Help? Need advice buying a lens for Powershot G7

[Hello.there]

Evening all,

I've really been enjoying using my Canon Powershot G7 the last few months but am thinking now about investing in a lens.....but don't know much about these things.

Would a telephoto lens be the best option to start out with (ie I'm one of those ambitious amateurs)?

If yes, can you recommend one?

I haven't a clue how much these lenses cost, my budget would be up to $200.

Would really appreciate any advice, thanks.

 

[valiar]

A G7 is a point-and-shoot, fixed lens camera.

Thus, your only options for "upgrading" the lens are the two Canon's own converter lenses, wide and tele. Those are reported to work all right - at least, as much "all right" as a converter lens can be. Expect corner sharpness issues with the wide converter, and pincushion distortion/chromatic abberation with a teleconveter.

Given that these converters are rather huge, and do away with the most important benefit of a point&shoot (compactness), maybe you should consider getting an interchangeable lens DSLR instead. Since you will pay close to $100 for each converter, $200 in total, it is not such a weird idea from a financial standpoint... You can definitely get a low-end DSLR kit (such as an Olympus E330, or Nikon D40) for ~$400.

Oh, and forget about any universal "Opteka" or "High definition lens" Saturday night specials from Ebay. The genuine Coke bottle bottoms put these "high definition lenses" to shame.

 

[seany916]

Stick with what you have without any new accessories for it.

If you feel the need to upgrade, get a new camera. Then sell or pass on the one you're using now.

If you're getting into photography... you'll definitely want a dSLR.

Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax...

 

[Hello.there]

Top class advice and info, many thanks!

 

[ChrisA]

The telephoto converters are not much use. You can get the same image quality by cropping. The wide lens is good and allows shots you can't get any other way. The Canon converter is good quality but Century Optics is the leader and makes several wide adaptors that you might want to try. Don't expect SLR quality from a converter.

THe wide converts work best on video camera. I leave one on my Mini DV cam most of the time. That "get close and in your face" video style is what people seem t be doing now. I don't use it much with my Canon P&S anymore since I bought a DSLR.