Nikon d5100 + have 58 mm pro series lens... Can't attach... Why?

Question

I have a Nikon d5100 camera I bought last Christmas. I also bought pro series lenses: .43x high def AF wide angle 58 mm, 2.2x high def ad telep lens 58 mm, HD 3pc digital filter set 58 mm. None of these will attach to my camera. Why...do I need an adapter ring? If so... what? I currently have a Nikon 55-200 mm lens (fits) & Nikon 18-55 mm lens (fits).

My needs for the camera are mostly high school athletic events... Basketball, football, baseball, track, some school concerts.

..??? Do I need some kind of adapter or did I waste my $ for wrong 58 mm lenses?

Thank you!

Answer 1

After some quick research on Amazon.com., these lenses are designed to fit on the front of a lens attached to the camera, not to the camera itself. They attach via the filter threads on the inside front of the lens. Your Nikon 18-55mm and your Nikon 55-200 mm probably both have a filter size of 52mm. They would both fit the 52mm 0.43x wide angle converter lens. You would need to buy a 52 – 58mm step up ring to attach the 58mm 2.2X Digital High Definition Telephoto Lens to the front of both of your Nikon lenses.

The SSD Pro series 52mm 0.43x Wide Angle Converter Lens is designed for use on lenses with 52mm Front Filter Threads. The 58mm 2.2X Digital High Definition Telephoto Lens designed for use on Lenses with 58mm Front Filter Threads.

I would recommend that you check to see how the 0.43x Wide Angle Converter Lens works on your Nikon 18-55mm and see if you are happy with the results. Using it on your Nikon 55-200 mm would give you 23.7mm which you already have covered with your 18-55mm.

Answer 2

The two lens set, along with the three filters, is composed of adapters designed to screw onto the front of an existing lens with 58mm filter threads. They are not intended to be used as standalone lenses.

You would presumably use the wide angle adapter with your widest angle lens (in this case the 18-55mm) to convert it to an approximately 8-24mm lens. You would use the telephoto adapter on your longest lens (your 55-200) to convert it to an approximately 120-440mm angle of view. Putting the wide angle adapter on your telephoto lens to convert it to a 24-85mm lens wouldn't make much sense because you already have those focal lengths covered with your two unadapted lenses. Nor would converting your 18-55mm lens to a 40-120mm angle of view make much sense.

Your 18-55mm Nikon kit lens has 52mm threads (at least the current version of the Nikon 18-55mm kit lens does). This should be indicated on the front of the lens by a mark that looks something like this: Ø52

Your 55-250mm lens probably also has 52mm threads. This should be indicated by a mark on the front of the lens that looks like: Ø52. I have found some online references to some versions of a Nikon 55-200 with 55mm and 58mm threads. But whatever is printed on the front of the lens next to the "Ø" mark is the thread size in millimeters. If you can't find such a mark on the front of the lens (or on the barrel near the front for some lenses) you can look on the back side of the lens cap that fits the lens. They often have the size marked as either 52mm or Ø52.

You can always use an accessory that has larger filter size threads with a smaller filter thread size lens by using a step up ring. In your case it seems you need a Ø52-Ø58 (52mm-58mm)step up ring. The smaller threads on the back of the ring screw into the threads on the front of your lens. The larger threads inside the outer rim of the ring then receive the threads of your lens adapters.

The three adapters you bought are also available in 52mm variants. You might consider exchanging the 58mm set for a 52mm set if the vendor will allow.

Putting these kind of adapters on the front of lenses will introduce some image degradation. How much will depend on both the optical quality of the adapters themselves as well as the image qualities of the lenses to which they are attached. It's kind of like using a magnifying glass to see the small screen on an old smartphone. It does make it larger, but... It's not going to make it look like a larger retina grade screen! You may or may not find the resulting image quality acceptable.