Order and Arrival of Lens Adapters for the S3...

[chicagoastronomer]

Placed my order for the S3 lens adapter & accessories

After reading plenty on the pros and cons of the 52mm vs the 58mm lens adapters, I decided on the 58mm and associated accessories.

I certainly was not going to go for the Canon adapter. Being plastic and more expensive...they should be ashamed of themselves! I explored extensively the posts here and Ebay, Lensmate & Camera Filters.

I went with CameraFilters.com.

I read about the products that Lensmate offers for sale, but I just couldn't see spending almost twice the amount for the same lens adapter that CameraFilters.com had for sale at $12.00. Others who bought from each of the two had either - absolutely no problems or a slight jiggle in the bayonet mount. Same thing on the vignetting. It was running 50/50, so I took a chance with the more economical supplier. And besides, they also had the other necessary accessories that I was looking for at one stop, and this was convenient and cost effective.

I got two lens adapters to keep the polarizer and the UV filter permanently on each one. Simple on and off, and no fumbling to unscrew.

The clincher here was the fact of No Shipping charge and 10% discount on 5 or more items. I was sold.


This is what I ordered:

1. Product ID: J27
Product Name: 58mm Adapter Tube for Canon S3 IS
Attributes (if any):
Price: $12.00
Quantity: 2

2. Product ID: PLC58
Product Name: 58mm Plastic Snap-On Lens Cap
Price: $1.00
Quantity: 2

3. Product ID: CK1
Product Name: Cap Holder 1
Price: $1.00
Quantity: 1

4. Product ID: HA8
Product Name: 58mm HOYA Green Label UV Filter
Price: $6.40
Quantity: 1

5. Product ID: TF16
Product Name: 58mm Tiffen Circular Polarizer
Price: $22.51
Quantity: 1

6. Product ID: G20
Product Name: 58mm Rubber Lens Hood
Price: $2.66
Quantity: 1

Order Summary:
Order ID: 13468
Order Total: Merchandise Total: $58.57
Discounts: $5.86
Sub-Total: $52.71

Local Tax: $0.00
State/Province Tax: $0.00
Country Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $0.00
Handling: $0.00

Grand Total: $52.71 USC


I should be receiving my goods sometime next week, as they processed my order prior to my posting this message, and sent me a confirmation email. There was a slight discrepancy on the 10% discount, as the shopping cart screen displayed it, but the final grand total did not. A simple email was sent out, and my credit card amount was adjusted immediately.

I almost got the conversion lenses too, but I need to heat my house.
__________________
Chicago Astronomer Joe
Administrator
www.chicagoastronomer.com

Telescope/Observatory Operator
Adler Planetarium & Museum

"We are all in the Gutter, but some of us are looking at the Stars"
Oscar Wilde 1852-1900

[chicagoastronomer]

My Adapters and Accessories have arrived!

This Monday afternoon, I got a pleasant surprise in my mailbox. There was a USPS box sticking out and it just had to be the adapters I ordered last Friday:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/Mailbox1.jpg

Sweet!

Excellent shipping and delivery. I ordered them Friday afternoon and it got here Monday afternoon. Really, if you knock off no delivery Sunday, It took about a day!

I opened the sturdy box carefully and layed out all my cool products:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/LayedOut1.jpg

Top Row: 58mm Adapter and ring - Lens Cap - 58mm Adapter and ring
Middle row: UV Filter - Lens Cap (Backside)
Bottom Row: Lens cap Keeper - Rubber Hood (with inside thread)- Circular Polarizer[/CENTER]

I examined each one carefully, and found nothing amiss with any. So, I started to assemble the adapters for the S3. I eagerly placed one on the S3 and took a shot. The adapters are solid metal and a nice black. As the camera its self is gun metal grey, it doesn't exactly match, but it's fine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/Adapterandring1.jpg

Here, as shown above, I was puzzled on why there is a ring that comes off the adapter. I screwed it back on the front of the adapter and proceeded to attach the UV filter on top of that. You can readily see that the addition of the 58mm adapter causes a semi-circle of shadow near the bottom of the shot when used with the flash. This was to be expected and not a bother.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/CapHolder1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/CameraHood4.jpg

I attached the rubber hood and I like what I see. It isn't too big and folds down. I should have gotten TWO...one for each adapter! Damn!...:angry: The Lens Cap keeper was simple and has a plastic end to it that hooks around the neck strap eyelets on the camera. I felt that this was too far for the string length and I attached it to the "buckle" on the neck strap itself. Works fine. (What I may do with the cap is to place a velco dot on top of the lens keeper button and "stick" it somewhere on the S3 or neck strap when shooting.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/CameraHood2.jpg

The camera now looks "Finished". It stands proud with extended adapter and hood, ready to take on any overly priced DSLR.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/CameraHood1.jpg

I wondered if I could easily snap on the end cap while keeping the hood on. At first I fumbled to squeeze the tabs and set it in place, but with practice one just needs to angle it in and just "snap" it in securely.

