Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMW-LC55 55mm Close Up Lens for Panasonic FZ7, FZ30, FZ18, and FZ50 Digital Cameras

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This lens is fairly inexpensive and the reason for that is while it definitely lets you get really close and the image is definitely larger than without it, the fact is the FZ7 and the FZ30 macro settings are already so good that the image is perhaps 15% or so bigger than without it. If I can I'll post a couple flower images to permit comparison with and without the lens. The camera I have is a FZ7. Because I want as large an image as possible of my focus I am very happy.

Finally i got the lens.
The review of the other reviewer is misleading.
The magnifictication increase you can get is mind blowing.

Instead of the closest shooting distance of 1.00m of the Panasonic FZ7's standard macro zoom position (432mm) you can now get as close as 33 cm with this lens.
Have a look at my photo samples and you will understand was is going on.

I did not buy the orignal (expensive) adapter for the FZ7 .... i used a step up ring 52 - 55 mm for 2.00-3.00 $

With another step down ring 58 - 55 mm i use the phantastic lens on my Canons 20D/40D and the Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS lens with great test results.
As with the Panasonic, also here the minimum shooting distance decreased a big deal (see the sample)

all sample pictures i reduced to the half Pana 2816 > 1408 Canon 3888 > 1944

if you are in macro / close up photography and you don't want to buy an expensive macro lenses get this one.

You will not regret it

see some of my photos (copy the link in your browers address field) at [...]

I have a clip on macro lens from Raynox, but wanted to check out the DMW-LC55 which is made for Panasonic cameras. The lens arrived soon after I placed the order, and so far has met my expectations. I do not use it at full zoom as I do not use a tripod; mostly I shoot detail close up shots of dragonflies or butterflies, and they do not lend themselves to tripod shots. If you have a Panasonic FZ camera this lens is worth considering.

Firstly getting this lens was a bit of a hassle. The lens was available at a very competitive price from Amazon, but the adaptor (also available at a VERY competitive price on Amazon) could not be posted to my address (reasons not understood). Australian suppliers could send me the adaptor at a not very competitive price but said the lens was no longer in production. I had to buy the adaptor from australia and the lens from Amazon. They ended up costing about the same, although the adaptor should have been about 1/3 the price.

All that said, the lens is great. The problem with the Panasonic Lumix FZ35 is that although it has fantastic macro capability (it allows you to take photos up to 1 cm from the lens), this is not very practical as you usually cannot get enough light in on the subject. Backing off a little means you sacrifice hugely on magnification as the FZ35 has an equivalent focal length of 27 mm (effectively wide angle).

To use the camera on AF Macro with some zoom, means having to go back at least one metre or more to be able to focus.

Now, to the PRODUCT itself, the DMW-LC55 Close up lens.

Using the close up lens is a bit of a pain (you have to remove the hood adaptor, fit the new adaptor, fit the lens, and then remember to switch the setting to Conversion|Closeup). Of course, you have to remember to switch back after removing it. The camera reminds you regularly of the setting, so that helps.

The BIG advantage of this lens for the FZ35 is the ability to focus on small items with up to full optical zoom (18x) at near on 40cm. This produces much greater magnification than either very close up macro non-zoom or macro full zoom (with min distance of 1 m).

I got this product to try to extend the macro capability of the camera and it has worked. I have not been able to identify any chromatic aberrations or other distortions but that is not to say they do not exist.

It suits my needs.

This was my 1st purchase, the lens showed the segments of the tile in my kitchen, which are impossible to see. Its 0.7X magnification is but would like the Raynox MSN 202 (5.5 X magnification) or MSN 505 (8.8 X magnification) which are much more powerful, for a similar price.
The lens is full (heavy) and gives a sense of being very well built.