Opteka HD² Professional Digital Accessory Kit for Canon Powershot G10 Digital Camera

by Opteka

Product Details

• ASIN: B001MS4W80
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,719 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 1, 2008

Product Description

The following items are included: (1)Opteka .45x High Definition Professional Wide Angle Lens (2)Opteka 2.2x High Definition Professional Telephoto Lens (3)Opteka High Definition² Pro Filter Kit (UV, Circular Polarizer, FL-D) (4)Lens/Filter Adapter (5)Opteka 5 Piece Camera & Lens Cleaning Kit (6)Opteka Tabletop Tripod (7)Opteka LCD Screen Protectors (8)54" Deluxe Professional Video/Camera Tripod (9)Samsonite Deluxe Microfiber Carry-All Camera Case

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product for amateur photographers, June 27, 2009

By 

Just A Guy, Trying To Teach (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Opteka HD² Professional Digital Accessory Kit for Canon Powershot G10 Digital Camera (Electronics)

I am a long-time novice photographer, and I bought the G10 looking to expand upon my abilities. Although I have heard that Opteka gear is not top of the line, I must say, I'm pretty impressed with it so far. This kit came in exactly as advertised. I'm not expert, but I haven't noticed any flaws yet -- no noticeable distortion and the build quality seems pretty solid. It's got everything I need to push my photography to the next level. I know that as I work with the kit more, I probably become more cognizant of its limitations, and I'll look to upgrade piece by piece, but it's a fantastic starting point!

- Note that the front group of the wide-angle lens can be detached to leave a macro lens, so you really do have all the pieces you need for a full lens kit.
- I may replace the bag, but it is reasonably well constructed, and large enough to fit my G10 inside my National Geographic camera pouch, my G10 manual, all of the kit, my SD880IS inside a small hard case, all of the necessary cables, 2 spare batteries, and I still have room for some more stuff
- One caveate: the circular polarizer cannot be placed before the wide-angle lens -- vignetting occurs. You will need to purchase a larger polarizer to put on the front of the wide-angle lens if you want to do that

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still good for the price, December 8, 2009

By 

Thomas S. Hsu "thomhsu" (Fremont, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Opteka HD² Professional Digital Accessory Kit for Canon Powershot G10 Digital Camera (Electronics)

Got this in the mail yesterday. Real fun to play with since there's so much stuff packed in. However, this isn't top quality stuff, not going to be taking pro photos with it - but, still a blast to play with.

The lens construction is quite good. The tele and wide angle, as well as the converter tube is a nice aluminum build. The converter tube I especially like - there were complaints about the official Canon tube being plastic and not fitting securely - this tube surpasses in both fields while being half the price if bought separately.

The tele lens, as far as I can tell, does some pretty good quality pictures, though I haven't zoomed way into my finished shots to check the clarity. However, the bulk of it plus the fact that 2.2x really doesn't get you all that further means I probably won't carry it around that much.

The wide angle lens is awesome to play with - BUT, it suffers from some realllllly bad blue fringing. Still, the wide-angle is a cool effect, and I don't think people will notice if you're doing web shots. If you're going pro and doing prints though...well, it won't be pretty.

I think the blue fringing problem comes from, or is also attributed to the macro lens, that's part of the wide angle. The macro lens is also a blast to play with. You can take some serious close ups. But again, you're going to get some drastic blue edges.

Everything else is serviceable. I was disappointed by the polarizing filter because it doesn't turn quite smoothly, and I don't think does all that great job of polarizing either. Don't really notice much of a difference in shots with the UV filter.

The cleaning kit is serviceable, but comes with one of the best parts of the kit, the mini tabletop tripod. This has bendable legs and fits in a tiny pouch.

The full-size tripod is comes with is of a cheap build. The bag is similarly icky.

But! This thing was cheap. The lens are still fun to play with, and they feel real solid. They make your G11 look cooler too. Overall, for the price and a little fun, I'd recommend the package.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great for fun, not for high-resolution prints, May 9, 2010

By 

Robert Vanderheiden "Vandy" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Opteka HD² Professional Digital Accessory Kit for Canon Powershot G10 Digital Camera (Electronics)

For about 25% more on your basic Canon G11 purchase, strongly consider buying this kit. Unlike the G11, these products are not top-drawer but when used properly you can more than double your lens' capabilities and your fun. Some items are useless (as noted below), but the price overall is good even considering quality issues.

Warning: To use the accessory lenses or filters, you MUST have a conversion lens adapter. Opteka makes an excellent machined aluminum adapter, likely to be more durable than the plastic model offered by Canon. The Canon, and some other adapters, have reportedly caused "lens errors" that turn off your camera when the built-in lens presses against a mounted accessory. This has not happened with the Opteka model. Buy it separately, but buy it.

The basic camera offers an outstanding 5x zoom lens. Some people want more, but no camera in the G11's feature or quality range zooms farther. With this kit, though, you extend your focal range to about 20x, from a very wide 14mm to a crisp 300mm or more (35-mm SLR equivalent). What's more, the 0.45x wide-angle lens has a back element that, when unthreaded, serves as a multiplier for macro photos. Those, plus the camera bag, are the main values here.

I agree with other reviewers that the Opteka wide-angle produces serious blue fringing (on the outer part of all photos, the dividing line between bright and dark image areas are outlined in blue-violet). Not attractive! But for prints of about 4x6 inches or smaller, it's tolerable. This accessory allows you to shoot a full room from a corner, barely missing both walls beside you. Yes, that wide.

The tripod, almost a failure, is very light, and the crank-up head is wobbly. It is OK for light winds only. Instead of using a simple screw to attach the tripod to the camera's tripod mounting thread, the screw is built into a removable wedge. Is this supposed to be a benefit? The wedge can only be fitted into the tripod in one direction, and you can't easily realign the camera with the aiming lever of the tripod if you attached the wedge a bit out of line. It also prevents your opening the battery/memory compartment of the G-series cameras this kit is allegedly designed for, or attaching the old-school Canon camera case. I'll stick with my ancient, heavier, more solid Tiffen tripod.

Three filters are included, and only work if you use the same extension tube as for the lenses. Although the writeup (Dated May; I bought mine in March) says the kit includes a circular polarizing lens, I received a linear polarizer. It doesn't matter with this camera, but it cannot be used on most dSLRs. Also included: an ultraviolet and a fluorescent-lighting filter. Digital cameras do not register UV, so this is only good as a lens cover. But if you have the mounting tube attached, which you must to use a filter, it will protect the lens except from driving rain. Toss the UV filter. Same with the FL. The G-series has a built-in fluorescent light setting, so toss this too. After that, what's the point of the leather case that holds three filters? Another toss. I wish they had used the cheap, reliable old-school "coin case" holders.

In the "digital starter kit," the lens cleaning fluid is a tiny squeeze bottle that, instead acting as a dropper leaks out the side of the nozzle. Toss that and buy some cleaner from an optical store like LensCrafters. There's a pair of clear self-adhering viewscreen protective covers. They defeat the expensive and effective LiveView antiglare features. Toss those too, or put them on your cell phone. I have no complaint with the rest of the little box's contents.

The camera bag was labeled Opteka although the May listing says it's a Samsonite. My bag has good shoulder strap and zippers. The bag has ample room for the camera and all the items in the kit, with room for a bit more. You could spend a lot of money and not get much more function or protection for your gear. That still leaves the good-quality lenses, including the macro that unscrews from the back of the wide-angle unit.

Even with the useless items and wobbly tripod, this package is a deal worth buying. Just don't expect it to make you into an Ansel Adams.