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)

Skyline 10th Anniversary DInner

I attended the 10th Anniversary Celebration, for Skyline Church, last night ...

... where the makan was very good.

I assumed this was their official colour ...

There was a sketch put up by some of the kids ...

... a music video ...

... a song from some of the singers in the congregation ...

... a testimony from a guy called Tony Anthony ...

... a half-chinese half-italian born in London ... parents died ... lived with grandpa in China ... tortured and taught kungfu ... became bad ... saved ... became good ... etc (read all about it at his official website).

... and a song from the choir.

The under-appreciated worker ... he had to stand (and sit) on that platform, all night, turning the spotlight.

Mt. K and The UFO Clouds

This morning, I noticed the lenticular cloud formations over Mt Kinabalu.


These (also called UFO clouds) are actually caused by successful waves of uprising moist air currents creating the smooth-edged clouds stacked one on top of each other.

As a sci-fi enthusiast; I wished it was an alien mother-ship on top of Mt Kinabalu!

From Putatan To Inanam

A couple of days ago, I went down to Putatan to meet with the Principal of INTI Sabah ...

... I checked out the new 1Place Mall. The hotel (perhaps the offices etc ...) was still under construction.

The shopping area had a transparent ceiling giving good natural lighting ...

... but it was still TOO EARLY to visit this mall. Long empty corridors ...

... with one lonely shop at the end.

We had lunch at Sinar Mustika (very nice malay food) ...

... the only open air non-air conditioned food shop I've been in, with a chandelier!

Then off via Jalan Lintas, and then Jalan Kampong Sukang (behind The Tun Fuad Park) and off towards Kiansom to The ADC Driving Institute (for my daughters to get their driving instruction course details). For those who passed their driving test ages ago (including myself), the fee nowadays is RM1,300.

The place looked well organised; but the Organisation Chart didn't seem to have the usual connecting lines though ...

A big place ...

... I noticed the chairs where the instructors sit and "shout" out their instructions! ...

... Do you still remember learning to park with all those sticks! Still some old and low tech equipment used!

Since we were in Inanam, we visited Jeong Hin (well known for their buns, pau, bread, cold coffee) ...

... we were too early for the afternoon session of baking ...

... but still; I had the opportunity to take a nice photo?

When leaving, I noticed a neighbouring shop proudly proclaiming they were the first to sell the fresh-pork noodles!

The Exhaust Pipe!

A pickup truck we were driving got a "kiss" from a Proton Wira.


A closer examination the next day showed the main significant damage was a bent exhaust pipe pulled from its mounting. The spare tyre prevented more extensive damge.


Before the repair ...


... of the bent parts via hammers, pipe-bending machine and some softening by oxy-acetylene torch ...


... there, almost good as new for RM30!


So this old terrible-looking shoplot past Inanam was the Real Deal for repairing radiators, fuel tanks, exhaust pipes ... Also a friendly owner. No booking though, first come first served.

Lumix FZ35 Tele-converter DMW LT55

My last posting was on 19 June. I had spent most of the time experimenting with purchases on eBay and Amazon.

The Lumix FZ35 is a SuperZoom Bridge camera (with design features from the SLRs and the sensor from the standard compact cameras). The small sensor size and the excellent Leica lens gave the standard zoom on the FZ35 as 18X from 27 - 486mm (using the 35mm SLR standard measurement). The photo below was taken from my window at 27mm wide-angle. Although Mt Kinabalu is in the far background, our subject will be Wisma Khidmat (in the red circle).



Setting the resolution to 3 megapixels, and using the extra optical zoom feature can extend the telephoto end to 35.2X (35mm equivalent of 949mm). The photo below was taken at the full zoom of 949mm.



This made the Lumix FZ35 a very comprehensive digital camera (wide angle to full zoom, RAW format, full exposure or shutter priority ...) in a very small package.



Of course, there are limitations due to the tiny sensor size. Panasonic does sell extra accessories like the macro-converter (for close ups) and a tele-converter (for extra telephoto). An adapter ring is required. I decided to buy the tele-converter only, since I had not taken many close-up shots so far. I bought the tele-converter (DMW LT55) online from Amazon UK. It was sent via UPS and took a week to get here. Camera and equipment are duty free and do not attract any sales tax.



I bought the adapter (DMW LA3) on eBay from a guy in Tokyo. It was sent via Japan Post/PosLaju and took 2 weeks to get here. Both items were brand new. The adapter is basically an empty steel tube (required since the zoom lens of the camera extends out). The tele-converter is basically a "magnifying glass", of course with proper optical glass and coatings to preserve the image quality (so best to buy the Panasonic ones).



The tele-converter gave a magnification ration of 1.7X. The photo below is the full zoom plus the tele-converter (at the SLR equivalent of 1613mm).



Of course, the whole set-up, with the adapter and tele-converter attached, was much more unwieldy. It showed again "You can't get something for nothing".



So buying stuff online and getting it here was quite an adventure (for me at least) and showed that global business had truly progressed very far. I estimated that I got these two items for about 70% of the price in KL.