Teleconverter for FZ150

sammita said:

sammita wrote:

After reading numerous threads about teleconverters, it seems that canon TC DC58A or Olympus B300 would work best for my budget. Now question is where to find them? From my readings I understand that DC58A is not made any more? Ideally I'm looking for new items but can't find them anywhere. Any advice?

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I read that the Panasonic LT55 seems to be ideal with the FZ150.

As far as the older lenses you just need to keep looking and hope one becomes available but if I had an FZ150 I would consider the LT55. I have seen some great images with this combo posted here.

The Olympus B300 is available new as the TCON-17x, they are identical. It's currently being marketed for the Olympus XZ-1, I bought mine new. Although I was a little disappointing to find that it was made in China, it does what its supposed to do and is quite a heavy piece of glass with a full metal body.There are a few other TCON-17s available such as the TCON-17c which is not of the same standard though so buyer beware.

The TCON-17x works fine on my LX7 but it does vignette unless you extend to full zoom. There is also a Raynox DCR-2020 and 2025, but apparently it doesn't have as good an IQ as the TCON-17x (B300) and its more expensive. I really wouldn't bother trying to go much past 2x anyway as you really do begin to sacrifice IQ for zoom.

Lumixdude said:

Lumixdude wrote:

The Olympus B300 is available new as the TCON-17x, they are identical. It's currently being marketed for the Olympus XZ-1, I bought mine new. Although I was a little disappointing to find that it was made in China, it does what its supposed to do.There are a few other TCON-17s available such as the TCON-17c which is not of the same standard though so buyer beware.

The TCON-17x works fine on my LX7 but it does vignette unless you extend to full zoom. There is also a Raynox DCR-2020 and 2025, but apparently it doesn't have as good an IQ as the TCON-17x (B300) and its more expensive. I really wouldn't bother trying to go much past 2x anyway as you really do begin to sacrifice IQ for zoom.

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There was a test thread that shows the B300 a little better than the TCON-17. That's why the poster brought it up. Maybe because the Tcon is made in China? Who knows?

Just checked...my B300 is made in Japan!

I read a lot of threads here and elsewhere that said they were identical, I may be wrong. Maybe they are now being made in China which has seen a drop in quality? My other Oly converter I have, the WCON-08b is made in Japan, so perhaps Olympus have cheapened the manufacturing purpose in order to suit a lower end camera then the previous Camedia's that these lenses had been associated with such as the E-xx series.

As Ronomy wrote, I find the LT55 to be fine on the FZ150 :







SOOC, no cropping, no PP at all. It may not win any NatGeog awards, but hey, it's still pretty fine !

Ronomy said:

Ronomy wrote:

Ronomy said:

sammita wrote:

After reading numerous threads about teleconverters, it seems that canon TC DC58A or Olympus B300 would work best for my budget. Now question is where to find them? From my readings I understand that DC58A is not made any more? Ideally I'm looking for new items but can't find them anywhere. Any advice?

Click to expand...

I read that the Panasonic LT55 seems to be ideal with the FZ150.

As far as the older lenses you just need to keep looking and hope one becomes available but if I had an FZ150 I would consider the LT55. I have seen some great images with this combo posted here.

Click to expand...

I use the LT-55 with my FZ150 and I'm quite happy with it.

Likewise: FZ-150 + LT55. But the OP did say "for my budget" and the LT55 isn't inexpensive when compared with what the B300 goes for on Ebay.

Lumixdude said:

Lumixdude wrote:

I read a lot of threads here and elsewhere that said they were identical, I may be wrong. Maybe they are now being made in China which has seen a drop in quality? My other Oly converter I have, the WCON-08b is made in Japan, so perhaps Olympus have cheapened the manufacturing purpose in order to suit a lower end camera then the previous Camedia's that these lenses had been associated with such as the E-xx series.

Click to expand...

It's probably just quality differences. Not all China built lenses are bad. Seems you got a good one.

Thank you so much for your comments! I looked at both LT55 and TCON17x. Both are in the same $200 price range new. Aside from the price factor, IQ matters a lot to me. Vignetting would be very undesirable. Decisions, decisions...