the Olympus Tcon 17 that has been recommended. On ebay, I see a posting like the one below, and are these cheaper lenses any good or is the glass used that much of a lesser quality? As you all know, I am a very basic learner and just starting to experiment. Thanks in advance for all you GREAT people who have assisted me in the past.

This was the add on ebay and costs: $44.89 US

[align=left]
Digital Optics High Resolution 0.5X Super Wide Angle Lens + Macro Lens For Closeups [/align]




A Deluxe Wide Angle Lens with Macro. Perfect for Party Shots or Truly Capturing an Expansive Setting. Distortion Free, No Vignetting, High Speed Auto Focus, Day or Night Lens. Made of titanium makes the lens one of the most durable on the market and multi-coated for glare free pictures.


Features
• 0.5X Wide Angle Lens + Macro Feature!
• 7 Element Aspherical Lense!
• Extra Large professional wide angle lens
• Lens is high quality Vision optics
• Lens is multi-coated
• AF / Infrared Compatible
• High Resolution Precision Optics, Day or Night
• Great for every type of photographic situation
• Lens Bag Included
• Lens covers are included
• 10 Year Warranty
• Macro feature enables close ups with spectacular definition
• Made By Digital Optics / Digtal Concepts Manufacturing The Finest Optical Lenses For Over 20 Years.
55MM-52MM ADAPTER IS INCLUDED

[align=left]
[align=left]
A Digital Advanced Technology 2.0X Lens Offers a Deluxe Telephoto Shot . Perfect for Party Shots, Sports or Truly Capturing The Perfect Close-up shot. Distortion Free, No Vignetting, High Speed Auto Focus, Day or Night Lens. Made of titanium makes the lens one of the most durable on the market. Multi-coated for glare free pictures and you will be able to get within inches of your subject.
[/align]
Features
• 7 Element Aspherical Lense!
• A REAL Titanium 2.0x professional telephoto lens
• Lens is high quality Digital Optics
• Lens is multi-coated
• Fine Black Finish
• AF / Infrared Compatible
• High Resolution Precision Optics, Day or Night
• Great for every type of photographic situation
• Lens Bag Included
• Lens covers are included
• 10 Year Warranty
• All Lenses screw directly onto the Fuji Camera and are double threaded for multi-use
• Made By Digital Optics / Digital Concepts Manufacturing The Finest Optical Lenses For Over 20 Years.
55MM-52MM ADAPTER IS INCLUDED[/align]

[Sintares]

Garbage.

Nice paperweight for your desk though.

[RealMash]

Hi!

Concerning Optics, it holds true what I tell most people when they tell me about phantastic occasions on Ebay.

If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
(Hope I cited that correct),
Or, if I find myself in a literaric mood, I´d say: "TANSTAAFL:!"

[acronym, from Robert Heinlein's classic SF novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.] "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

You have to pay for good glass, and normally dearly. You paid quite handsomely for your lens, don`t degrade that by buying cheap glass to put in front of it. A short google search did not come up with any reasonable credible test results. And if even the web ignores them(which more often than not errs in talking about things better ignored), you should, too.

Concerning the Comment of Sintares, I would be less decided.
I would not be sure, that they are good looking ;-)

`nuff said,
cheers,
RealMash

[rhermans]

I can only concur, when bying my fz5 I also very quickly bought a set of diopters, for 30$ - +1 , +2 , +4 , +I don't know what. And they did work at al lousy quality , went even so far that I didn't want to try to shoot anything small ...

later i got the acromats from raynox, ... and the difference was realy big, so if you don't want to be disappointed, (imho) better purchase the ones that have been documented to realy work, there is much junk flying around there.

Ronny

[squirl033]

teleconverters are like any other lens.... they're worth what you pay for them. off-brand lenses like these may seem like a good deal, but they often produce images with lots of chromatic aberration, poor clarity, and softness at the edges. i'd stay with the Oly converter... they're proven, high quality lenses, and will deliver good results. if you want to retain the top-notch quality your FZ's lens is capable of, don't put a cheapo converter in front of it. that'd be like having 20-20 vision and putting frosted glass in front of your eyes. remember, a camera is only as good as the lenses you use.

[annie57]

Thanks so much guys!!!! Really appreciate the feedback. Think I will go back to the original plan to get the Olympus TCON 17 that was recommended in the first place. We had SNOW yesterday!!!!! Way to early for that, even in Canada.

[RealMash]

In the Add on Lenses group there was a discussion, and there I could find that link. The experiences are not devastating, but not far from it, either.

http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers...on_lenses.html

So finally, I found one prejudice that was right, at least substantiated.

Cheers,
RealMash