Help With Wide Angle Lens at DVinfo.net

Chris Rackauckas · May 18th, 2009, 02:59 PM

What I want from a wide angle lens is something subtle that I can have on a lot for a few reasons:

I do a lot of indoor shots and so I can't get far enough away

I do a lot of run and gun so with the mic on camera, the closer the better audiowise

It will make my HV20 look a lot more professional to have a lens on it all the time

So with that in mind, I just need a subtle wide angle lens to keep on. I found this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-vix...s-my-hv20.html

and was thinking of getting the Merkury 52mm. Some people on the thread said it's not much wide angle. Is it enough for something like what I'm asking for or should I get the 58mm?

And I don't know too much about filters, but I just want one I can have general use. I'm just going all general use since I don't have too much money, so would you say a UV filter is great for general use? What size should it be? I found this from the thread:

Canon HV20 Wide-Angle Lens

So from the pictures, is it a 67mm filter that is needed. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sunpak-DF-7036...2680449&sr=1-3

Thanks for all the help!

Bruce Foreman · May 19th, 2009, 12:55 PM

Chris,

The 52mm and 58mm sizes represent filter thread size and have nothing to do with how wide a field of view is. What is pictured is a 0.45x aux lens which does give a fairly wide field of view compared to the 0.66x or 0.7x which are more commonly used. And the 0.45x is about as wide as you can go without getting into the "fisheye" effect.

What is pictured looks exactly identical to what I purchased under the name Digital Concepts and mine is sharp to the point of my being unable to see any definition difference with it on or off. I chose the 0.45x because if you do any amount of indoor work the others mentioned above do not give you enough of a wide view, you will still back into walls and wish they weren't there with those.

With the one pictured you will NOT be able to zoom through it. Image quality falls apart rather rapidly once you hit and pass the 50% mark on your zoom range. Very few of the aux wide angles allow zoom-through without quality loss so I put mine on when I need wide and take it off for other work.

I keep a stepup ring to 52mm on the cam at all times, without the wide angle aux lens I also put on and keep on a 52mm Hoya super multicoated UV filter both for protection and for killing as much internal reflections as that filter will when the cam is pointed towards a light source. I also use a Hama rectangular lens hood on the 52mm filter to physically shield the filter and lens surface from stray light.

When putting on the aux wide angle lens, I remove the 52mm filter so that the wide adapter is as close to the camera lens as possible to limit distortions. The wide angle has it's own 67mm filter as is pictured in what you saw except mine is the more exensive Hoya super multilayer coated UV.

I've run comparison tests shooting where you cannot fully avoid flare from the sun and there is a great difference between the Hoya super multilayer coated filter and the $14.95 filters (I gave those away to keep from accidentally using one).

Chris Hurd · May 22nd, 2009, 06:52 AM

Moved from Open DV to Canon VIXIA HV Series.

Martyn Hull · May 24th, 2009, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Foreman

Chris,

The 52mm and 58mm sizes represent filter thread size and have nothing to do with how wide a field of view is. What is pictured is a 0.45x aux lens which does give a fairly wide field of view compared to the 0.66x or 0.7x which are more commonly used. And the 0.45x is about as wide as you can go without getting into the "fisheye" effect.

What is pictured looks exactly identical to what I purchased under the name Digital Concepts and mine is sharp to the point of my being unable to see any definition difference with it on or off. I chose the 0.45x because if you do any amount of indoor work the others mentioned above do not give you enough of a wide view, you will still back into walls and wish they weren't there with those.

With the one pictured you will NOT be able to zoom through it. Image quality falls apart rather rapidly once you hit and pass the 50% mark on your zoom range. Very few of the aux wide angles allow zoom-through without quality loss so I put mine on when I need wide and take it off for other work.

