Canon Powershot A620

maggie1969

Hello all,
I'm fairly new to photography so any advise anyone can give me will be greatly received!
I have had a Canon Powershot A620 for about 6 months now and I think I'm getting the hang of it's settings and what I can do with it at last! I would like to try to get into taking more interesting shots, mostly landscape and wildlife, and want to know what could I add to my Powershot to make this possible? I have read that I need a lens converter firstly to add extra lenses. I understand that I might need a Canon WC-DC58N Wide Converter and a TC-DC58N teleconverter lens. Has anybody added these lenses to their Powershot and how successful was it? Where is the best place to buy these items in Cork? Or online? I have checked Amazon and they only ship to US. Or should I forget about trying to add to this camera and just upgrade to another camera that has more capabilities? Thanks again.

Fionn

don't know anything about your camera but Pixmania Ireland claim to have a Wide angle converter for €128 and a tele-converter lens for €142
Some people have reported bad experiences with Pixmania
check out the sticky Where to buy photographic equipment and consumables at the top of the page

digitalbeginner

maggie1969 wrote:

Or should I forget about trying to add to this camera and just upgrade to another camera that has more capabilities? Thanks again.

Hi Maggie,

in general I think it takes at least 6 months to get to know your camera, certainly to the stage where you don't have to keep taking the viewfinder/lcd from your eye to figure out where a particular button/command is. In wildlife I think this is even more important. So changing camera will set that back.

Your camera is quite capable, here's some of what dpreview.com list in 'Other Features":
• Spot, Center-weighted & Evaluative metering
• 2, 10 sec and custom time self-timer
• PictBridge, Exif Print and DPOF compatible
• Playback Histogram
• Orientation sensor
• Autofocus Illuminator
• Optional 0.7x Wide (WC-D58N) and 1.75x Tele (TC-DC58N) converters
• Optional 58mm filter adapter
• Optional waterproof case (WP-DC50)
• Optional High Power Flash (slave) HF-DC1
• PC-controlled shooting with supplied software

This seems to make your camera quite capable (particularly the ability to control the camera through a laptop/desktop pc!).

I've used a Sony S85 for a few years and I have a wide angle and telephoto converter, seems to work in a similar way to your Canon, and I've had no great difficulties. I note you can also add filters (great for Landscapes) and an external flash.

I suppose it all comes down to cost. You won't get a lot for your camera second hand, so you'll lose there. How seriously do you want to take landscapes/wildlife, are you prepared to add to your current investment (lenses etc) and knowledge? or do you want to ditch it and put this extra investment and new training into a dSLR like a Nikon D50 (approx €580) or a Canon 350D (soon to be replaced but currently approx €750).

Unless you're really serious about it I'd suggest staying with the A620.

Good luck either way.

maggie1969

Thanks Fionn and Digitalbeginner for your advise. I suppose it would be wise to stick with the Powershot for now. I may buy the additional lenses and have a go with them. In my enthusiasm I was probably jumping the gun a little! Thanks again.