FZ35 Close-Up converter DMW LC55

In an earlier posting (14 July 2011) I wrote on the Lumix DMW LA3 adapter & DMW LT55 Tele-converter. While surfing the internet 2 weeks ago, I saw that Panasonic Malaysia (the online sales Direct e-commerce section) had the close-up converter DMW LC55 at 50% off. So I bought one.

The same adapter LA3 was required, it didn't extend the total length out as much as the tele-converter obviously.

The e-commerce purchase from Panasonic Malaysia was a pretty disappointing experience. As the shipping was f.o.c., I am not talking about the length of time taken to deliver. But rather the lack of informing the customer on the progress of the despatch, not informing the customer of the waybill number for online tracking of the package, and not answering the phone by the so-called "customer care center" (why is it NOT a 1-300 number?).

Panasonic Malaysia should make their e-commerce staff buy stuff from Amazon or eBay and see the level of service enjoyed by the customers.

Anyway, enough ranting as I did get it at a big discount. Hopefully, they can improve on their service in the future. This photo was taken with the standard lens on the FZ35; with the lens right up against the shell.

Using the Macro AF (auto focus) feature on the FZ35, I could get much closer, with the lens still against the shell (ie macro lah!).

This was taken with the LC55 Close-Up converter attached. You might say there was not much difference compared to the Macro AF photo. But this one was taken from about 18 inches away from the shell.

That distance away from the subject would be important if you were photographing a bug or a butterfly; they will not appreciate your camera lens right up their noses!


Using the LC55 on something interesting (to me), I took a close-up of the First Commemorative stamp issued by Malaysia. This commemorative set was issued on 16 September 1963. Quality was not so great as the camera was "hand-held".


Using a tripod (for better image quality), I took a close-up of one of the definitive stamps used in Sabah in that period. This "overprint" set was issued on 1 July 1964, as the Malaysian definitives were not ready.

The "high-value" definitives were finally issued on 9 September 1965. This was known as "The Birds" set.

The "low-value" definitives set (Orchids) for Sabah was finally issued on 15 November 1965. This was a scanned image (for a comparision to the close-up photos).

(Note: All photos and scans have been much reduced in size and resolution for web use)