S3 Addon Lenses

[piedownjoe]

Hey guys.

I was actually wondering about lenses for the S*IS series. I have a Canon S3 IS, and I'm on a budget. I'm in need of a fisheye lens and maybe a good professional macro lens. I searched Amazon and found Opteka lenses and they're very cheap. Actually, extremely cheap.

(Disclaimer: I'm not advertising, just linking to the products I'm seeing and wondering if anybody has experienced this brand)

Opteka .38x Fisheye (http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Super-Panoramic-Fisheye-PowerShot/dp/B000VCCPCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197656428&sr=1-1)

Opteka 10x Professional Macro (http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Professional-Macro-Canon-Powershot/dp/B000GUHXGS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197656428&sr=1-2)

They also have filter packs. However I'm a little wary. Even in the product descriptions, it's a little "commercialy" (such as "Enjoy outstanding detail, enjoy enhanced clarity, enjoy Opteka.")

Anybody experience Opteka brand stuff? Should I go for it or steer away? Given my needs, is there an alternative brand I should look at for a fisheye and macro?

Also, is there a third party brand conversion lens adapter that's good so I don't have to pay my left foot for Canon's?

Thanks guys.
Brian

[David Metsky]

They're crap.

Look for Canon or Raynox brand. They'll cost more, but they'll actually take good pictures.

[JTL]

Here you will see some examples of different high-quality conversion lenses for the S3:

http://www.lensmateonline.com/newsite/S2.html

[piedownjoe]

So much for being on a budget. Raynox lenses cost more than the camera!

Oh well. Thanks guys.

[downtrodden]

Raynox DCR 250 Macro lens= 40-50 bucks- if you got a Canon S series camera for less than that, you got a hell of a deal! This lens is generally regarded as the best macro lens for the S series cameras

As far as fisheye lenses, i cannot comment, because i've no pexerience.

But stay away from cheap rubbish from Opteka, sunpak and any of that other cheap stuff.

As far as lens adapters go, if you're going to be getting filters later, go with something with 52mm threads, because the smaller filters will be cheaper. Lensmate makes an excellent adapter, but any adapter you go with will be spendy.

One thing you may find though, my Raynox telephoto lens is threaded, not clip on like the macro lens. The threads on the raynox telephoto (my copy) do not match the lensmate or canon threads, so i ended up having to buy a raynox adapter anyway. But because of the different threads, iit won't accept Hoya filters. (my lensmate and canon adapters accept hoya filters though)

Hope that helps and doesn't add to the confusion :X

[SpecialK]

They're crap.

Look for Canon or Raynox brand. They'll cost more, but they'll actually take good pictures.

I agree. Opteka makes excellent paperweights.

Canon is pretty good, though any conversion lens will suffer somewhat in performance.

[swifts]

I have tried some 'made 'china'lenses and the results were disgusting.
The tele was in focus in the center and toatly blurred away fro the center
The wide angle had major barreling.
The company took them back.
Has anyone used the genuine ones ? do you get distortion away from the center?