Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMW-LW55 55mm Wide Conversion Lens for Panasonic FZ7, FZ30 and FZ50 Digital Cameras

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

 

 

The Panasonic Lumix FZ50 is an extraordinary digital camera. Leica design approved optics deliver crisp images on a 10 Megapixel sensor. Great ergonomics and very responsive handling. Granted, it is not a Nikon or Canon DSLR. You don't want the FZ50 for sports or street photography where there truly is a critical moment that must be captured. But for everything else, the FZ50 is more than fine and making it even better are the auxillary lenses, the LT-55 and LW-55.

The LW-55 is a screw-in converter that provides the equivalent of a 24.5mm lens on the FZ50. Images are surprisingly sharp, though not quite as sharp as those produced by the FZ50 lens. Distortion is very surprisingly minimal. The LW-55 weighs but 11 ounces and is only a few inches square. A bit pricey, yes, but less expensive than a 24mm Nikkor or Canon lens. No, I'm not comparing them directly, but in a relative way.

Take an FZ-50, add the LT-55 and LW-55 and for roughly a thousand dollars you have an approximately 3 pound package that will take you from 24.5mm through 1,137mm. Not bad at all for an everyday camera and especially delightful for travelling. Throw in a lightweight tripod like any from the Velbon line and a third-part flash unit and you've got everything you need. (The Panasonic dedicated flashes are frightfully expensive.) Again, the FZ50 is not a Nikon or Canon DSLR, but for most purposes, it fills the bill nicely.

Jerry

The primary flaw of my Lumix DMC FZ8 is that it caters to the telephoto crowd--the same folks who got their first 35mm SLR and then wanted a telephoto zoom to go with it. The truth is, most people will use a good wide angle about 90 percent of the time. They're also the same folks pushed up against a wall trying to fit in wide shots.

So along comes Panasonic's answer: a 3-element lens that gives users the wide angles they need. Are these Leica-ground multi-coated premium quality lenses? Hardly. This is a screw-in converter, the same kind that used to cost $29.95 in New York camera stores for the 35mm crowd who couldn't afford a real wide-angle lens. But $225+ is just too much to ask for a 3-element lens, unless it's Hubble quality computer-designed lens.

Barrel distortion is quite noticable at this wide setting, but then, even the old Vivitar 2x converters were 4-element designs.

Buy a budget converter. There's software that can help with distortion, but don't expect much from any converter...even if it costs as much as the camera!

It's confession time: I've bought cheaper aftermarket accessory lenses for various cameras I've owned over the years and have had too many disappointments with the quality of the results. A non-Panasonic tele lens for my FZ-50 had color fringing and softness along with lack of contrast. So, for my wide accessory lens I went with the manufacturer's product this time.

My preliminary results are hopeful - I'll add to this review as I use it more this summer, but I like the color and contrast so far. This takes you to about 25mm, which is handy. A weakness of the FZ-50 is that it just goes to about 35mm equivalent. And an accessory like this is a 'wart on the nose' of an otherwise lovely camera although this camera is more of a system camera than most advanced point and shoots such as the Fuji S7000 which I love to use for its fantastic imaging chip results.

Once you get these accessory lenses and other gear, you morph from 'camera hanging off the neck' to needing a specialized camera kit bag or backpack. But for specialized uses e.g. birding, or architectural uses it is the only way to go. So, it's thumbs up on this handy critter. Don't go cheepo!

Addendum: Finally got around to using this in an urban area and am quite satisfied with its characteristics when used with my Panasonic DMC-FZ50 as an add on wide angle lens which has good sharpness, contrast and color fidelity. It must be noted that you have to go into the menu system on the FZ-50 and select WIDE for the lens type (and don't forget to deselect it when you remove it). Manual focus can be quicker, or you can just set it to the hyperfocal distance of 12 feet or so. Auto focus works with a slight lag. It's a real pleasure to "get it all in" without stepping back all the time!

I am very pleased with the quality of the conversion lens. As a previous reviewer said, wide angle tends to be much more useful to people than a super tele, unless yor into wildlife or sports photagraphy. My only complaint is that when attched to the camera you aren't supposed to zoom, you are supposed to use it at max wideangle on the camera (24mm focal length with the converter). The FZ-50 max wide without the conversion is 35mm focal length. So there is a large gap, use 24 or 35 focal length. But I intend to experiment with Zooming with the converter attached and see if it adversly affects performance. I want to be able to shoot in that gap.

I have just come back from a trip to the Grand Canyon where I could compare this lens with taking normal photos without it. It makes a big difference to my Canyon shots so I am very happy that I have purchased this lens.
You have to be very careful not to take the photo when pointing towards the sun when using this lens to avoid reflections in the photo.

This lens is quite expensive but delivers superb quality. If you're after picture quality, this is what you need. It was designed specifically for the cameras it works with, so you can see where the quality comes from. That's why I would not use a no-name, or even Nikon, or Olympus wide converter with my Panasonic camera. Also do not buy this to work with your non-Panasonic camera, I believe the quality would diminish. The optics of the camera and the optics of the converter have to be designed for each other. Only the OEM can do that.

I am an amateur photographer and I needed a wide angle lens to facilitate photographing a family reunion at which there would be a large number of people congregating in a rather large area. The lens fit the situation perfectly and I have also used it a number of times for scenery shooting. It is well worth the investment. The lens along with a wireless remote shutter release greatly increased the ease of getting good photographs and helped make our 7000 mile trip to the reunion a memorable once-in-a-lifetime venture.

The lens was purchased from Amazon. I have been very satisfied with the way Amazon had handled all my orders.

I would like to see someone make a more reliable wireless shutter release, though.

Just took this lens on a 2 week tour of the PacNWest, loved having the extra-wide shots of cities, tall trees, etc. At any appreciable zoom (which is not what the wide angle is for, admittedly) there is significant blurring around the edges of the image. Makes for some cool shots, actually, but occasionally made it a hassle to switch back and forth between the wide-angle adapter and regular/telephoto lenses. All in all, love the adapter for its intended use, and would highly recommend it to other users.