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Updated Jan 23, 2001
The Olympus TCON-300S Tele Extension lens is beautifully constructed and is well suited for tripod use. I'm sure that with care it could be hand held at higher shutter speeds, but my recommendation is to carry a monopod at the least, and probably a tripod.
Here are a few sample shots. All TCON images were taken from a tripod, using the Olympus RM-CB1 Cable Release. In each series, the camera location remained constant. Each of the thumbnails below will deliver the full size file, just as it came from the camera. They were saved in the camera as 8:1 JPEGs. No filters were used for any shot. Shutter and aperture were set manually - yes I did bracket the exposure (it was darned cold out there and I didn't want to do this again). Focus was automatic.
| 9mm | 36mm | TCON |
 P1211628 716.54 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211633 746.86 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211638 764.81 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211648 740.40 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211655 749.81 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211662 791.14 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211703 775.77 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211704 756.18 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
 P1211705 775.30 Kb 2240 x 1680 |
In the example below, I took the shots from the first series above and post processed the images. They are presented here at just under half size.
 101large 200.84 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 102large 239.05 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 103large 223.98 Kb 1024 x 768 |
Focus
in clutter
|
In this shot, the subject was about 25 feet away. I wanted to see how well the auto focus worked through the TCON. In this case, it did just fine. I had a second shot that didn't have the subject perfectly placed inside the AF target mark and sure enough, the background was in perfect focus. |
Edge
Fall Off
|
The TCON 300 is not a zoom lens. The E-10 must be set to it's full telephoto position (36mm) to avoid vignetting. But even with everything set up correctly, there seems to be a very slight fall off on the corners of the images, as shown here in this shot of an insulator on a power line tower. |
FL-40 Flash Full size
image, 711K |
The FL-40 does work with the TCON 300. This shot was from about 18 feet away, the TTL flash was set for +1EV compensation. There is a pretty good chance that the FL-40 could be used as as main or fill lighting out to 20 feet away with reliable results - I'll be doing more tests on this subject. |
The flags were about 30 yards away. The power transformers just looked like something people see every day so I included them. At the construction site, I was a good 75 yards away from the subjects. I'm sure they didn't even know I was there, let alone taking photos.
All of these shots were taken off-hand out the opened window of my vehicle. So while I was not using a tripod, I did have some extra support from the seat. For those concerned about vibration, the engine was not running when I was shooting.
Finally, if you're trying to figure out what a Texas State Flag is doing in Indiana, it and the American Flag were both flying above a local Texas theme steak house.
 P1221767 111.16 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221770 85.97 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221773 128.14 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221775 212.21 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221776 205.36 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221777 188.12 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221778 251.79 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221779 258.78 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 P1221780 246.09 Kb 1024 x 768 |
The shots below were taken at between 20 and 30 feet (notice the short DOF) from the geese using the FL-40 on the camera as fill flash. The camera was set to program mode, exposure of +.7EV (since the I had mostly white birds on snow and ice) and spot metering. These are all hand held shots. Images are reduced size, full frame to improve the load time.
 R1788 144.55 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 R1818 114.12 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 R1825 100.89 Kb 768 x 1024 |
In the next example, the camera was set to Program, spot mode. The AF mark was placed right on the microwave dish for focus and metering. Again, these are all hand held shots and presented as reduced full frames.
 R1829 9mm 68.07 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 R1837 36mm 77.43 Kb 1024 x 768 |
 R1843 TCON 112.31 Kb 1024 x 768 |