Product Description

The TC-DC58N Tele-converter converts the focal distance of the body lens by a factor of 0.7 when attached.

Product Details

• Brand: Canon
• Model: 8159A001AA
• Dimensions: 2.90" h x 3.60" w x 5.30" l, 4.00 pounds

Features

• Works with models G3 and G5
• For those who need to pull back a little more to get that shot
• Conversion Lens Adapter LA-DC58B to be used with the camera

From the Manufacturer
To broaden the angle of your view, the Wide Converter WC-DC58N is available for the G3 and G5. Or if you want to pull back a little more, Tele-converter TC-DC58N is available. Both accessories require Conversion Lens Adapter LA-DC58B to be used with the camera.

Customer Reviews

Suitable for distance subjects
This lens is well worth the money if, like me, you bought the A710 IS in part for its 6x zoom, recording wildlife encounters is important to you, and you don't want to carry around an extra camera for such occasions.

The main shortcoming of this converter is that it increases the minimum focus distance (at camera's longest zoom) to a whopping 6 ft. At this distance, the field of view is about 7.6 inches wide. Without the converter, at longest zoom, you can get down to a view about 4.1 inches wide, at about 22 inches from the subject. So, regrettably this means that if you want to capture miscellaneous subjects in nature that may be approachable (butterflies, lizards, whatever), you can probably get a much better closeup without the converter. I suspect it will mostly sit in my bag just in case I see a large animal standing around (but not too far away), in which case it can really improve the shot (almost doubling the subject's size).

You will probably not use it unless the subject is really special and worth digging the converter out. But it is helpful that a large leatherette bag is included with this lens so you can leave the adapter attached to the lens and just pop the whole thing on and off.

In an effort to get closer to the subject, I have experimented with reducing the zoom while the converter is attached. This seems pretty useless. For example, at 1x the view was ca. 4 inches across, 2 inches from the subject. At around 2x, at closest focus, you get ca. 3.5 inches across at 2.5 inches away. At around 3-4x, the closest distance goes up to 6 ft.

Vignetting seems a minor issue because you will mostly use this converter when zoomed all the way out. However, I could imagine situations where you are mostly shooting distant elk or something and you want to take a quick landscape shot without removing the converter. FYI, slight vignetting starts to appear when you drop a little below the halfway zoom (maybe ca. 3x), but even at 1x (35 mm equiv.) where you have almost a completely circular vignette, you still have plenty of real estate left in your image so it is not a big deal if you know how to crop out the blackened edges; but it is easy enough to pop the whole thing off, so that is what you would do instead.

In the end, the best thing (for me anyway) would be a highly compact camera with a built-in 10 or 12x zoom with good optics. This doesn't exist yet, so I bought the next-best thing, the A710 IS with about half the zoom I'd like (but much more than the competition among good compact cameras). But once that commitment is made, it's definitely worth having the 1.75 teleconverter as well. I may even buy an extra adapter ($20) so I can quickly pop on/off either this or the closeup lens without having to screw things together.

Inexpensive way to expand camera capabilities
This lens is a good way to extend the capabilities of a general purpose camera for an amature photographer. Overall all quality and color accuracy of the digital images is good. The large lens diameter blocks the view finder, forcing one to rely on LCD screen for framing. The camera sometimes gets confused during action shots taking longer than normal to auto focus - a minor inconvenience.

Lens requires an adapter - a seperate piece to keep track of.

Solid lens from Canon
The optical x6 zoom on the Canon A710 IS is already better than cameras in it s range (i.e. non SLR). However, the zoom takes the picture up to the natural size; the tele converter lens really does make a difference.

Firstly, if there are any negatives, they are very minor; the lens and adapter are black - would have been nice to have been silver to match with the camera. Erm, that's it!

The main quality of Canon is the lens, which they always do well. The clarity of this lens is very good, with very little fuzziness at the edge. It also connects simply the adapter and seems fairly solid when connected. The electronics features help in the overall control of adding the attachment. The tele lens does make a difference for just getting that bit closer to get what you want.