First Accessory is the Last

When this all started with the A650 IS, I bought a wide angle adapter with a 58mm adapter tube from a friend of mine. I picked these up a few days after ordering the A650, and had them in-hand before the camera even arrived. Given all the snafus I ran into in ordering the camera in the first place, I had them for over a month before I had the camera.

As things turn out, the tube was specific to the 700-series Powershots, so I couldn't use it. The wide angle adapter was actually pretty cool, though, and threaded onto my 24mm DSLR lens just fine. Still, I haven't been able to use it on my A650 for want of a tube. The same day I figured out the tube didn't fit, I ordered a new one that would.

Yesterday my Hoya R72 filter showed up. This is an honest to goodness dedicated glass IR filter with a 720nm cut-on. It's got a 58mm thread, sized just right for my DSLR lenses (which has really low IR response) and for the lens tube I hope to have soon for the A650.

But it's still not here!

So irony of ironies, the one accessory I got before my camera even arrived, the one accessory I need in order to use everything else I've got for this camera, is the one thing I don't have yet and probably won't have until next week.

Desperation has set in. I even went so far as to balance the Hoya filter on the end of my lens for a sky-pointing IR test. It works great. But what a lousy way to treat a new filter, and what a rotten limitation to have on its use: it has to point up.

By the end of next week I hope to have it in-hand. I know the IR response of the A650 is too low to do aerials, but I'd like to play on the ground, at least. And with the ability to attach a circular polarizer, I hope to have a new view of the kona coast reefs by next weekend.

Tom