newbie needing G5 accessory advice

I have been a POTN lurker for some time now but this is my first post. I have had a G5 for a few years and always used auto mode. I have recently decided I want to dive into photography a little more. I seem to run into a lot of situations where I need more optical zoom or need to back up more to get the good shot.

I decided I was going to buy a lens adapter, TC-DC52A, and WC-DC58N
but after doing some searches on POTN I am a little nervous. Seems like
people aren't thrilled with the results when using lens converters. Is it worth the money to get lens converters for a G5?

Does any one have any suggestions on must have accessories like a flash or filters for a newbie? I will mainly be taking pictures of my 2 young children, family events, and vacations.

I know some of this has been asked before but I was having a hard time getting specific recommendations.

Thanks in advance!
Amber

A good flash is always nice, especially if you are taking lots of indoor family pix. Look at this site for lens adaptors and accessories.http://lensmateonline.​com/

crn3371 wrote:
Look at this site for lens adaptors and accessories.http://lensmateonline.​com/

I'll second this recommendation. They have a really neat site that will show you actual photos taken with various tele/wide lenses so you can see for yourself what different add on lenses will do before you buy.
Lensmate has earned a good reputation with everyone that has used them for quality merchandise and good service.
I bought one of their lens adapters for my G5 so I can add filters, macro filters, & reversed lenses.
I've never actually used an add on tele or wide angle lens on my G.
-Bruce

I have a G5 and for it I purchased an Opteka 3.2 Telephoto lens and an Opteka wide angle lens with Macro. I hate the Tele lens because of the Vignetting (sp?) and the general picture quality using it is not so good. The wide angle works well but you get the fisheye look But I do use the macro lens for extreme close-ups and it works well. I also have the UV filter, Polarizer filter and a soft filter and a set of close-up lens'. I recently bought a 430ex flash but really haven't worked with it too much yet.

Out of all of it, I use the filters and the Macro most. The Telephoto I never use because It just sucks......The wide angle I use only with close-ups or in aquariums. I can see the potential with the flash but I just have to work with it more.

I think a good set of filters and a flash would do you good for what your taking pics of?!?!

Thanks for all the useful information.

Has any one found a wide angle or telephoto adapter that they like with the G5? Seems like everyone I have seen mention a telephoto adapter has said the vignetting was bad enough to not bother with the telephoto.
-Amber

I use the Tiffen 2X telephoto and don't have any problems BUT you must know its limitations and know if you don't use full zoom you will get vignetting. Also, reducing your recommended F-stop can cause vignetting.

My next question would be what you will be using the telephoto adapter for? If you expect it to bring you up close and personal with the bird across a 4 laned highway, median and bar-ditch; you will be sadly disappointed. Go to my photo album below and look under Tiffen2X. The steer head is less than 30 feet from the camera, the telephone poles are across the 4 lane highway, median and bar-ditch. There is slight vignetting in the upper left & right hand corners on the telephone pole pic but not enough to bother me ... then again, maybe it's just the sky color.

Gil

Thanks Gil!

I will mainly use it to get pictures of the kids. I have on occasion needed to
go beyond the optical zoom that comes standard on the G5. Looks like the Tiffen will do the trick.

Looks like the vignetting is an issue when the telephoto lens is on the
camera and you are using the zoom. Is that right?
-Amber

Amber,

Yes, the telephoto was on the camera (G3) and I was at full zoom. I think the EXIF data is below each of those pix. You really need to use full zoom when using the telephoto. Vignetting is worse the less you zoom. Also vignetting "can" become more pronounced when you use a smaller aperture than F8. The sky had slight vignetting especially in the upper right corner but the steer head didn't have any. I think some of this is caused from the colors and the types of pics you take. Also remember you can crop your images to remove vignetting or, in the case of the sky, I could have selected the part with vignetting, then filled it with the proper color from a different part of the sky ... assuming you have photo editing software. I'm still using PSE3. Good Luck!!!

Gil