Will a Raynox dcr 2020 2.2x tele converter lens work on a Samsung Nx11

[northlondon43]

Hi everyone. I've trawled the internet but can't find an answer to the above (including the Raynox website). I have the nx 50-200mm lens and wanted to improve the telephoto length by using a converter (off to Namibia in Sept for a couple of weeks). The Raynox seems to provide good results for digital cameras but unsure if it's suitable for the NX. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Adrian

[Sponge]

Looking at the specs it shows it will fit 52mm thread which I believe is the the filter size of your 55-200mm lens so I'm guessing it would work. It would make your camera very front-heavy so some sort of lens tripod mount might be necessary.

[northlondon43]

Hi Patrick. I know it'll actually fit my lens but my concern is whether it will work properly as I've read that on some cameras it produces a lot of vignetting etc.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Adrian,

I would expect any vignetting to only be a major issue at the wide angle end of the range.

Please don't expect too much from this, I have a feeling it will be a disappointment (on any DSLR quality lens/camera);

low contrast and prone to flare without the 'extra' lens hood
soft (their website says 260 lines/mm, I'm not sure how that equates to the figures on most lens reviews sites, since they give numbers in the range of 1500 - 2500)
softer still towards the edges of the image
it may well also cause colour fringing towards the edges
it may also give barrel or pincushion distortion

If you attach this to the front of your lens while away, make sure you have a means to grasp the thread adaptor, I have a feeling it may get stuck on something - because you'll need to do it up tight to support the weight without wobble.

Personally, I'd be careful in use - when your 50-200mm is fully extended, the extra weight, unsupported, might be a problem (I have no experience of Samsung build quality), but regardless of that, if the extra length hits something as you turn to get a shot behind you

Have I put you off yet?
Sorry, I perhaps shouldn't, but I wouldn't buy one.

To solve this focal length problem, I recently bought a whole new camera (Nikon P510), but that's not without quality and AF issues - and not as cheap as this Raynox device.

Enjoy Namibia,

[northlondon43]

Lol thanks for your reply and humour David. Weight isn't a problem as it's only 290gms but i take your point about a tripod. The lens is £170 so I'm a bit cautious about getting another camera just to get a longer lens!

[northlondon43]

Can anyone else suggest a tc that will work well with my camera?

[Manfred M]

The one question I would have is whether or not the image stabilization system will work with this converter in place. I assume that you are planning to use this setup for wildlife photography during your Namibia trip in places like Etosha National Park. Unfortunately, you will have to stay inside you vehicle in Etosha, so a tripod is generally not going to be of any use to you and you will be hand holding the shots.

My other concern is that the lens you will be using is not particularly fast (f/5.6 at the 200mm end). You will be losing over 2 stops with the teleconverter, so the fastest shooting you are going to get is in the f/11 - f/16 range, which is going to be a bit problematic for wildlife work. I suspect the AF may be a bit flaky as well (assuming it does work with the teleconverter).

I did the bulk of my wildlife shots with a Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR, and this worked fairly well during daylight hours. For sunset and sunrise shots, I used the faster but shorter range f/2.8 70-200 VR II Nikkor on a D90 (crop sensor). Your lens without the converter should be fine for other types of work.

Enjoy Namibia; it's a very intersting country to visit.

[northlondon43]

Thank you for your thoughts Manfred. I'm going to the Caprivi Strip and intend to use a tripod at the lodges we're staying at(birds, hippos etc) and abean bag when in the car to support the lens. I realise that I'm only going to be at f11 but given the wonderful light during the day i hope its not a problem. Nikkor isn't compatible with my samsungso i have limited choices....a TC of some sort being my only option.

[Manfred M]

I realize you can't use the Nikkor, but wanted to indicate the lens speeds / lengths I was shooting with.

Have a great trip! We ran out of time to do the Caprivi (three weeks was not nearly enough time). If you get to Etosha, try to stay at Naumotomi Camp. It's the best place in the world to see the Black Rhino and they light up the waterhole there at night. is a short video.

