Lens tele adapters - Useful?

[Donald&Margaret]

We will be taking a Mediterranean cruise at the end of March and I am thinking about picking up a 0.5 and a 2.0 lens adapter. I have a Canon XTi with the 18-55mm kit lens and a 55-250mm IS lens. Although the 18-55 lens is pretty good for slightly wide angle shots, it is not wide enough for photos of staterooms and other small interior spaces.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 55-250 is really nice but there are a few times where more telephoto would be great. I don't want to carry any other lenses so I thought that the adapters would be easy to put in a pocket and have handy if needed. I'm certainly not a pro photographer and therefore don't need perfect results.

Has anyone had any experience with adapters that they would like to share?

[pierces]

The wide angle adapters and tele-converters that screw onto the front filter threads are mostly used for video where image quality isn't as critical. They are really not well suited for a DSLR. They are usually singlet or doublet lenses with no coatings that will cause considerable distortion, color-fringing and generally poor quality images.

 

One of the best reasons to carry a DSLR is access to excellent optics for capturing images outside of the limitations of a point and shoot camera. If you want a lens that you won't have to change often, you may want to look at Tamron's 18-250 zoom and if you really want wide-angle, Sigma's 10-20 f3.5 (both available for Canon).

 

Additional lenses may be a pain to carry, but they really are worth it!

 

Dave

[dodger501]

The wide angle adapters and tele-converters that screw onto the front filter threads are mostly used for video where image quality isn't as critical. They are really not well suited for a DSLR. They are usually singlet or doublet lenses with no coatings that will cause considerable distortion, color-fringing and generally poor quality images.

 

One of the best reasons to carry a DSLR is access to excellent optics for capturing images outside of the limitations of a point and shoot camera. If you want a lens that you won't have to change often, you may want to look at Tamron's 18-250 zoom and if you really want wide-angle, Sigma's 10-20 f3.5 (both available for Canon).

 

Additional lenses may be a pain to carry, but they really are worth it!

 

Dave

 

I second this. You won't want to hand-hold, either so a tripod is a necessity. A lot of folks swear by teleconverters for landscape shots.

[chipmaster]

We will be taking a Mediterranean cruise at the end of March and I am thinking about picking up a 0.5 and a 2.0 lens adapter. I have a Canon XTi with the 18-55mm kit lens and a 55-250mm IS lens. Although the 18-55 lens is pretty good for slightly wide angle shots, it is not wide enough for photos of staterooms and other small interior spaces.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 55-250 is really nice but there are a few times where more telephoto would be great. I don't want to carry any other lenses so I thought that the adapters would be easy to put in a pocket and have handy if needed. I'm certainly not a pro photographer and therefore don't need perfect results.

Has anyone had any experience with adapters that they would like to share?

 

IMHO 95% of the pictures you'll take will likely be between 18-70mm range. If there is a lense to buy it would be a superwide zoom ( 12-24 or 10-24 ). These will be nice for as you point out the interior of the ship, panoramics, but in Europe for the tight spaces in Churches, narrow alleys and panoramcis. There will be minimum use IMHO for anything longer than 200mm. If you buy one lense I'd suggest a good quality Sigma/Canon/Tamron/Tokina 10/12-24 wide angle.

 

During my last cruise I think 95% of the photos were between 18-100mm. I had a 16-85 on my second body but found only a few places where 18 wasn't wide enough and 16 wasn't either.

 

A 2x or 1.4x teleconverter like Kenkos is a cheap/inexpensive way to get some more range but be warned that it will slow your lense down between .5 and a full stop so focus as well as image quality will suffer. Still not a cheap way to get more range.

 

If you are worried about going light I think the XTI superdie and the 18-55 will be more then enough IMHO

 

Enjoy your Med cruises, there will be lots of great photo ops

[Donald&Margaret]

Thank you for the great input. I will try to find a 10/12 - 24 lens. I guess I will be OK with the 55-250 for the long shots.

[trophy_23]

I too have the Sigma 10-20 for my Canon and its a great lens, gives some really neat perspective om things. I think its a great addition to the lens collection.

[lonetravelertoo]

what kind of polarizer filter would you use on your 12-24 wide angle.?:rolleyes:

[jdrblue]

what kind of polarizer filter would you use on your 12-24 wide angle.?:rolleyes:

 

A word of caution when using a polarizer with a super wide angle. The polarizer is most effective at a 90 degree angle to the sun. The result with a super wide angle lens may be that one part of the picture is polarized and another part not polarized at all. The picture might have some deep blue sky on one side and some very light blue sky on the other. The result isn't always pleasing.