Wide/Macro converstion lense on E-10

[mhbstevens]

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no "instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces, the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully wide or can I zoom with ?

Hope someone can help.

Mike Stevens

 

[markE59102]

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

I wonder if you'll get much of a response to this post. I've never heard anyone in this forum mentioning this converter.

Have you tried to take any test photos to see which gives you the best image?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

All you need to do is look thru the viewfinder, and start zooming. When you begin to see vignetting (darkening of corners), you've gone too far.

Have you tried to experiment at all? You have the camera, you have the memory. From now on, it's all free!

Play away!

--
markE
pbase supporter

Remember the Oly Exx battle cry:

'Though we've been known to make a little noise now and then, the colors here are true!'

-Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/marke/natural_world

 

[Doehns]

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

I wonder if you'll get much of a response to this post. I've never
heard anyone in this forum mentioning this converter.

Have you tried to take any test photos to see which gives you the
best image?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

All you need to do is look thru the viewfinder, and start zooming.
When you begin to see vignetting (darkening of corners), you've
gone too far.
Have you tried to experiment at all? You have the camera, you have
the memory. From now on, it's all free!

Play away!

--
markE
pbase supporter

Remember the Oly Exx battle cry:
'Though we've been known to make a little noise now and then, the
colors here are true!'

-Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/marke/natural_world

I wanted to suggest to just try it as well- just shoot at a white wall.

In addition: looking at the viefinder will not give you complete safety, because it shows only 93% of the total picture- so try it and look at the produced pictures.

 

[Lance Hankins]

While I have no experience with this particular lense it sounds like the one I bought a year or so ago called the Crystal Vision. Same take-apart configuration. What I found, in a nutshell, with mine is that yes you use the back section alone for macros. Mine gave me pretty crappy pictures with lots of distortion and fringing. (I also have the Oly MCON-35. It's MUCH better.) Use the 2 pieces together for wide angle. It too will probably give you a pretty distorted picture with a lot of color fringing. And to top it off, it won't be a heck of a lot wider angle than if you'd bought the Oly WCON in the first place. I can almost guarantee you won't get anywhere near the advertised .5x (which would make your lense about a 17.5mm in 35mm equivalent - 4.5mm actual.) The front section of the lense will screw directly onto the threads of the E-10, but you probably won't be able to get it to focus. I played with mine for about 3 months after I got it and actually came up with a little better combination. I used the front section of the Crystal Vision with a stack of diopters (close-up lenses) - a +4, +2, and a +1 stacked. This gives about the same thickness as the original macro section, lets the lense focus, and is wider than the original configuration. Still nowhere near that 4.5mm, but better. Unfortunately there's still that fringing issue to deal with. There are some techniques in PS to help reduce it, but it's a lot of extra work. Barrel distortion is also pretty severe, although it's to be expected in a lense this wide, so I didn't worry about it too much. That can be repaired in PS too, if you're willing to put in the time. Seemed too much hassle for me so I went back to my Oly WCON and took a couple or 3 steps farther back. I'm much better now...
Lance

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

Hope someone can help.

Mike Stevens

 

[pbleic]

Sounds identical to the Phoenix lens that I bought. Only took me a week to realize it was a piece of junk.

Paul

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

Hope someone can help.

Mike Stevens

 

[markE59102]

In addition: looking at the viefinder will not give you complete
safety, because it shows only 93% of the total picture- so try it
and look at the produced pictures.

Yes, you are correct. I was thinking to include that in my reply, but forgot by the time I was done with my answer. Another one of those "middle-aged moments"

By the time you see it (vignetting) in the viewfinder, it is already too late!

--
markE
pbase supporter

Remember the Oly Exx battle cry:

'Though we've been known to make a little noise now and then, the colors here are true!'

-Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/marke/natural_world

 

[Bobsworld]

After reading this and similar threads on the subject, I'm convinced Oly took it as far as they could with the Oly WCON and anything which promises wider is just trash. If anyone has experience with an acceptable add-on which goes wider than Oly's 28mm, which I have and love, I'd like to hear from them because I, too, would love to get to 20mm or wider.

Paul

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

Hope someone can help.

Mike Stevens

 

[pbleic]

I think that the Raynox Fisheye lens makes this statement incorrect. They are able to get to 9 mm (eq), and 180 degree field of view with really excellent optics. Unfortunately, it is $350 minimum.

Paul

Paul

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

Hope someone can help.

Mike Stevens

 

[Ian Yates]

While I have no experience with this particular lense it sounds
like the one I bought a year or so ago called the Crystal Vision.
Same take-apart configuration.

So, I was not alone in buying this junk!
My preferred method is stitching 2 or four shots using Panorama Factory.

Any suggestions as to how I can use this lens othe than photography.

--
Ian Yates

 

[Lance Hankins]

Ian,

Might make a good skipper rock on the pond of your choice... I ended up giving mine away.
Lance

While I have no experience with this particular lense it sounds
like the one I bought a year or so ago called the Crystal Vision.
Same take-apart configuration.

So, I was not alone in buying this junk!
My preferred method is stitching 2 or four shots using Panorama
Factory.

Any suggestions as to how I can use this lens othe than photography.

--
Ian Yates

 

[Lance Hankins]

Paul,

I read some reviews on the Raynox as well, but I'm not willing to spend that amount of $$ for experimentation. If I meet someone who already owns one that would let me try it first, maybe. Otherwise, no way.
Lance

I think that the Raynox Fisheye lens makes this statement
incorrect. They are able to get to 9 mm (eq), and 180 degree field
of view with really excellent optics. Unfortunately, it is $350
minimum.

Paul

 

[mhbstevens]

I did experiment and this is what I find. If one uses the the front element without the macro section one gets a real wide fisheye shot BUT with a lot of vigneting and I COULD NOT FOCUS in any combo of settings. Using the lense as one piece (ie both sections screwed together) it looks to widen the horixontal view by about 1/3rd so I guess it makes the 35mm equvalent to about a 24mm. I also have the Bower tele 2x converter and will experiment with this and the macro today and start a new thread.

One website said the Bower lenses were made by Leica. Does anyone know about these lenses-a web search came up blank for me.

Mike S

While I have no experience with this particular lense it sounds
like the one I bought a year or so ago called the Crystal Vision.
Same take-apart configuration.

So, I was not alone in buying this junk!
My preferred method is stitching 2 or four shots using Panorama
Factory.

Any suggestions as to how I can use this lens othe than photography.

--
Ian Yates

 

[Bobsworld]

I think that the Raynox Fisheye lens makes this statement
incorrect. They are able to get to 9 mm (eq), and 180 degree field
of view with really excellent optics. Unfortunately, it is $350
minimum.

Paul

I've heard of the Raynox but I'd have to see an actual print before I'd even think of buying one. I have an 8mm fisheye (Nikon's own, not a third party maker) for my Coolpix and I'm not that crazy about it. It's ok for smaller than 8 x 10" but there is still some less-than-sharp image around the edges, especially on the left side for some reason. And the overall sharpness is not up to the camera's usual output without the lens. It wasn't cheap either, over $200.

Paul

I git a Bower 0.5x wide converter with my E-10. I has no
"instructions" and I have some issues. The lense is in two pieces,
the piece at the back is marked "macro". For macro shooting do I
use this piece alone without the bigger front piece? For wide angle
shoots do I use both piece screwed together or just the front piece?

When I use the wide converter must the E-10 zoon be set to fully
wide or can I zoom with ?

Hope someone can help.

Mike Stevens

 

[OldDigiman]

Maybe that's Lieca, the well-known Chinese optics company ;-)

One website said the Bower lenses were made by Leica. Does anyone
know about these lenses-a web search came up blank for me.

Mike S

While I have no experience with this particular lense it sounds
like the one I bought a year or so ago called the Crystal Vision.
Same take-apart configuration.

So, I was not alone in buying this junk!
My preferred method is stitching 2 or four shots using Panorama
Factory.

Any suggestions as to how I can use this lens othe than photography.

--
Ian Yates

 

[Bobsworld]

Here's a couple I took today with the 8mm fisheye on a Nikon CP 950 (2 MP). One is the full 8mm and the other was zoomed in until the vignetting disappeared. Like I said, not too bad in less than 8 x 10" or for the web.

I think that the Raynox Fisheye lens makes this statement
incorrect. They are able to get to 9 mm (eq), and 180 degree field
of view with really excellent optics. Unfortunately, it is $350
minimum.

Paul

I've heard of the Raynox but I'd have to see an actual print before
I'd even think of buying one. I have an 8mm fisheye (Nikon's own,
not a third party maker) for my Coolpix and I'm not that crazy
about it. It's ok for smaller than 8 x 10" but there is still some
less-than-sharp image around the edges, especially on the left side
for some reason. And the overall sharpness is not up to the
camera's usual output without the lens. It wasn't cheap either,
over $200.

 

[Lance Hankins]

BobSo,

Not bad pics. Although the circular one shows quite a bit of blue fringing at the edges. The pics themselves look good. But for me, I wasn't looking to go all the way to fish-eye. I just wanted to get to ultra-wide, around 17-20mm (35mm equiv). That'd be plenty to fit in with the shooting I used to do with my film gear. And you just don't seem to be able to get there from here. One of the limitations of thie Exx system, I guess. You gotta give up something. Oly decided to give up wide angle. We make do. It comes down to how important it is to your vision. I've simply adapted for now to not do those type shots. One of these days I'll be able to do them again. Until then, I'll focus on other slices of a view...
Lance

 

[Bobsworld]

I feel your pain! I would kill for a 17-35 for my Oly E-10, but it ain't gonna happen, which is why I keep my Minolta Maxxums with the 17-35mm Sigma and the 14mm Tamron. I also have a Sigma 16mm fisheye for the Minolta X-700, but fisheyes are really just a novelty, fun to play with, but there's nothing like a true wiiiide angle lens, the wider the better. I'm desperately, pathetically hanging on for Minolta to come out with a DSLR, but I'm afraid that ain't gonna happen either.

BobSo,
Not bad pics. Although the circular one shows quite a bit of blue
fringing at the edges. The pics themselves look good. But for me, I
wasn't looking to go all the way to fish-eye. I just wanted to get
to ultra-wide, around 17-20mm (35mm equiv). That'd be plenty to fit
in with the shooting I used to do with my film gear. And you just
don't seem to be able to get there from here. One of the
limitations of thie Exx system, I guess. You gotta give up
something. Oly decided to give up wide angle. We make do. It comes
down to how important it is to your vision. I've simply adapted for
now to not do those type shots. One of these days I'll be able to
do them again. Until then, I'll focus on other slices of a view...
Lance