We got really lucky spotted something in our rear-view mirror and figured out where it was hiding. It when it finally emerged 20 minutes later we got some great shots at 200mm; but it was darn close to us:

[northlondon43]

Wonderful pictures :-) We went to Namibia last year and spent several days in Ethosha....unfortunately I'd only just bought the Samsung and didn't really know what I was doing lol However we got some great shots of elephants, rhino, lions and cheetahs. Also went to Swapokmund and managed to get pics of dolphins, pelicans. Can't wait to get back.

[Manfred M]

Lucky you! The Caprivi and Vic Falls are on the hit list for the next time we get into the area. Namib-Naukluft was stunning as well. The red dunes at sunset are something else (no teleconverter required).

[jcuknz]

As an owner of the Raynox 2020 along with bridge, M4/3 and DSLR I would say "It depends on the lens you are using it with".
The 2020 is a telephoto adaptor and best suited to a bridge camera with a relatively small front element to its lens.
For instance when used with my Panasonic FZ50 with its x12 zoom it looses about a third of a stop of light while with my M4/3 and 14-140 zoom it looses 4/3 stops. The reason I am sure is the relative size of the 2020's rear element and the front element of the zoom. Then when I added it to the 230mm lens on my DSLR I lost a full two stops becuase of the miss-match, the 230mm lens is an f/4 with a quite large front element.

When used on the FZ50 it is frustrating that vignetting starts immediately one zooms back. This is in contrast to my other adaptor, the Olympus TCON x1.7, which permits me to zoom back to about x7 from x12 ... there is nothing so frustrating as being 'too close' as when I first used it at a Rodeo and had to stand at the back of the grounds on a bank

OIS works just the same as without the adaptor or anything else you put in front of the camera lens.
My understanding [ ps. just measured it and I have a 55<62 step-up ring] is that the 2020 has a 62mm mounting thread so a step-up ring would be needed 55<62. Hopefully if the lens is smaller than 55mm then you will get a good match but you are staring from a 'slow' lens at f/5.6 and Phase Detection[ PS. I see you have Contrast Detection, I hope it is as good as with my Lumix 14-140 lens ] is reputed to not always work at apertures above f/5.6 ... but somebody may want to correct me on that ... I know one of the delights of my M4/3 is that its contrast detection works perfectly at much smaller apertures as when I add the TCON to the f/5.8 of the 14-140 lens and end up with a working max aperture of f/10 or so.

I being a DIYer fitted a collar [ 3" thickwall aluminium pipe] to the Raynox so that when mounted on the FZ50 the tripod/monopod carries the lens with the camera hanging off the back ... I also organised a generous lenshood which does slightl;y vignette but not that noticeable. In this regard I suggest you ignore the 2020 and get the 2025 which has a thread on the front to carry the lenshood which the 2020 does not have I will post a shot of my rig, on my earlier FZ30 at the time. the advantage of the FZ30 and FZ50 is that the lens doesn't trombone when it zooms, nor rotates that I have notices when focusing [ THOUGHT! ... no it does not rotate becuase it has a petal lenshood ]

I cannot tell for sure but with the FZ's I am using a 430mm AOV lens and I suspect it will vignette on your 320 AOV lens becuase it vignettes as soon as I zoom back and it vignetted on my 230 DSLR lens [368 AoV]

The FZ50 ranged between US250 and US$400 last time I looked on Amazon, thats a 10Mp camera and gives you a 950mm AoV at about f/4.5 but against that is the fact that I don't feel happy working above 100 ISO for IQ FZ30 is only 8Mp but cheaper Working at 16Mp is fun and permits some cropping so with your 300 AoV should work well for you without any adaptor IMO.

For you info the rear diameter of the 2020 is 32mm ... this is the same as the front of the FZ50 which is why it works so well apart from the vignetting back from 430mm AoV.

The case I made out of plastic drainpipe for the 2020

A postscript ... I much prefer to use the TCOn x1.7 becuase I can zoom back a bit and also it is much lighter if one is travelling and would fit in a large loose pocket. Both lens are a bit soft at edges but pretty much the same amount ... not something I bother about but people do.

