TG-1: Anyone plan on external add on lenses?

Originally I never actually considered buying the add on lenses for my TG-1. If I want to take serious photos then I'll just take my DSLR.

Then I realized... I always have my Camelbak with me when I go mountain biking.. and many times when I go skiing. (I have a first aid kit, emergency blanket, bonk rations, etc.) So it would be very simple to slip the external lens(es) into that pack.

And since I had originally planned on a new Pentax K-5 with the 18-135mm WR lens this summer I still have about $1200.00 in my camera budget. (Yes... I know the 18-135mm WR lens loses IQ for the sake of the range... But I have a 50mm f1.4, 90mm f2.8 macro, and a 135 f2.8 primes for serious work.)

ANYWAY... So perhaps I might be considering these external TG-1 lenses. Anyone else have any thoughts about them?

SIDE THOUGHT: Might it be possible that the IQ of the stock TG-1 might suffer slightly since it was designed to allow the use of these external lenses? I would not be surprised if the IQ is better with one of these external lenses.

(Perhaps I'll buy one or both of them and do a study to compare the IQ in each case. It would be very interesting to IQ for the same focal length with and without these external lens.)

I'm going to get the wide angle lens but it needs the adaptor ring which is currently on back order everywhere. The whole camera with lens will fit in the belt pack I wear when cycling. I own a K7 which is a great camera but is a lot to carry at times. Since getting the TG-1 it's the camera that always goes everywhere. There will be people here that would say instead of spending $600+ on this camera why not just get a say Canon G1X. Well drop a G1X or get it wet and you're out $800. Yes there is a loss of IQ but it is not so significant as to make the photo totally useless. Hell people are out there using smart phones for photography. Great photos don't require the most expensive equipment only a great photographer. The TG-1 is quite a capable camera on that score.

I have both of the lens and have had some fun with them. It has a setting in the camera when you put the lens on so it starts the zoom at the right point and prevents you from using super macro but you can get some neat effects. These 2 are zoomed closer and I was using the POP ART setting. Kinda cool effect.

Does the lens attachment cause the vignetting or is this an art filter effect?

I'm considering them but I'm still waiting for the backordered TG-1 first!!

The pictures are taken with the teleconverter lens on and zoomed back to get the optic to show. I does not start at that zoom when you tell the camera that you have the lens on but you can zoom back far enough to get this effect. Also these are taken with the camera in Magic mode using the pop art setting. I think it it the first one under the Magic setting. With this setting you can zoom out and not get that "looking thru telescope" look I just thought it looked cool

I have both the teleconverter TCON-T1 and the wide angle FCON-T01 add-on lenses. The CLA-T01 is required to use either one but once you have the CLA-T01 you can also use any 40.5mm filter (i.e. UV, neutral density, circular polarizer, etc.).
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