There is no vignetting with filters or hood combinations at all in any and all zoom mm's.


Now the negative side:

I read prior about some jiggling of non-Canon adapters while attached to the S3. One had a slight jiggle and would make a slight noise if manipulated. About the same movement as the cosmetic ring covering the bayonet base on the camera. The other adapter was quite loose. Much more so than the first. I read where just a bit of clear tape tightens everything up, and so I went to work. I put clear postal grade tape on the three tangs on the rear of the adapters that snap onto the bayonet base, and now both are very tight and secure. No jiggling or movement at all.

I'm not all that disappointed with the potential jiggling of the $12.00 adapters and can live with the initial looseness. The polarizer adjustment ring is just slightly loose on itself, but nothing to get excited about. It fits tightly onto the S3 fine. No problem at all with the UV filter.

Overall, I am quite pleased on the order from camera filters.com and finally feel "complete"!...:pleased: More on it's performance when I have a good opportunity to put all my goodies to use.

Now, this afternoon I ordered the Slave Flash trigger to use my old Sunpack multi-element bounce head Flash with it's bracket.

More on that when it arrives.


Ain't the S3 quite fun!...:sidesmile1:

------------------
Addendum:

I just received this email from the USPS on my shipment:

Track & Confirm e-mail update information provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

Label Number: 0304 1070 0001 ---- ----

Service Type: DELIVERY CONFIRMATION

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered CHICAGO IL 60608
01/29/07 12:46pm

Arrival at Unit CHICAGO IL 60608
01/29/07 7:41am

Acceptance OKLAHOMA CITY OK 73162
01/26/07 2:54pm


Reminder: Track & Confirm by email

Date of email request: 01/29/07

================

How we got along without the internet...I'll never know.

[ib2loud]

nice!
what is from Oklahoma city? that's just up the road, is that where the warehouse is located?

[chicagoastronomer]

The return lable states they are on Country Hollow Road in Ok city.

Either a late Christmas present...or an early one!

[Thomas S.]

Nice work! Im impressed to find out that you have no vignetting with the hood on over a filter. I have the canon adapter and hood and with the hood over my Hoya CIR PL there is some vignetting beginning. I wonder what hood I can get that causes no vignetting when over a filter. I am thinking about getting ND filters (possibly to stack) and this would probably cause massive vignetting as there is already some with just one filter.

[Cindi]

Congratulations on your new purchases! Have fun playing and experimenting!!

[chicagoastronomer]

Experimenting with stacking filters and inviting Vignetting

Accessory Update:

I have been experimenting with various filter combinations and have discovered the following:

1 - I can stack the polarizer and UV filters with no Vignetting at all if ...I remove the smaller rings first.

2 - I get the smallest amount of Vignetting if I attach the rubber hood and extend it in this filter stacking configuration. If I fold the hood down I get no vignetting at all.

3 - The original lens cap that came with our S3's, makes a great end cap for an adapter. Fits snug and with the other cap on - keeps the foriegn debris out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/Stacked1.jpg
Here is a shot of my window with both the Polarizer and UV Filters stacked. No vignetting. The smaller ring was removed. When re-attached, there was just the ever so slight encroachment in the field of view.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/HoodVig1.jpg
Here is a shot with both filters and the Hood all stacked together. You can see the corners vignetted slightly while zoomed all the way out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/endcap1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/endcap2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/josephguzman/PowerShot%20S3/endcaps1.jpg
Here you can see both end caps on the spare adapter holding the polarizer. The Canon lens cap from the S3 fits perfectly with a nice tight friction fit.

Conclusion...

Stacking two filters does not result in vignetting - if you remove the smaller rings on the adapters.

The rubber hood is not that much of a problem with vignetting. With one filter, none at all.

keep that original S3 Lens cap for your second lens adapter tube.

More soon.

[KoiBoy]

CONGRATS! my folleow friend (Chicago Astronomer Joe) on your new gadget(s).

i almost went with CameraFilters.com, but after many searching and reading, i ended up with 1 58mm adapter (ebay) and 2x 58mm Lensmate adapters. my lensmate adapter is by far the best fit.

for all of those items you got for just $50 + bucks, that only covers 2x 58mm lensmate adapters :p, but now its time and go out and explore what natures has in store for your Canon S3 IS. :lol: