I have in my possession, a Sigma 1.4 X teleconverter lens, that a friend gave to me... I think it is supposed to be for a video camera, but it fits on my FZ28 with it`s 46mm thread, and does not need to be removed when shutting the camera down... I have not used it much, (for no particular reason) since I did my initial tests when I got it, and found it only increased the 18X zoom by a small amount... Recently I have been investigating the internet to see if I could come up with a cheaper alternative to the TCON17 favoured by so many... below is an evaluation of a Sony lens that I rather liked.... however, I may have done it a dis-service and been too quick to return it....
Since returning it to Amazon, I have become aware of a setting on page 5 of the FZ28 camera menu listed as "Conversion"... Not fully understanding what it meant, I left it alone, until a remark on the FZ35/38 group on flickr.... so, today I have done some more test with my 1.4 X teleconverter lens, to see if it makes any difference to the "quality" of the pics.... I am not sure it makes any difference at all....! I think the reason for having the setting, is to ensure that when you zoom back from full zoom, the motor stops about halfway, preventing the additional lens from jamming inside the housing.... so it is really a safety setting....
Anyway, I put up four pics that have come straight from the camera. (apart from the text added to them) for you to decide, and tell me if you can see any difference in the "quality" of the pics...
NOTE... CLICK ON THE PICS TO GET A LARGER VERSION....
The first two are NORMAL settings.... 18 X zoom and 18X zoom with the 1.4 x converter.....
The second two are both taken with the "conversion" setting at "T" (18x and 18x plus1.4x)
If you can see any quality difference, (or none at all) then please leave a comment below, or on the FZ28 thread here
http://www.flickr.com/groups/793920@N24/discuss/72157622887937015/
Thank you for your time....
In my experience teleconvertors are best used with the lens adapters and not straight to the filter thread which is not up to carrying the weight, the Tcon17 done a good job but its a pain to attach, I usually just cropped the shot although you are limited to the cropping with a digital camera, that's why I went back to DSLR as the the crops are just so much clearer even on a 6mp camera! All said and done I hope to get another FZ28/38 as they are superb lightweight cameras to have.
ReplyDeleteI think the Sigma Lens did a pretty good job compared to the others I have tried, the big drawback is that it was only 1.4 X optical... Now if they decided to do a real 2.0 X optical in the same shell, then it would be worth having... !
ReplyDeleteWhilst the FZ28 and the newer version FZ35/FZ38 are excellent camera`s, I am saving my money for a FUJI HS10.... with 30 X optical Zoooooom !... out now but It`ll be cheaper this time next year ! ! ... Thanks for commenting..
Good luck with the Fuji, I bought the S200 and it turned out to have terrible IQ, really put me off Fuji!
ReplyDeletecheers
Having "played around" with the EZ settings, (see a later blog) I have decided to keep the FZ28, and use the reduced MPX to increase the optical zoom, I am not going to go for the Fuji HS10, as some reviews have said the quality of the pics is not so hot... and as punkrocker62 said it has put me off Fuji, (although my S5600 was excellent at 10X optical zoom and 5 mpx my "upgrade" to a S8000 was a disaster, and put me off Fuji)
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