Using filters on a point and shoot camera

Full spectrum offers the flexibility of being able to shoot with a variety of filters. Of course, to do this, you have to be able to mount a filter on the lens (unless you want to hold a filter there with your hand). While DSLR lenses can accept filters natively, most point and shoots do not have a means of accepting filters. We’ll go over some methods of accomplishing this.

OEM filter adapter
If you are lucky, your camera may have an OEM filter adapter available to accept filters, usually this is in the form of a tube. The downside is that these tubes can sometimes cause vignetting, and even if they don’t they are bulky. The advantage of a tube adapter is that it can accept heavy attachments like wide angle adapters and tele adapters without interfering with the lens motor.
Universal Lens Adapters (Zeikos and Uni-Cam)
These adapters screw into the tripod mount screw on the bottom of the camera, and extend to the front of the camera, where they can hold a filter in front of the lens. This adapter is very bulky and generally awkward to work with, as you have to light it up just right infront of your lens. On some cameras, this will not be possible because of the lens/tripod screw arrangement or lens size. Because there is some space between the lens and filter, it is not light sealed so when used with IR or other filters, can cause bad results sometimes from light reflecting off the back of the filter. The benefit of this system, however, is that it is non-permanent and can accept heavy attachments without damaging the lens.

Lensmate Adapters
Lensmate makes a series of adapters that stick on to the front of the lens, and allow a filter to be threaded on like on a regular DSLR lens. They are available for a whole series of the more popular point and shoots. They are not specific to the camera besides the size, so if the lens size is the same they can work on other cameras as well. They adapter is glued on with a non permanent glue and can be removed later. Unfortunately, it looks like they have discontinued some of the older models that they previously supported. Another drawback of this system is that it cannot accept heavy attachments or the adapter will either fall off, or damage the lens motor.

Custom glued filter ring
The last option that we often use is to directly glue a filter adapter ring to the front of the lens. We pick a size that is big enough to not cause vignetting and permanently glue it to the front of the lens. The setup is fairly sleek and makes it easy to attach filters. This can also be picked in a custom thread size to accommodate existing filters, and the filter adapter then comes out with the lens when zooming. The downside of this, like the other on lens systems, is that it should not be used with heavy attachments to avoid damaging the lens. Another disadvantage is that this is a permanent setup and cannot be taken off. Ask if you would like us to attach an adpater like this to your camera.