RaynoxDCR-2025PRO High Definition 2.2x Telephoto Lens

Well built accessory to expand the reach of your lens.The larger front opening means that you are not sacrificing any f-stops, as you would with a teleconverter. This is not meant to work as a standalone lens. This goes on the front of another lens, which is attached to your DSLR camera or video camera.The back opening is threaded for 62mm. If that matches the front threading of your lens, you can attach the Raynox directly to your lens. However, if the front of your lens is smaller, the manufacturer includes four adapter disks to step down to other sizes. As an example, I bought this to use with my 70-300 zoom lens on my Canon 6D. The front of the 70-300 lens is 58mm, so I used the 58m adapter. Screw the adapter onto the Raynox and then screw the combination onto your lens. Check to make sure you can unscrew everything! The threads are plastic and can easily be damaged.Another benefit of being attached to the front of the lens system is that the Raynox does not interfere with the autofocus or image stabilization functions your lens may have. The Raynox also comes with a great hood, caps for covering the ends when not in use, and the most protective storage pouch I've ever seen. Seriously, I'm going to use this on something much more expensive than the Raynox!Of course, putting a moderately heavy lens on the front of your existing lens and then zooming the combination out to the max makes for a long and front-heavy combination. But this is true of any long zoom lens. The Raynox has a wide and deeply knurled section that helps you hold everything. Also, holding the Raynox is safer than holding the lens attached to the camera just in case things come loose.If your zoom has image stabilisation, you might be able to use this hand-held but more likely you are going to need a tripod to use this effectively. Again, this is true of any really long lens.My only gripes are the plastic threads on the adapters, and the back cover. I would rather leave the 58mm adapter mounted permanently, but the back cover won't fit in that case. A minor point.Edited to add-------------------So, how do the photos look? They look great! The only issue is vignetting. This may be a more serious issue for me because I am using one of the adapters that step down from 62 to 58 mm. Focusing on distant subjects (as you are most likely to use this) yields either no vignetting or only a very slight darkening of the corners. Focusing on a subject that is near the minimum focus distance causes severe vignetting - like looking through a port hole. In normal use when trying to capture distant objects, I don't think you should be worried about it.

I've owned a DCR-250 for macro and now this DCR-2025PRO for telephoto. One thing about the brand Raynox is that quality is something you never have to worry about. Their optical instruments are made in Japan and manufactured with great precision. The only thing that you have to find out is whether the particular lens will suit your camera.One thing i like about is the weight which is 275g. Less strain on your camera, tripod and easy to carry around. It comes with a handy lens holder (for traveling and protection), a lens shade (block out unwanted lights & reduce vignetting) plus 4 different sizes of lens adapter to fit the 62mm thread on the DCR-2025PRO to your camera.The housing is made of high grade plastic (not those cheap type when you hear the word 'platic') with a rubber part in the middle for proper grip as you can see from the product picture. The lens itself is made of coated glass which is useful when you are subjected to strong glares.The only limit is the sensor and mechanism of your camera. Your camera or setup will need to have enough optical zoom, at least 6x or more, to get rid of the vignetting.Put it to the test, and you will realise the optical image quality is superb. Definitely one of the best in its class.

I used this product with a Tamron 18-250mm lens, which is 62mm in diameter and should work with this product. The vignetting was severe unless the object was very far away and the lens was zoomed all the way out. At this distance, the subject (I tried this with large wading birds, such as great egrets) did not fill the frame even with the 2x converter. And there was still vignetting. Plus, the quality was not very good. Given all of those negative points, the product is not worth using. Perhaps it would work better with another lens. I would recommend a rear teleconverter instead. The only reason I didn't buy one of those is that they're not recommended with my lens.

I originally purchased this lens to replace the Olympus TCON-17. I am a bit bewildered that this item's original price is set at $200+. The first thought opening the package was that it didn't weigh as heavy as the Olympus. But after looking the product over and analyzing the step rings, the whole package is made from hardening plastic. Even the step rings are plastic. Now living in a state that it's 8 months out of the year is freezing temperatures, I just couldn't see myself risking damage to a plastic lens.I did install the teleconverter and immediately you could see vignetting occur at 1x zoom. The camera I put this on is a Lumix FZ1000. I disabled AFS and enabled tracking focus with f3.8 and ISO12800. It wasn't until 6.5x zoom did vignetting disappear. Unfortunately at 1500 yards away, and max dynamic zoom about 2.2 x 2240mm = 4928mm the image was quite grainy. Given the fact I did not have an ND filter nor did I compensate for brightness, I would have to estimate the use of the teleconverter would be from 7x - 158x zoom useful, since vignetting and actual focusing issues arise if zoomed too far. With an estimated 174x zoom possibility and the fact the material is made from plastic I just could not see myself spending $180.00 (tax, sale price & shipping), and keeping the product.With the TCON-17 having a max zoom of 3808m or 152x zoom and being able to use it's teleconverter from 6x - 152x zoom (image focus is much clearer), I just couldn't depart with a lens that is built with aluminum vs plastic even though I am only getting 1.7x conversion vs 2.2x advertised conversion.Granted this is only tested on a Lumix FZ1000. Any other cameras might have a different result. The FZ1000 outer ring size is 62mm and the teleconverter's inner ring size is 62mm therefore you will not need a step ring. I do wish they would have made this lens 72mm inner as it may then reduce vignetting even more.