Other High Quality Telephoto Converter Lenses

This page briefly discusses some high quality telephoto converter lenses: Canon TL-55 1.4X, Olympus TCON-14B 1.45X, Minolta ACT-100 1.5X, Nikon TC-E15ED 1.5X, Olympus TCON-17 1.7X and Sony VCL HGD1758 1.7X.

Canon TL-55 1.4X

The Canon TL-55 1.4X is the smallest and lightest converter lens discussed on this page. Its lens power is 1.4X, which brings the FZ-10 maximum focal length to 588mm = 420×1.4. The Canon TL-55 has a rear thread size of 55mm and no front thread. Therefore, you will need a 62-55mm step-down ring if your have a 62mm adapter ring, or other step rings to use the TL-55 on your adapter ring. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a TL-55 mounted on a FZ-10 with the help of the PD62 adapter and a 62-55mm step-down ring. With this TL-55, you can zoom the camera lens to about 3X without getting vignetting. This is an advantage if you do not wish to remove the converter lens frequently. At 3X, the actual focal length is 147mm = 35mm×3×1.4. Hence, there is no focal length gap with this Canon TL-55. In other word, you have the coverage from 35mm to 588mm!

Olympus TCON-14B

The Olympus TCON-14B is a large and heavy telephoto converter lens with a lens power of 1.45X, which brings the FZ-10 maximum focal length to 609mm = 420×1.45. The TCON-14B has a rear thread size of 62mm and a front thread size of 86mm. Therefore, it does not need any step rings to be used with a 62mm adapter ring. For other adapters, you may need a step ring. For example, if your adapter has 55mm thread, you will need a 55-62mm step-up ring. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a TCON-14B mounted on a FZ-10 with the help of the PD62 adapter. With this TCON-14B, you can zoom the camera lens to about 3X without getting vignetting. This is an advantage if you do not wish to remove the converter lens frequently. At 3X, the actual focal length is 152.25mm = 35mm×3×1.45. Hence, there is no focal length gap with this TCON-14B. In other word, you have the coverage from 35mm to 609mm!

Minolta ACT-100 1.5X

The Minolta ACT-100 1.5X is a also large and heavy telephoto converter lens with a lens power of 1.5X, which brings the FZ-10 maximum focal length to 630mm = 420×1.5 and is slightly longer than that of the TCON-14B. The Minolta ACT-100 has a rear thread size of 49mm and a 86mm front thread. Therefore, you will need some step-down rings to use this lens with your adapter ring. For example, if your adapter has 55mm thread, you will need a 55-49mm step-down ring. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a Minolta ACT-100 mounted on a FZ-10 with the help of the PD62 adapter and a 62-49mm step-down ring. With this Minolta ACT-100, you can zoom the camera lens out to about 4X without getting vignetting. At 4X, the actual focal length is 210mm = 35mm×3×1.5. Hence, there is no focal length gap with this Minolta ACT-100. In other word, you have the coverage from 35mm to 630mm!

Nikon TC-E15ED 1.5X

The Nikon TC-E15ED 1.5X is a reasonably light weight and compact telephoto converter lens with a lens power of 1.5X, which brings the FZ-10 maximum focal length to 630mm = 420×1.5 and is slightly longer than that of the TCON-14B. The Nikon TC-E15ED has a rear thread size of 50mm and a 58mm front thread. Since 50mm is not a popular thread size, a special step-down ring is needed to bring the 50mm size to a popular one (e.g., 62mm). Fortunately, Nextphoto made a 62-50mm step-down ring for the Nikon Coolpix 8800 to use the TC-E15ED. Thus, this may push you to use a 62mm adapter tube. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and a Nextphoto 62-50mm step-down ring, while the right one has a TC-E15ED mounted on a FZ-10 with the help of the Chen adapter and a 62-50mm step-down ring.

The rear glass element of the TC-E15ED is deeply recessed to allow the Nikon Coolpix 5700's lens close to the converter. This is shown in the left image below. However, when a TC-E15ED is mounted on a FZ-10, its rear element is farther away from the FZ-10's front glass element (because FZ-10's lens does not extend when zooming in), and, as a result, some vignetting can be seen (below right). This is slightly worse than that of the TCON-17 1.7X to be discussed below; however, in general shooting, this is usually not a significant problem. This is a major disadvantage of using the TC-E15ED on a FZ-10, even though the lens is very sharp.

Olympus TCON-17

The Olympus TCON-17 is a light 1.7X converter lens with a plastic barrel. It extends FZ-10's focal length to 714mm = 1.7×420. The TCON-17 has a 55mm rear thread and has no front thread. Therefore, you will need a 62-55mm step-down ring if your have a 62mm adapter ring, or other step rings to use the TCON-17 on your adapter ring. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a TCON-17 on a PD62 adapter with the help of a 62-55mm step-down ring. With this TCON-17, you can zoom the camera lens out to about 7X without getting vignetting, and below 7X light fall-off and vignetting will occur. At 7X, the actual focal length is 416.5mm = 35mm×7×1.7. Hence, there is no focal length gap with this TCON-17. In other word, use the TCON-17 if the on-camera lens cannot get you the shot.

Note that this TCON-17 does have light fall-off. The following image shows the light fall-off at the corners of TCON-17. The on-camera lens is at 420mm and the combined focal length is 714mm. This is a major disadvantage of using the TCON-17.

Sony VCL-HGD1758

This Sony VCL-HGD1758 is a 1.7X converter lens and is the heaviest and largest of all converters discussed on this page. It extends FZ-10's focal length to 714mm = 1.7×420. The Sony 1.7X has a 58mm rear thread and has no front thread. Therefore, you will need a 62-58mm step-down ring if your have a 62mm adapter ring, or other step rings to use the Sony 1.7X on your adapter ring. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a Sony VCL HGD1758 on a PD62 adapter with the help of a 62-58mm step-down ring. With this Sony VCL HGD1758, you can zoom the camera lens out to about 4X without getting vignetting, and below 4X light fall-off and vignetting will occur. At 4X, the actual focal length is 238mm = 35mm×4×1.7. Hence, there is no focal length gap with this Sony VCL HGD1758, and, moreover, the Sony VCL HGD1758 has a wider focal range than the Olympus TCON-17.

Technical Data

The following technical information is taken from Canon, Minolta. Olympus and Sony user manuals. This information is for the FZ-10 only, and should be different for other cameras.