[northlondon43]

Thank you so much jcuknz for all that information (x 2!). I understand most but not all as I'm not particularly technical and haven't read up on things like angle of view, contrast detection etc. The thread on the lens is 52mm so, as you suggest, may be in my favour and the angle of view is roughly 8-32 degrees across the range (no idea what, if any, impact this might have and am not sure what you are referring to when you quote in mm unless you mean the equivalent focal length of the extreme end of my lens (200 mm with a 1.6 x crop factor).
Having a Samsung NX camera doesn't seem to give me much choice when it comes to extending the zoom. It seems to me that I either go with the Raynox or buy a cheap Samyung telephoto lens (and the reviews on those are pretty awful).

Cheers

Adrian

[jcuknz]

Angle of view is what I'm saying when you say 8-32 degrees ... which is a way I have not latched onto
Your camera has a 'crop factor' of x1.5 [according to dpreview] which means your 50-200mm lens gives you the same angle of view/degrees as a 75-300mm lens on a 35mm film camera would. It is a standard way of describing things in the mess of different standards in the digital world.
I have no idea how Phase detection works but contrast detection, which you have, unusually for a DSLR, picks up different tones in the area it is using to focus with ... it may be possible to stop the lens focusing by selecting a uniform area ...I have achieved this once but normally my CD lens snaps into focus under all lighting conditions. night time street lighting asnd brighter , so long as there is a trace of contrast for it to work on.

Phase detection was THE way being very fast and capable but apparently contrast is catching up with the latest models. But from what I read PD has a problem when the light is low or when you use stops smaller than f/5.6. PD cameras normally open the aperture to focus and then close down for the photo ... that is fine if the lens can open wide but when its largest aperture is f/5.6 or smaller it may not work so well. So if you already have an f/5.6 max aperture lens [ as I have] at full zoom and insert a telephoto converter between camera and lens you end up with a f/8 or f/11 maximum aperture. So adding the TC is really only workable if your start with an f/2.8 or f/4 lens ... the first would give you f/5.6 with a x2 TC.

Choice of lens .. when I googled I found http://gfotostore.com/catalog/view/56.html who offer a NX to M42 converter tube.[29 Euro] This means that any older M42 mount lens, the list is endless, seemingly lots of russian lenses too, could be added to your camera ... but you would loose AF and need to work in A or M modes .... in A mode you set the aperture on the lens and the camera will pick the appropriate shutter speed. Hopefully, usually, the lens will have a switch or slider which opens the aperture for focusing and then shuts it to get the shutter speed and take the photo ... rather clumsy but workable in situations where you have time. You camera may have a mode "use with no lens" or similar wording for when doing this.
Unfortunately these old lenses are not as cheap as they used to be when digital first appeared as every man and his dog are looking for them to do what I'm suggesting.

Sadly the TCON x1.7 is not available or being offered at ridiculous price... mine cost US$75 plus P&P [ New York, B&H, to New Zealand] and there are others at Amazon which I know nothing about.

I suggest the first thing you need to do is to measure your 50-200 lens front element, roughly with a household ruler would suffice, to see if it matches the 32mm diameter of the Raynox back element. If it is bigger than 32mm you can expect to loose light by using it .. maybe as much as 1 and 1/3 stops or two stops in my tests but at least you have contrast detection focusing which doesn't have the drawbacks of PD in this situation.
The advantage of the Raynox is that the camera's automatics will work as normal and as quickly as usual if you are tracking wild life ... against the possible better image quality of the M42 lens and working manually. In 'old age' my preferance is to go for the automatics
Final suggestions is to have some sort of support carrying camera and Raynox so you are not carrying the lens on the camera lens but at the balance point ... in my photo you may notice the tripod bush on the collar ...and second suggestion is to get the 2025 which has provision for a lenshood as the 2020 has no thread. The hood does make a difference. Even my plastic drain-pipe connector painted with matt black paint But I have a lathe to turn it down to match the Raynox.

