J. O. Baines
Nikon-Panasonic Hybrid
Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200
Nikon TC-17ED 1.7x Converter
The Panasonic Lumix FZ200 is a favorite because of it's awesome zoom capability, 24X (25-600mm). Now get a load of this … the FZ200 has a F2.8 aperture which is availble through the entire range of 25-600mm!!! Adding a Lens Adapter and a 55-60mm step-up ring allows the screw on of the TC-17ED (made for Nikon Coolpix 8800)! No other lens on the market can do that … yet!! And .. adding the 1.7X Nikon converter does not rob any of the light getting into the camera, not one iota. So now you are talking about 25-1020mm with F2.8 available though the entire range!! AWESOME!
The Red Dot Sight on the FZ200 flash shoe enables me to track eagles in-flight while the lens is racked out at 1020mm. The field of view is too narrow through the camera viewfinder to follow anything moving at that magnification. So I stand back a bit and ignore the viewfinder, both eyes open, keeping the eagle in the Red Dot. I miss a lot, but I also get alot that I wouldn't ordinarily get. For $40 bucks it's a winner.
Nikon-Panasonic Hybrid
Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200
Nikon TC-17ED 1.7x Converter
The Panasonic Lumix FZ200 is a favorite because of it's awesome zoom capability, 24X (25-600mm). Now get a load of this … the FZ200 has a F2.8 aperture which is availble through the entire range of 25-600mm!!! Adding a Lens Adapter and a 55-60mm step-up ring allows the screw on of the TC-17ED (made for Nikon Coolpix 8800)! No other lens on the market can do that … yet!! And .. adding the 1.7X Nikon converter does not rob any of the light getting into the camera, not one iota. So now you are talking about 25-1020mm with F2.8 available though the entire range!! AWESOME!
The Red Dot Sight on the FZ200 flash shoe enables me to track eagles in-flight while the lens is racked out at 1020mm. The field of view is too narrow through the camera viewfinder to follow anything moving at that magnification. So I stand back a bit and ignore the viewfinder, both eyes open, keeping the eagle in the Red Dot. I miss a lot, but I also get alot that I wouldn't ordinarily get. For $40 bucks it's a winner.