Customer Reviews

Canon TC-DC58B Tele Converter Lens for S5 IS, S3 IS & S2 IS Digital Camera

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was surprised at the heft of this tele converter when it arrived. It comes in a pullstring pouch that offers reasonable protection in a camera bag, purse, or other similar carying case and will hold the lens while attached to the required adapter. It also comes with a lens cap for each end. The converter has a high quality look and feel throughout, and as with the lens hood included in the inexpensive adapter kit (required), the mounting threads are cut accurately enough that the lettering on the lens and hood all line up perfectly at the top of the assembly. It looks as I would expect from Canon, which is to say, instrument quality.

OK, looks don't make good pictures, so here is the rest of the story. The body is made of tough, lightweight materials (FRP?, polycarbonate?), so what you feel when you take the lens out of the case is the weight of several glass elements. The glass coating is well done, as pictures are nice and contrasty. Flare and distortion are minimal, and on par with a quality SLR offering. The base lens on the S2 is fairly fast, and doesn't suffer from defects at maximum telephoto, so this converter was built to complement that quality, and it does a fine job. As a matter of fact, the converter lens is optimized to supplement only the telephoto portion of the main camera lens range, At less than moderate telephoto settings, you end up with a view of the back end of the converter lens, and not much else.

Used as intended, it gives you the ability to use your 5 mp sensor to take spectacular 650 mm telephoto shots with incredible sharpness, color, and detail. There is no comparison to digital zoom at all. This lens alows you to "reach out and touch someone" while using every pixel your sensor has available, and without adding eyeball noticable distortion at all. On top of that, the image stabilizer in the camera lets you shoot 650 mm telephoto pictures handheld in reasonable lighting conditions. Check out the price of a 600 mm image stabilized lens for an SLR and get back to me after you recover. Sure, having a $5,000 SLR body/lens combo will win the comparison at a lab bench, and might be a stop faster (only on the high end though), but the S2/teleconverter combo lets you take far better and more creative pics than the classic 35 mm with a mirror tele lens can ever offer. Further cropping the photos on your computer later will simply amaze you. For the price, it's a must have item. It also catches the action on the field in movie mode from the nosebleed seats at the stadium.

It is a big lens, and will make your S2 look as though it must be an SLR, but the combination of S2 and teleconverter is light enough (compared to an SLR) to carry all day long in a desert without a problem. It offers the digicam prosumer quality glass reach that used to be reserved for higher end SLR's. For what it adds to your photographic range, it's cheap, too.

One suggestion. The lens adapter/lens hood combo you need to mount any of the three converter lenses Canon offers is dirt cheap. The combo sells for around 26 bucks everywhere. The adapter attaches to the camera with a push button release bayonet mount, is quick to change, and feels very secure. The adapter also takes 58 mm filters of all kinds, and I like to keep a UV filter mounted on my camera for the improvement in contrast it offers, and to protect the camera lens from damage (I dropped my S2 this past weekend, and the Hoya UV filter took the fall. It dented, but didn't break). Anyway, because they are so cheap, I suggest getting one for the S2, and each converter lens you buy. That way, you can switch lenses in an instant, and keep the front of each lens protected with it's own UV filter and/or hood. Oh yes. A good circular polorizer filter really kills glare, and brings out contrast with any lens under many typical shooting conditions. The tele-converter lens does not have front threads to mount filters (most don't), but I made an adapter by mounting a 72 mm UV filter to a 7/16" long cardboard masking tape core with an inside diamerter that slipped snugly over the end of the tele-converter. Prior to gluing the UV filter to the tube section, I painted the tube flat black. Now, the circular polorizer (or any other 72 mm filter attaches to the adapter, looks like it belongs there, and works perfectly.

I think you will enjoy this converter as much as I do. Good shooting.

Jim K. made a great review.....I just wanted to let you know that I agree. This is great. It is very light weight. The only reason why I gave it 4 stars is that you need to zoom a bit or else you get a burnout effect (a circle where the corners are dark because it is getting the inside of the lens). That is annoying, and forces you to remove the extender when you want to take closer photos. At a distance though, it is great. Pictures come out great. I highly recommend this.....I would have given it 4.5 stars if it were an option.

This extends the zoom lens of the Canon S3IS to about 650mm according to Canon. The image is good in the center but chromatic aberrations are very evident away from the center. I photograph birds in trees or in flight. The effect of the aberrations make the branches or wings have red or blue edges. If I confine my expectations to the center things look good but I have thrown away some otherwise decent photos when the desired image is not well centered. If you're photographing moving objects this is a problem.
I will continue to use it to pull in the long range scenes. Overall I rate this a plus.

This is a good Teleconverter that added 1.5x to the camera's native zoom. It adds a great degree of stability to the camera for taking those critical shots. Of course when the digital zoom is used it is very sensitive to shake and movement. Overall a good addition especially for the birds and nature shots.

