Kodak

[The Bosun]

I am relatively new to birding and have been getting by with a Kodak DX 6490 digital. I have been reading about adding a telephoto lens, by way of a lens adapter - not perfect, but all I can afford at the moment. I have read on the internet about quite a few people using the, but no one says anything about attaching them.|:(|

I have been told to remove a "lens ring" and I assume use the thread from that to attach the lens adapter.

I don't know if I am just slow, |8|| but there is no way that I can work out how to remove the lens ring.

I have also been told to look in the User Manual by a seller - I cannot find any reference there. |=o|

Has anyone had any dealings with this?

Tks

[RAH]

I think you may be referring to adding a teleconverter to the front of a superzoom like your Kodak camera. A popular one is the Olympus TCON-17, which is often used with not just Olympus superzooms, but also Canon, Panasonic, and others. There are other teleconverters available from the other manufacturers. For example, Panasonic makes one very much like the TCON-17.

However, just because you have a superzoom does NOT necessarily mean that it can have such a telecon mounted on it. In the case of many Panasonic, Canon and Olympous superzooms, you can remove a ring at the BASE (not the front) of the lens - it surrounds the base of the lens and is part of the body. When you remove this ring, it allows you to screw a special tube-shaped adapter into the body of the camera. WHen you have done that, the tube completely surrounds the lens (even when it is fully extended). You then attach the teleconverter to the end of the tube, which places the teleconverter directly in front of the end of the lens.

Looking at descriptions of the Kodak DX 6490, it does not appear to have this ability. I see no ring to be removed, nor threads at the base of the lens.

The Canon S5IS superzoom, which I own, did have this ability, but the newer SX1 and SX10 do NOT have this ability so even some of the newer cameras cannot accomodate a teleconverter.

One option is to attach the teleconverter to the very front of the lens, in the filter threads (using a step-up or step-down ring to get the size right). However, these teleconverters are quite heavy and might very well damage the lens mechanism, so I don't think I'd do it.

[Claymore]

I am relatively new to birding and have been getting by with a Kodak DX 6490 digital. I have been reading about adding a telephoto lens, by way of a lens adapter - not perfect, but all I can afford at the moment. I have read on the internet about quite a few people using the, but no one says anything about attaching them.|:(|

I have been told to remove a "lens ring" and I assume use the thread from that to attach the lens adapter.

I don't know if I am just slow, |8|| but there is no way that I can work out how to remove the lens ring.

I have also been told to look in the User Manual by a seller - I cannot find any reference there. |=o|

Has anyone had any dealings with this?

Tks
Eric, have you thought of attaching your camera to a spotting scope to get longer range? may be an option and there's quite a few universal digiscoping mounts available or maybe make your own mount?
Cheers and hope you get it sorted
Brian