I keep a stepup ring to 52mm on the cam at all times, without the wide angle aux lens I also put on and keep on a 52mm Hoya super multicoated UV filter both for protection and for killing as much internal reflections as that filter will when the cam is pointed towards a light source. I also use a Hama rectangular lens hood on the 52mm filter to physically shield the filter and lens surface from stray light.

When putting on the aux wide angle lens, I remove the 52mm filter so that the wide adapter is as close to the camera lens as possible to limit distortions. The wide angle has it's own 67mm filter as is pictured in what you saw except mine is the more exensive Hoya super multilayer coated UV.

I've run comparison tests shooting where you cannot fully avoid flare from the sun and there is a great difference between the Hoya super multilayer coated filter and the $14.95 filters (I gave those away to keep from accidentally using one).

Having bought a HV30 i find the wide angle side of the lens does not give a very wide view at all, iam thinking of getting this lens Canon WD-H43 Wide Converter For The HV20,HG10,& HV30: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
but i have read that even this lens loses sharpness mainly in the corners, may have severe chromatic aberration and flare as well as barrel distortion, this sounds as if it is as well to put up with the poor wide angle than have these problems on the film, would these problems mainly happen if the lens was not left zoomed out all the time and for closer in shots the converter taken off as you say you do, this would realy be a no go for me as many of the things i film require changes from wide to closer in often.

David Wayne Groves · May 28th, 2009, 08:14 PM

I have the Canon WD-H43 Wide angle lens on my HG10 as well as my HG21 using a stepup ring and suffer from none of the the problems you state.....I find it a must have in my filming projects.......

Kevin Zibart · June 10th, 2009, 08:41 AM

I have an HF10 and also quickly realized the need for a wide angle conversion lens. I already had a Raynox HD-6600PRO .66x 58mm adapter for my still camera, so I decided to buy a 37mm to 58mm step ring from B&H and give it a shot. I love it! It works like a charm, looks great with the camera (imo), and most importantly, the video looks wonderful at all zoom levels (also imo). You can see a picture of my HF10 sporting the wide angle lens on my Vimeo profile (http://vimeo.com/kzibart). I almost never take it off.

Tom Hardwick · June 10th, 2009, 10:30 AM

Firstly Chris I'd advise against using filters - any sort of filters - with cameras using such tiny chips. Certainly use a protective UV if you're on a wind-swept beach, but otherwise it's just detrimental from a flare pov. And modern multicoatings are really tough; you can clean them carefully and often.

Next I'd say the Raynox 6600PRO would be a good choice in that it controls the barrel distortion very well, but although it's a zoom through, it gets very soft at full tele (and Raynox admit this). For indoor shots it's important to avoid barrel distortion as you don't want door frames to bow outwards as you track room to room, so the 6600 is good though not especially powerful.

tom.

Tripp Woelfel · June 14th, 2009, 08:25 PM

I have a .55 WA from Century that works really well and holds up in low light. It's sized for my HV10/HF100 but there should be a larger one for the HV20/30/40.

Martyn Hull · June 15th, 2009, 01:18 AM

Canon WD-H43 Wide Converter For The HV20,HG10,& HV30: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
now i have had this lens for a while i can say its great.

May 18th, 2009, 02:59 PM	#1
Chris Rackauckas Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: USA Posts: 113	Help With Wide Angle Lens What I want from a wide angle lens is something subtle that I can have on a lot for a few reasons: I do a lot of indoor shots and so I can't get far enough away I do a lot of run and gun so with the mic on camera, the closer the better audiowise It will make my HV20 look a lot more professional to have a lens on it all the time So with that in mind, I just need a subtle wide angle lens to keep on. I found this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-vix...s-my-hv20.html and was thinking of getting the Merkury 52mm. Some people on the thread said it's not much wide angle. Is it enough for something like what I'm asking for or should I get the 58mm? And I don't know too much about filters, but I just want one I can have general use. I'm just going all general use since I don't have too much money, so would you say a UV filter is great for general use? What size should it be? I found this from the thread: Canon HV20 Wide-Angle Lens So from the pictures, is it a 67mm filter that is needed. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Sunpak-DF-7036...2680449&sr=1-3 Thanks for all the help!

