Digilux-3 and planned 150mm lens purchase

[DonQuijote]

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Hi Leica-parents, I have a Dlux-2 and a Digilux-3. For the Diglux-3 I am planning to purchase the Leica 150mm lens and couple it with the new Olympus EC20 tele-converter which should give me 28-300mm four thirds focal length or 56-600mm standard SLR equivalent focal length. Plus I will have the option to use the EC20 with my kit lens. I may lose an f-stop but this should still provide a powerful combination (on a tripod that missing f-stop should not matter). Can anyone think of a disadvantage or any reason not to go down this road (apart from cost) ? Or has anyone done this with the EC14 teleconverter and has some feedback. EC20 should be released in Oct 2007 and the lens only Mr Leica knows when. Also a good tip I came across the other day is to turn off OIS when using a tripod as it will otherwise introduce camera shake. Views, thoughts and especially experience actively sought. Thanks in advance, Mike

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[spylaw4]

I recently got an EC-14 which seems to work fine with the kit lens. The advantage is that all the lens functions work (Auto + OIS).

I see no reason to believe that the EC-20 will be any less good - but the price may be a shock! The EC-14 was expensive enough!

If you usually shoot at ISO100, you can always compensate for the stop loss by using ISO200?

[dist]

Michael,

I have (and occasionally use ) the Olympus 1.4x teleconverter with the Leica kit lens. Results are generally good although I sometimes tend to think that the teleconverter adds a slight yellowish tint to the photos. This does not appear to be the case for all pictures though so I haven't really gotten to the bottom of this.

Since I recently also got the 50-200 Oly I don't use the converter as much as I used to but I still like to take it along when traveling because the 50-200 is really a b*tch to lug around.

I am enclosing a shot taken with the kit lens at 50mm plus teleconverter (the exif lists the focal length correctly as 70mm, max. aperture 5.0 which is also correct - kit lens is 3.5 @ 50 mm plus one extra stop for the teleconverter). The Empire State Building inset is a 100% crop.

I am not sure, though, if what you propose is a particularly sensible proposition. Although it doesn't say so anywhere in the press announcements, my guess is that the 2x teleconverter will eat not one (like the 1.4) but two f stops. Add to that the fact that the Leica superzoom is f/4.5 at telephoto setting this would leave you with an f/6.3 (best case scenario, teleconverter eating only one f stop) or an f/8.9 (more realistic scenario) telephoto lens. That does not sound very appealing to me, to be honest with you. Part of the extreme telephoto fascination, for me, is the capacity of shooting wide open and to get a nicely "bokeh'ed" blurry background.

As usual, your mileage may vary, and your preferences may be totally different from mine. Hope to have been of assistance anyway.

Cheers,

[DonQuijote]

Thanks Brian - you made a good point about ISO compensation and I have heard good things about the EC-14. Cost versus frequency of use is another consideration especially if the price is going to be high for the EC-20. Thanks for the input - it has helped. Regards, Michael

[DonQuijote]

Dieter, thanks also for your insightful comments. I think you are right a 2 f-stop loss is not appealing as the loss of light and constrained options are not good. Initially I will stick to the Leica 14-150mm - the 300mm equivalent focal length should be ok for the majority of situations. I will then scan the internet etc for reviews of the EC-20 (tints, f-stop loss & strategies), but I suspect the financial business case - cost versus frequency of use will not stack up. Thanks for taking the time to upload the pics. Vielen Dank & Gruesse aus Neuseeland. Cheers, Michael

[spylaw4]

[snip]........I will stick to the Leica 14-150mm - the 300mm equivalent focal length should be ok for the majority of situations. [/snip].............. Cheers, Michael

 

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