Lens for P&S cameras

[Milhouse]

I am starting to get interested in photography, and plan to get serious about it. I currently own a Canon powershot A520, and was conserding upgrading but just decided to wait a little longer (until I am able to take pictures without relying on the auto setting ). In the meantime I would like to get a little more zoom out of my camera. My camera is able to take a telephoto lens and filters, I would just like to know if it would be worth the money. Are there quality add on lens for P&S cameras.

Thanks

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

From what I can tell, the add-on lenses are mostly crap. The wide angle ones might be useful but rather than the telephoto adaptor, I'd suggest using a tripod to maximize sharpness and then just crop.

 

[Milhouse]

Thanks for the info. I would like to try UV and polarized filters to get better pictures. Would these be just as useless or would they actually work as they should.

 

[Big Mike]

A Polarizing filter is a must have, IMO, for outdoor shooters. Most other filters can easily be replicated with Photoshop...and with much more flexibility. A polarizer does things that would be very hard to do in Photoshop.

An old instructor of mine, who has been shooting for 40 years...tried to go a year without using a polarizing filter...just to see if he could get the results he wanted, without the help of a filter. He couldn't, so now he uses one all the time.

A UV filter...they are mostly used for protection of the lens...not really all that helpful otherwise.

 

[shingfan]

as far as quality goes....the quality would be best WITHOUT any add on....add-on is there to add effect....not quality i think......and i would not recommend spending too much money on a P&S.....a polarized might be a good idea for P&S to get the feel of it......i would not recommend getting more zoom out of a P&S as the pictures might become blur....better zoom out and crop..........otherwise....save the money for an SLR for better quality whenever you are ready

 

[Milhouse]

Thanks allot guys, this really helps. Telephoto out and polarize filter 100% in. If I get a polarize filter for my P&S, will I be able to use it on another camera in the future (universal mounting). If so I'll try to get a better quality one that will be with me for a while. Also is there a large quality range for filters like there is for telephoto lens.

 

[shingfan]

i doubt you can use it for your SLR later on.....because i would image you'll need something in the 60mm range for an SLR....whereas for P&S....you are looking at something a lot smaller...i'm not sure if there is such an down-side adapter for such extreme convertion?....or maybe there is...i've never use one myself so i dont know.....and i doubt there is such a thing called "universal mouting".......lenses have different diameter and different diameter need different filter size (or adapter).....(i'm looking into buying a 72mm circular polarized myself...but it is quite expensive)

 

[Milhouse]

would you know what price range I should consider for a decent P&S polarized filter

 

[shingfan]

i'm not sure how much it cost for a P&S polarized.....but for SLR.....you are looking at about $60-80 for an average brand (e.g. Hoya, Tiffen) and $120+ for top brands (e.g. B+W)

but honestly....if you are going to get a filter for a P&S...quality isnt that much of an issue...as the quality of P&S is not that good to begin with...the purpose is more for experiment and to get a feel of what it is like.....

 

[Big Mike]

When you buy a polarizing filter, you will buy it with a specific diameter and it will have threads (typical for all filters). These threads are meant to screw into the threads on the front of a lens. Most interchangeable lenses have threads and they are almost always in one of many standard sizes (52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 77mm etc.)

Your camera may not have threads on the front, but there is probably an adaptor that you can get, that will have threads for filters. The problem is that the threads will most likely be on the small size (42mm or 46mm, something like that). That's not a problem for your current camera, but I don't thing that many (if any) modern SLR lenses have a thread diameter that small...so your idea of using it later is kind of shot.

However, you can get something called a step-up-ring. It's a thin piece of metal with different sized threads on each side. This would allow you to put a bigger filter onto smaller threads. So for example, lets say that your camera's adaptor threads are 42mm...you could buy a 52mm or 58mm filter and get a 42 to 58 step up ring. This might be a little awkward on your small camera, but it would allow you to use the filter later.

 

[Milhouse]

I think that I will go with the needed tube adapter and a filter for my camera and worry about a new filter when I upgrade my camera. Less headaches that way.

Again thanks for the help.