Having seen one of these listed on eBay, I am unable to find out anything about it. There is a Panagor Varioprox 10x Close-Up Lens but this seems quite distinct.
Does anyone know anything about this supplementary lens? I suspect that it may have mediocre optics.
Harold
Varioprox 10x Close-Up Lens
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Harold Gough
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Varioprox 10x Close-Up Lens
Last edited by Harold Gough on Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
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rjlittlefield
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Harold Gough
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rjlittlefield
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Re: Varioprox 10x Close-Up Lens
I'm pretty sure it's the same thing. The lens has its own focusing helix. Some pictures show it fully collapsed, others show it fully extended. There's quite a difference in appearance.Harold Gough wrote:There is a Panagor Varioprox 10x Close-Up Lens but this seems quite distinct.
...
I suspect that it may have mediocre optics.
I would be surprised if this device were even as good as "mediocre", in comparison to the optics most people use in this forum.
--Rik
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Harold Gough
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Harold Gough
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It proved to be a dud.
I have no idea about its optical quality but I can see no way of getting it to produce anything like 10x.
I don't know where they got the "10X" from. There is no such indication on the lens (possibly why I could not find it by searching the internet?). With my 28mm lens the narrowest field I can frame is about 70mm, a reproduction of about half life size, a long way from 10X. It also vignettes severely at the high magnification end.
With it fitted, my 50mm (macro), at close to full extension, gives a field only about 20% narrower than without, and that is with the subject almost touching the front of the lens i.e. in shadow.
I expect that a 17mm or so lens might give life size, with horrendous vignetting. (Not many 17mm lenses have a filter size of 49mm). No way is this lens going to give 10X under any useful circumstances.
It is a useful variable supplementary lens for someone not wanting the cost of a macro lens but it is not for serious macro work, not least because of the very short working distance.
The dealer says that they had a sheet of details but cannot find it. I suspect this could have been for the Panagor version which does claim 10X. They have agreed to refund my payment and postage.
Harold
I have no idea about its optical quality but I can see no way of getting it to produce anything like 10x.
I don't know where they got the "10X" from. There is no such indication on the lens (possibly why I could not find it by searching the internet?). With my 28mm lens the narrowest field I can frame is about 70mm, a reproduction of about half life size, a long way from 10X. It also vignettes severely at the high magnification end.
With it fitted, my 50mm (macro), at close to full extension, gives a field only about 20% narrower than without, and that is with the subject almost touching the front of the lens i.e. in shadow.
I expect that a 17mm or so lens might give life size, with horrendous vignetting. (Not many 17mm lenses have a filter size of 49mm). No way is this lens going to give 10X under any useful circumstances.
It is a useful variable supplementary lens for someone not wanting the cost of a macro lens but it is not for serious macro work, not least because of the very short working distance.
The dealer says that they had a sheet of details but cannot find it. I suspect this could have been for the Panagor version which does claim 10X. They have agreed to refund my payment and postage.
Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.
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rjlittlefield
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Somehow I am reminded of a story told to me by a friend...Harold Gough wrote:I don't know where they got the "10X" from.
He was teaching a high school science class, and had cautioned his students to always ask "compared to what?".
One day the local paper contained an advertisement for a new advanced synthetic lubricant, supposed to be "Up to 27X better!". So he had them write to the manufacturer, asking them "compared to what?". The manufacturer was apparently prepared for this question, because they returned a sheaf of test results, comparing their new advanced lubricant against earlier materials. Indeed, the advertised lubricant was up to 27X better than the worst competitor --- dry sand.
Other ads for the Varioprox lens advertise it as being +1...+10. They don't say what that means, either, but one might suspect that they're speaking of diopters. If that's correct, then indeed the Varioprox could yield a 10X enlargement compared to a lens used without it --- assuming of course that the other lens had a minimum focus distance of 1 meter.
--Rik