Caffeine Priority: Having fun with Olympus TG-4 teleconverter and fisheye conversion lenses
posted Friday, October 23, 2015 at 6:23 AM EDT
Wake up with IR - Here's today's dose of Caffeine Priority!
I've been shooting the Olympus TG-4 for a Field Test to accompany our first Field Test from Arthur Etchells, and it's the first time I've gotten
the chance to try out their conversion lenses. Well, it's been so much
fun that I couldn't help posting a quick Caffeine Priority with them!
I had initial concerns about attaching them while out in the field, but it couldn't be easier. There's an adapter you need, but I ended up leaving that on all the time, conversion lens or not, as the adapter doesn't add any weight at all. These things screw on with a very reassuring precision! So that's it… screw it on and you're (almost) ready to shoot…. just don't forget to tell the camera it's on there. This is a simple step in the primary menu under "accessory settings/conversion lenses" - turn on the appropriate setting and you're all set!
FCON-T01 19mm eq. fisheye converter
The FCON-T01 turns the 25mm equivalent wide angle into a 19mm eq. fisheye lens. That may not sound like a big change, but 19mm appears a lot wider to the eye and takes in 130 degrees of view from the surroundings! Use this when you want to gobble up a lot of real estate, and give things an unusual or off-the-beaten-path perspective.
TCON-T01 170mm eq. teleconverter
The TCON-T01 extends the telephoto end from 100mm eq. to a generous 170mm eq., which is quite a nice focal length booster. In addition to the range, you get a lot more compression at 170mm, which can give photos a much different look more akin to what advertisers sometimes shoot for. I was a bit surprised by the quality and results from this one, and have left it on the camera a lot since then.
So... you can have your tough camera and your conversion lenses too. I realize they've been around for awhile, but they're new to me. Well done on these little guys, Olympus. (Please don't ask for them back!)
• Olympus TG-4 •
• • •
Caffeine Priority is a new series of short photo-tidbits to ease you into your day, and give us a chance to share a bit more of what life’s like here at IR. We're more like a group of friends testing and talking about cameras and lenses than the buttoned-down, big-corporation world that some of our photo-friends at other companies work in; hopefully these little snippets will share some of that. So... grab another coffee and join in the conversation with us down below!
