Factory adapter and hood... no good?

[keiffer]

Hi all, I've been noticing people on here talking about all these different adapters and hoods(phayee etc. Is there a problem with the one that comes with the cam other than shooting in doors the adapter seems to be alittle too long and may block light or cast shadows. Is this why everyone is going after market or is it an asthetics thing?

[pixelator]

And then you have to use 72 mm filters,more expensive . Other adapters let you to use cheap 55 or 58 filters.And you can use the flash with the adapter fitted.

[keiffer]

I got ya, I would assume it's more for the flash than cheaper filters, being that your spending money on an extra adapter. Unless ofcourse 72mm filters are that much more expensive than smaller ones.

[genece]

The closer the filter is to the lens the better it is, less chance of lens flare but how much difference ,it's up to you. Panasonic thinks its OK.
You could get one of these and use a 55mm filter with the Panasonic adapter and hood.
Nextphoto (http://www.nextphoto.net/FZ20.htm)

[shu246]

Third party adapters - probably not as necessary as one would think from reading the boards.

That said, when i ordered the FZ20 (without ever having seen the camera) i also ordered a pemaraal adapter, uv and polarizing filter, and hama lens hood. The add-ons arrived several days before the camera.

The Panasonic provided adapter, of very light plastic, has both more length and more flare than necessary. A shorter cylindrical adapter (which the pemaraal is) allows mounting smaller filters closer to the end of the extended lens.

The metal pemarall adapter however is quite heavy. So also is the hama collapsing rubber lens hood. Togather these may weigh as much as the camera itself, and create quite a torque hung way out in front as they are.

After a brief period of remorse, I accommodated to my selection of accessories.

The pemaraal adapter with slim uv filter stay on the camera most of the time, serving to protect the lens glass. In the camera bag (a sony camcorder bag from wal-mart) the camera rests on its left side with one of the filter cases and a bit of padding exactly supporting the attached pemaraal adapter.

For outside work, the slim uv filter may come off and the hama lens hood with polarizing filter (a step down ring is needed here) go onto the adapter.

For studio work, where dust is less of a problem, the adapter and uv filter come off.

If I had it to do over again, I would likely get a third-party adapter in place of the Panasonic provided one. However I would consider more the pemaraal plastic, pemaraal two piece, or the phayee.

[keiffer]

Thanks for all the info, Where do you all get these adapters and filters from? And yeah, light weight plastic works for me:-) My other cameras I've owned I never had one where the lense would come out like the Panny, so an adapter and filter would be a good thing.

[pwiles1968]

The closer the filter is to the lens the better it is, less chance of lens flare but how much difference ,it's up to you. Panasonic thinks its OK.
You could get one of these and use a 55mm filter with the Panasonic adapter and hood.
Nextphoto (http://www.nextphoto.net/FZ20.htm)

This is exactly what I have done but the 58mm version, the adapter has not arrived yet will post a thread when it does. There is nothing wrong with the Pana hood as a hood, it is only not OK if you add non pana adapters, oh and if you use onboard flash the petal extension can get in the way, but you don’t need the extension for flash? and if you are serious about good flash photos you need an external unit anyway. Just my Opinion of course.

[keiffer]

I've got the FZ 15...No hotshoe, so external isn't and option for me.

[propwash]

I've got the FZ 15...No hotshoe, so external isn't and option for me.

You can use a slave flash with the FZ15. This will give you the option of using an external flash.

[keiffer]

Hmmm really but where do I plug it into the camera in order to fire it? or is it totally separate?

[propwash]

Hmmm really but where do I plug it into the camera in order to fire it? or is it totally separate?

A slave flash doesn't plug into the camera. It triggers its flash to the firing of the camera's built-in flash.

[keiffer]

How does it trigger if it's not plugged into the camera ? any pics or links?

[JavaDan]

A slaved flash is fired when it senses the light emitted by the master flash. When flash A goes off, it's light burst triggers flash B - the slave. Many units used as slaves are designed to trigger on the second flash so that red-eye reducing pre-flashes don't trigger the slave too early. Also adding to the difficulty in using slaves is the problem of another photographer's flash setting off your slave. For many reasons, slaves are usually used in studios where the photogrpher has control over the environment.

For links, use Google - there are hundreds of sites out there that explain it.

[keiffer]

Very informative reply, Thank you. I think I'll just stick with the flash that came with the cam.