Olympus TCON-17 Telephoto Conversion Lens

TCon-1.7x -- Handy; use it when necessary!

Strengths: Works well with many digital all-in-one cameras, lightweight, no light reduction

Weakness: As with any tele-extender, the tcon-1.7x causes a reduction in sharpness.

I bought this to go with our new Fuji s9000 camera. Works wonderfully well! We tested it at Bosque Del Apache NWR to shoot closeups of the thousands of birds flying there.

It worked as I'd hoped, providing 1.7x more zoom when we really needed it, at the cost of some sharpness. Now, this is NOT a substitute for a $2,000 spotting scope... unless you don't have $2,000 :-D

By Mr_Pete - Dec 23, 2005

I’ve had an Olympus C-750 Ultra...

Strengths: No apparent image degradation, quality construction

Weakness: Size, No threads for filters

I’ve had an Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom Digital Camera for about 6 months, and purchased the Olympus TCON-17 (1.7x) Tele Conversion Lens about 2 months ago. The choice of the Olympus C-750 UZ (10x optical zoom) was made because the camera would be used for lots of sports action photography, and previous experience had revealed that without a strong zoom lens, it was difficult to get some of the...
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I’ve had an Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom Digital Camera for about 6 months, and purchased the Olympus TCON-17 (1.7x) Tele Conversion Lens about 2 months ago. The choice of the Olympus C-750 UZ (10x optical zoom) was made because the camera would be used for lots of sports action photography, and previous experience had revealed that without a strong zoom lens, it was difficult to get some of the shots I wanted. The 10x zoom on the C-750 has been sufficient much of the time, however, I began to get a feel for its limitations when taking some shots of wildlife. I was intrigued when I found out that I could push the magnification of my digital still camera to 17x with only a modest additional investment. It would allow me to maximize my camera’s abilities for wildlife and landscape photography.

When my TCON-17 Tele Conversion Lens first arrived in the mail, I was initially surprised at how large it was. I had only seen images of the converter on the internet, and it appeared to be about the size of the Olympus CLA-4 conversion lens adapter (an adapter required for use of the Tele Conversion Lens on my C-750 UZ, which I already owned for using filters). Actually, the Tele Conversion Lens is substantially larger (length 83 mm, width 80 mm); it’s almost as large as the C-750 UZ itself. I don’t want to deter anyone from getting a Tele Conversion Lens, but if you want your setup to remain compact, be aware that the Tele Conversion Lens will not exactly fit in a small case along with your camera. The Tele Conversion Lens feels very solid, and comes with lens caps for both ends, as well as a small bag (made of vinyl or a similar material) that holds the lens perfectly and can be cinched up with strings. While doing my research regarding telephoto-conversion lenses for my camera, I did find out that there were less expensive alternatives from other companies, but I also found many comments from camera enthusiasts indicating that the cheaper lenses weren’t worth the savings because they degraded the quality of images to a greater degree.

So far, I have used my Tele Conversion Lens on several occasions, and in combination with the Olympus CLA-4 conversion lens adapter, it feels very stable on my camera. The large diameter of the lens allows my C-750 UZ to maintain the same aperture available at its normal maximum zoom (f3.7). I often hear people referring to the lens on the C-750 UZ (6.3 to 63 mm focal length) as being equivalent to a 38 to 380 mm lens on a standard 35 mm SLR film camera. So, with the addition of the 1.7x Tele Conversion Lens, this brings the upper end of the focal length to the equivalent of the 600 mm range (646 mm). If you’ve ever seen a 600 mm lens for a normal SLR camera, you know it’s pretty huge. It’s really nice to be able to get the “equivalent” magnification with a much smaller setup. The manual that comes with the TCON-17 Tele Conversion Lens indicates that it “can only be used when the zoom is set to the maximum telephoto position”. Presumably, this is to prevent vignetting (darkening around the edges of the image) due to the long barrel. Although vignetting is obvious if I set my C-750 UZ all the way out to wide angle, I actually found that vignetting was gone approximately halfway through the length of the zoom. This may vary for other models of cameras, but at least it gives you a little room for composing your pictures without having to remove the Tele Conversion Lens. One drawback with the TCON-17 Tele Conversion Lens is that there are no threads for adding filters, which may limit its usefulness for some individuals. Generally I have at least a UV protection/haze filter on my C-750 UZ for protection and some haze reduction, but I haven’t noticed its absence yet when using the Tele Conversion Lens.

As for the pictures, I haven’t seen any deterioration in the quality of my images with the addition of the Tele Conversion Lens. It’s been a real joy to zoom in nearly twice as far as before and achieve the shot I want. My wife recently used the camera to get a nearly full frame image of a red-winged blackbird, and the picture was so good that she framed it and used it as a gift for a bird enthusiast friend. As far as tripod use goes, it is certainly recommended when the Tele Conversion Lens is on. However, this is the same recommendation that many people give for using the C-750 UZ at full zoom (10x), and I’ve found that under most outdoor lighting situations, I can take pictures at maximum zoom with no blurring. I’ve found that obtaining clear images without a tripod is also possible with the Tele Conversion Lens, although I imagine the tolerances for how slow you can go with the shutter speed and still avoid blurring are a bit smaller. Overall, I highly recommend the TCON-17 Tele Conversion Lens for people that want to extend the magnification of their camera.

By jsilveir - Jul 10, 2004

This lens has been fine so far. It...

Strengths: The ability to extend the great optical zoom of my camera even further.

Weakness: Tunneling when not zoomed in (typical for telephoto lenses, though), would have liked a little more magnification

This lens has been fine so far. It extends the the 10x optical magnification of my Olympus C-770 from 10x total to 17x. Very cool. There seems to be very little curvature or distortion in the images when using this lens. The weaknesses I listed are really just nit-picky items--not enough for me not to recommend this lens. I'm happy overall.

By mikemc35 - Jul 22, 2004

Over all this is a nice addition...

Strengths: improve quality of pictures from an already great camera

Weakness: makes camera a bit awkward w/ having to use with the converter

Over all this is a nice addition to the camera. As previously stated this lens makes a small camera a bit bulkier, but the perfect pictures are well worth it.

By smdaniele - Jul 14, 2004

Great product

Strengths: Great for photographing birds and other wildlife

Weakness: Lens cap cannot be tethered; steep learning curve, for me

I got the Olympus TCON to use on my Panasonic Lumix FZ7. As promised, it almost doubles the native zoom of the camera. When I get a well-focused picture, it is wonderful. I have had a personal steep learning curve in getting a well-focused picture. I think this is in part due to the great magnification; even a small amount of camera shake makes the camera "think" the intended focus is elsewhere....
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I got the Olympus TCON to use on my Panasonic Lumix FZ7. As promised, it almost doubles the native zoom of the camera. When I get a well-focused picture, it is wonderful. I have had a personal steep learning curve in getting a well-focused picture. I think this is in part due to the great magnification; even a small amount of camera shake makes the camera "think" the intended focus is elsewhere. I get much better results with a monopod. I would make the decision to get this product again.

By maryfbcat - May 11, 2006