Tele/Wide Lens for G5 also Case ?

[rocknitz]

Good Morning: New poster so be gentle please.
I had a G2 which I traded up to a G5 last week. Looking to get some accessories. Got a good bag, a nice canon flash but I need some lens. Been looking thru some of the postings and have gotten some good ideas. I found on eBay a set of lens from Digital Optics I was wondering if anybody has heard anything about them either good or bad?
Question about the Canon leather case, I heard that the case for the G5 does not let you use the LCD when on the camera like I was able to on the G2 can anyone confirm this? While I’m at it recommendations on a monopod?

[ScottK]

I can't really say first hand, but I've stayed away from them because my experience with inexpensive lenses hasn't been good, and these guys keep changing the brand name (was Titanium a year and a half ago, then changed to Optika, now its Digital Optics). Maybe none of that means anything substantial, but its kept me at arms length...

On the other hand, here's a thread on another forum with some posts from some folks who own one or more of these, and seem to be happy with them: http://forums.powershot-a.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8486&highlight=digital+ optics. There's a link to one guy's (Paul190453) web page with samples - they don't sell me on the lens, but you can make your own evaluation.

[darrylr]

Buy Canon or Olympus Tele/Wide. You will be much happier. There are tons of previous posts here on the topic.

-Darryl

[kreego]

Buy Canon or Olympus Tele/Wide.

-Darryl

Canon's TC-DC58N is a 1.75x teleconverter which provides decent results, if you accept that like all of these lenses, it is no more than a big magnifying glass strapped in front of your zoom.

Below are three samples from a logging contest and a hike I shot two weeks ago. Sharpness is OK, but focusing is even more sluggish than usual. All photos are unretouched, using the default G5 settings. F 3.6 / 1/200 for the first, F3.6 / 1/500 for the other two. All pictures are at maximum zoom. DOF is substantially compressed, which is a good thing 8)

http://charberts.free.fr/online_pictures/IMG_6023_big.jpg

http://charberts.free.fr/online_pictures/IMG_6191_big.jpg

http://charberts.free.fr/online_pictures/IMG_6209_big.jpg

FWIW

K

[zakmckracken]

Hello

Here are two samples of the Digital Optics lens I recently bought from
ebay.

First, using Tele 2.0x, AV mode, autofocus, and maximum
optical zoom of my G5.

The other is shot using the Digital Optics Wide Angle 0.4x , dont remember
the settings :)

Click on the pix so you can see the full size


http://members.rogers.com/octavian/tele/tele.jpg

http://members.rogers.com/octavian/tele/wide.jpg[/img]

Both are "average" pictures I took, I have better and I have worse than
this. If you want more samples, let me know.

[rocknitz]

Thanks "zakmckracken"
I think the pictures are ok - would you buy the lens again if you had it to do over?
Anybody have any info on the G5 Leather Case

[Andy_T]

Zak,

nice squirrel shot!
However, I think there's a slight blue tinge in the lower part of the picture (about where the critter's legs are)

I noticed a similar tinge with my Kenko LD20T in some situations (I supposed it is some kind of flare)

Is the wide angle shot with the '0.4' lens cropped?

Best regards,
Andy

[Mr_Blonde]

Hi, new to the photography game....what is that blue flare in the bottom of the squirrel shot?

Been thinking about a teleconv lens so I follow most threads on the subject for more info.

Any help is definitely appreciated...this forum is great!

Cheers!

[zakmckracken]

I think there's a slight blue tinge in the lower part of the picture (about where the critter's legs are)

I noticed a similar tinge with my Kenko LD20T in some situations (I supposed it is some kind of flare)

Is the wide angle shot with the '0.4' lens cropped?

Best regards,
Andy

Hello again

No pictures are cropped. They are original 1600/1200 but I resize with 100% quality to 1024/768 so you can see better.

The blue "discoloration" is when the light strikes the lens in a certain angle. This squirel shot I took from the window of my basement, right on the street level, camera was tilted a bit up, and the sun was at noon right above. I could see the blue thing in the LCD too, so it can be avoided very easily. I took the picture anyway, because I was afraid the animal could leave. So its not a problem, it could happen with every lens in certain situation. The problem I can see is that sometimes the lens are not sharp enough, or maybe the camera doesnt focus properly, and you can see slight color aberation. Other times is so sharp you cant see the difference (the telephoto).

With the wide angle the edges are a bit blurry most of the time (see the church pic at the edges, where the red car is on the left and the grey one on the right), but I find it less obvious than the tests performed in many sites around the net.

If I would buy it again ? I guess yes. I cant afford more expensive lens, and the quality is acceptable for me in many shots I took.

It comes pretty cheap indeed, the quality is ok, you have to get accustomed to the lens to get nice shots. As I said before, for both lens, plus adapter, plus 3 filters (which I'm really happy about), plus some useless "lens cleaner" that actually dirtied the lens, I spent $109 US.

I also use the lens for my JVC GRDV500 MiniDV camera, where they really perform great ! (both photo and movie-wise).

If you need JUST the wide angle, buy a better brand. If you want to have them all, you can go the cheap way, its not that bad.

That's my 2 cents :)