The Pemaraal PD and PA Adapter Tubes

The Pemaraal PD and PA Adapter Tubes

Peter Liontas builds a number of adapter tubes. Click here to reach his Pemaraal site. Currently, the available tubes are PA55, PA55H, PA58, PA58H, PA62 and PA62H, where H means the two-section version and the numbers such as 55 indicate thread size for filters and converter lenses. All of these adapter tubes are made from aluminum. However, the older version PD62, which is still available, is made from 100% high impact, stress relieved engineering grade Delrin (plastic) material. All versions are available in black and silver.

This page refers to PD62 and PA62 only as other versions are similar. Moreover, since PD62 and PA62 have exactly the same form factor except for their material, we do not see any difference. If you wish to use the metal version, order the PA. Otherwise, get the PD version. In what follows, we shall only refer to the PA62 version. The left image below shows the black version. When it is mounted on a FZ-10, the lens is deeply recessed if the camera is powered off as shown in the middle image below. When camera is powered on, the camera lens extends right below the PA62's thread (below right). As a result, a mounted converter or filter can be very close to the camera lens. The front thread of the PA62 is 62mm, which is a commonly used thread size. Because the camera lens does not extend while zooming, one can add a 62mm lens cap and/or 62mm protection filter on the PA62 adapter tube.

With step-up and step-down rings, one can mount many converter lenses on the PA62. The left image below shows a Nikon Fisheye FC-E9 converter on the PA62 adapter. Since the FC-E9 has a 46mm thread, step-down rings that can bring 62mm down to 46mm are required. Here, a 62-49mm and a 49-46mm step-down rings are used. The second image below shows an Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X wide angle converter on a FZ-10. Since the WCON-08B has a thread size of 62mm, no step ring is needed. The right image below shows a Sony VCL HGD1758 1.7X telephoto converter on a FZ-10. The Sony converter has a 58mm thread, and a 62-58mm step-down ring is needed.

Nikon Fisheye FC-E9 Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X Sony VCL HGD1758 1.7X

In my opinion, both the PA and PD version are solid products; however, I prefer the PA version more than the PD version. If a metal barrel converter lens or filter is mounted on the PD version and used in high temperature environment, it is very likely that you have difficulty in taking the lens or filter off from the PD tube. You may feel that the PA version is not smooth when mounting lens and filter. This may be due to manufacture irregularity. After using the tube long enough, it would be smooth enough. However, if the lens or filter jams frequently, you perhaps should ask for a replacement.

The "H" Version

The "H" version, which consists of PA55H, PA58H and PA62H, is a new design. All three are made from aluminum and have thread sizes 55mm, 58mm and 62mm. This covers most of the commonly used lenses (e.g., Olympus TCON-17, WCON-07, TCON-14B, WCON-08B and Sony VCL HGD1758) except for the 52mm ones (e.g., Raynox 0.66X and Nikon #3T and #4T close-up lenses). Since all three versions are similar, the following only uses the PA62H version as an example.

All the "H" versions are clever two-section designs. Each "H" version has two tubes, one inside the other. The left image below shows a PA62H. The thin line near the front of the tube divides the tube into two sections. The shorter section is actually part of the "inner" tube, and the longer one is the "outer" tube. If you do not care about the two-section design, you can screw the shorter section to a FZ-10, and the effect is identical to that of the PD and PA tubes. The right image below shows a PA62H on a powered on FZ-10.

Holding one section and screwing the other will separate the two sections as shown in the left image below. As you can see, the shorter portion is actually the base of the "inner" tube. Now, reverse the "outer" tube, screw it to the "inner" tube, and we have a longer tube as shown in the middle image below. This longer tube can be screwed to the camera, serving as a lend hood just like what the supplied lens hood does (below right). If the "outer" tube is no more needed (e.g., mounting a converter lens), you can unscrew it, reverse it, and screw it back to the "inner" tube. In this way, this "H" version returns to the PD/PA version as shown in the right image above.

The following images show Olympus TCON-14B 1.45X telephoto, Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X wide angle, and Raynox DCR-6600PRO 0.66X wide angle on a FZ-10 with the help of the PA62H. Since the Raynox 0.66X has a 52mm thread, a 62-52mm step-down ring is also used.

Olympus TCON-14B Olympus WCON-08B Raynox DCR-6600PRO