I hope this second ramble is of help to you in deciding which way to go ... for my next trip I am going to add my TCON to the 14-140 lens of my Panasonic G3 to achieve about a 500mm AoV.[ 3'20" ] and probably leave the FZ50 and Raynox at home. With the larger sensor I can use higher ISO to compensate for working at smaller apertures as you can with your APS-C camera.

An interesting site to see what different lenses do [focal length and degrees] is
http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/pr...nses/simulator
[It told me a moment ago that 495mm AoV is 3 degrees 20 minutes ]

[jcuknz]

You might find this item interesting ...
http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Telephoto-...hoto+connector

The normal comment would be that it is rubbish and with 16Mp you can afford to do without it and crop to get the narrower view .... on the other hand it might not be so bad ... a $20 gamble

[northlondon43]

Hi JC
Today I managed to try the 2020 on my camera (long story). Good news: auto focus works down to f5.6; no obvious vignetting etc; only adds about 300gms to the weight of my lens. Bad news: lots of camera wobble even when mounted on semi pro tripod; would need to take said tripod on holiday and its much heavier than my travel one which i don't think could cope; but the killer is that the pics are blurred even when using a shutter release cable and manual focus. Conclusion? I'm going to live with my 200mm, crop accordingly and hope that the rumours of a soon to be released 300 or 400mm nx lens is true before i go away! Thanks for all your advice
Adrian :-)

[Manfred M]

I seem to remember that Samsung cameras can use Pentax K mount lenses. Is that an option?

[jcuknz]

My experience is with cameras and OIS and sorry I forgot to mention the reciprocal rule you will need to follow.
Firstly you need to practice good trigger technique which is to 'caress' the trigger rather than punching it in the excitement of taking the action shot. Along with all the other techniques you read about. As for firing target rifles.
Your 200mm end of the zoom with the crop factor has an angle of view of 300mm. this means you must use 1/300 or faster without the Raynox. With the Raynox you have a 660mm AoV so must use at least 1/660. I would suggest that you will find your tripod with the centre column extended for your convienience is bad for your camerawork but drop the column so you are just using the legs will result in better success ...I have rarely had a professional tripod in my stable so that is my solution to my problem. The other is to balance the rig, as I did with the collar.

This is a rough sketch of a hand grip for hand holding and also for mounting on any tripod, you could find that either of your tripod when used with one leg as a monopod will give satisfactory results.
The hand grip is probably folding if what I suggest, footrests fold up out of the way when not in use, and the screw thread is a quarter inch Whitworth or BNC found in any hardware store or the proper item in a photoshop.
Curved piece of aluminium lined with felt to support the end of the lens perhaps better a complete ring aar9ound the lens [ SRB-Griturn make such things and probably could help you, a UK firm I have dealt with*]... since you have the 2020 what you do about a lenshood I don't know but it will be worth the effort.
Over here Aluminium comes in 6 metre lengths but sometimes one can get a shorter length ... Yellow pages for suppliers? The lens support could be thinner and either bolted or rivetted to the main strut.

*Else you might find a helpful model engineer at your local M.E. club if you can locate them. I belong to one and we get requests for help from time to time. Postscript just remembered that SRB-G make lens collars for mounting the lens on a tripod or pistol grip .. you would need to work out the balance point and hopefully it is under the Raynox rather than your 50-200.

Basic Rule .... when using big rigs you do not hang them from the camera but organise a balanced rig

Another useful link http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/samsungnx10/ with the info the NX mount has a lens to sensor distance of 25.5mm.unlike a 'standard DSLR' of 45.5mm ... connot find any reference to what the Pentax mount is but since it is a regular mirror flapping DSLR I would guess it is 45.5 so you would need an adaptor.

[jcuknz]

Seems I am getting conflicting info from different sources and dpview on the lens page tells me your 50-200 lens has a KAF / KAF2 mount .... Sorry to mislead you and doubt Manfred

I also just read the bit Dave Humphries wrote about the lens extending to zoom [ like my M4/3 lenses do ] and my feeling that I need to organise a cradle for when using my tele adaptor. Just a collar fixed to the lens or Raynox may not be wise ... and I must organise a lens hood too GRRRGH!