May 22nd, 2009, 06:52 AM	#3
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Moved from Open DV to Canon VIXIA HV Series. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

May 28th, 2009, 08:14 PM	#5
David Wayne Groves Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Charleston WV Posts: 149	I have the Canon WD-H43 Wide angle lens on my HG10 as well as my HG21 using a stepup ring and suffer from none of the the problems you state.....I find it a must have in my filming projects....... Attached Thumbnails

May 19th, 2009, 12:55 PM	#2
Bruce Foreman Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Angelo Texas Posts: 1,518	Chris, The 52mm and 58mm sizes represent filter thread size and have nothing to do with how wide a field of view is. What is pictured is a 0.45x aux lens which does give a fairly wide field of view compared to the 0.66x or 0.7x which are more commonly used. And the 0.45x is about as wide as you can go without getting into the "fisheye" effect. What is pictured looks exactly identical to what I purchased under the name Digital Concepts and mine is sharp to the point of my being unable to see any definition difference with it on or off. I chose the 0.45x because if you do any amount of indoor work the others mentioned above do not give you enough of a wide view, you will still back into walls and wish they weren't there with those. With the one pictured you will NOT be able to zoom through it. Image quality falls apart rather rapidly once you hit and pass the 50% mark on your zoom range. Very few of the aux wide angles allow zoom-through without quality loss so I put mine on when I need wide and take it off for other work. I keep a stepup ring to 52mm on the cam at all times, without the wide angle aux lens I also put on and keep on a 52mm Hoya super multicoated UV filter both for protection and for killing as much internal reflections as that filter will when the cam is pointed towards a light source. I also use a Hama rectangular lens hood on the 52mm filter to physically shield the filter and lens surface from stray light. When putting on the aux wide angle lens, I remove the 52mm filter so that the wide adapter is as close to the camera lens as possible to limit distortions. The wide angle has it's own 67mm filter as is pictured in what you saw except mine is the more exensive Hoya super multilayer coated UV. I've run comparison tests shooting where you cannot fully avoid flare from the sun and there is a great difference between the Hoya super multilayer coated filter and the $14.95 filters (I gave those away to keep from accidentally using one).

June 10th, 2009, 08:41 AM	#6
Kevin Zibart Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 30	I have an HF10 and also quickly realized the need for a wide angle conversion lens. I already had a Raynox HD-6600PRO .66x 58mm adapter for my still camera, so I decided to buy a 37mm to 58mm step ring from B&H and give it a shot. I love it! It works like a charm, looks great with the camera (imo), and most importantly, the video looks wonderful at all zoom levels (also imo). You can see a picture of my HF10 sporting the wide angle lens on my Vimeo profile (http://vimeo.com/kzibart). I almost never take it off.

June 10th, 2009, 10:30 AM	#7
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Firstly Chris I'd advise against using filters - any sort of filters - with cameras using such tiny chips. Certainly use a protective UV if you're on a wind-swept beach, but otherwise it's just detrimental from a flare pov. And modern multicoatings are really tough; you can clean them carefully and often. Next I'd say the Raynox 6600PRO would be a good choice in that it controls the barrel distortion very well, but although it's a zoom through, it gets very soft at full tele (and Raynox admit this). For indoor shots it's important to avoid barrel distortion as you don't want door frames to bow outwards as you track room to room, so the 6600 is good though not especially powerful. tom.

June 14th, 2009, 08:25 PM	#8
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	I have a .55 WA from Century that works really well and holds up in low light. It's sized for my HV10/HF100 but there should be a larger one for the HV20/30/40.

June 15th, 2009, 01:18 AM	#9
Martyn Hull Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: England Posts: 444	Canon WD-H43 Wide Converter For The HV20,HG10,& HV30: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo now i have had this lens for a while i can say its great.