I like the lens, and, in point of fact, ordered other accessories for my S2 IS as well. The Tele Converter Lens really does work well, with nominal edge-distortion. Upon first glance it makes it a great buy (at ~$100); however, you're still stuck with a cheap-feeling plastic-threaded adapter and a lense cap that falls off. Also of note, by the time you buy a UV filter and a polarizing filter (perhaps even a flourescent light filter), you wind up spending well over $150. For about $50 more, I really wish I would have taken Lensmate's advice.

[LENSMATE said]:

We would recommend our 52mm S2 Lensmate adapter along with a 52mm UV filter and a 52mm clip in style lens cap (note that the cap that came with your camera will not fit the adapter, and as you say falls off all the time) This is the combination most of our customers leave on their cameras all the time.

The most basic
1 52mm S3 52mm Lensmate adapter 22.95
1 52mm UV HMC filter 17.95
1 52mm lens cap 4.95

Excellent addition
1 52mm linear polarizer 17.95
( this is great to use in bright sunlight to deepen blue skies or water) you would want to remove the UV filter first as you want the least amount of glass between the subject and the built in lens on the camera)

Teleconverter
1 Raynox 1540 52mm tele 134.95 (this lens comes with both a front and back cap, and storage pouch)

This total is closer to $200.00, so you may have to buy some now and some later.


Regards, Susan/ LensMate
susan.sales@lensmateonline.com
URL www.lensmateonline.com

I bought this for my S3. First things first - don't expect massive magnification, as it is only a 1.5x. That being said, I love the friggin thing. My telephoto needs are not that great - I just wanted to be able to take better photos of wildlife in my back yard, or some great night sky shots. Don't expect to be able to frame an Egret from across a marsh or anything. It is made of a durable material (not metal, that would have probably made it too heavy). Ultimately, the S series are just beefed up point-and-shoot cameras, and this converter adds to that nicely.

It does add considerable bulk to the camera, but not so much that I can't carry it for extended periods with one hand. And I've actually found that it helps steady the camera a bit when taking handheld shots because you can support the lens in your left hand.

My only complaint (if it can be called such) is that the combination of camera and tele converter makes me yearn for a DSLR. Normally you can't add additional lenses to point-and-shoots because the permanent lens needs to be able to move when focusing. The S series gets around this with the lens adapter, which is just a high quality plastic tunnel that covers the lens, and the tele converter screws on the end of that. It fakes it. I'm kind of a camera snob, so this bothers me a teensy bit. If I had known last year what I know now, I would have held off on both camera and converter and just dished out the extra $100 to $150 for a Canon RebelXT or Nikon D40.

However:

I love my S3, and my next purchase will be the WC-DC58A wide angle converter.

Unless you are really concerned with the very best quality, I think this adapter does a very good job of letting you have the flexibility of a point-and-shoot and the versatility of interchanging lenses in a DSLR.
I have a Powershot S3 IS and I have been able to obtain very nice shots using this converter. I think is important to mention that you definetely need to purchase the LAH-DC20 lens adapters or the converter will not be able to attach to the camera. I was not able to find this explanation anywhere but fortunately I did buy those adaptors.

Some reviews say that the teleconverter is just a plastic toy but they are wrong. when I got my teleconverter I expected a light plastic lens but canon never makes plastic toys. It's a very firm sturdy lens. And it's coatings is fully multi coated which I was very surprised to see and it gives it more of a better quality in the pictures. Another thing it makes you look more like a pro when people see you with it they think you have a EOS. I have already had people say (nice camera you got there)so you're not only getting something to increase your camera's peformance you're getting somthing that make's you look like a pro.I must agree on some reviews this is not the lens for people pictures this is a lens for Nature,Sports,airshows,and any kind of close up photography you can think of. I agree with one review look how much a SLR 600mm lens does cost so when you get this your not only getting a 600mm lens you're getting a extra 48mm! I mainly do nature photography and this is the super tool to your S2,S3,S5 as one review said Happy shoting! Jonathan P Harris

Used this lens on vacation at a MN lake shortly after it arrived. Works very nice, but takes some practice to get the best results. As expected the subject must be well centered to get good results. Edges are a little out of focus. Overall I am very happy with this lens. I obtained some nice wildlife photos while on the lake, even while shooting from a boat with a mild chop on the water.

I enjoy the ability to add zoom to a non-SLR camera. I have backpacked the Tour de France 3 times and could not afford the weight and size of an SLR rig along with a video camera. My Canon S1 was perfect...except for podium shots where the zoom was maxed. This lens isn't amazing, but will add more power - and it may be enough for you to justify its price (and the fact that it makes the camera HUGE). I'm taking this one to NY this weekend for a trial run.
My only regret? You cannot add a snap-on/secure lens cap as it has no threading. And IF IT WERE ONLY METAL!