Wide Angle Lens For A1
 

Hey all...

Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for the Xh A1 and for someone on a budget? I am going to use it mainly for weddings, would it even be worth getting one just for that?

Thanks

Hi Daniel,


Look right up at the top of the page in the sticky posts. There's one devoted to lenses. And yes - a wide angle lens is great to have for weddings.

I did not see that thread on top. I'm borderline dyslexic.

Sorry

XHa1 wideangle
 

THe Canon WD-H72, which is made specifically for this camera, is a fine piece of glass. I almost never take it off the camera. We paid a lot more for a 16x9 brand wa for a Z1U and were not overly impressed. / Battle Vaughan / miamiherald.com video team

I do a lot of automotive videography and I also cover automotive product installations, which means I need to be able to go underneath and inside vehicles with my camera. The WD-H72 is really great. I think it's only about $400 and is beautiful and completely zoom through.

With the wide angle I can get dramatic up-close shots of custom rides, or I can fit the camera into an engine compartment to see what's being installed. I have perfect, sharp focus. I'm actually able to get so close that I've bumped the edge of the lens against stuff and still have perfect focus at 1/2" distance. Very nice.

Also, very heavy. I'm not exaggerating too much when I say that it just about doubles the weight of your camera. It is a heavy piece of glass attached to the far end of your camera, so your wrist (for handheld) will ache after too much holding and your tripod head (if it's lower-quality like mine) will constantly be trying to dip forward.

But - stunning image quality.

Here's my best example:
(A classic car show I shot for JC Whitney. Most shots done with WD-H72 installed)
Classical Cruisers By Will Mahoney On ExposureRoom

Are you able to "zoom-thru" with this lens? Do you see vignetting in the corners when fully zoomed out? What about the edges? Are they slightly out-of-focus?

Sharp focus?
 

Will,
what are u using to judge focus? do u have an external monitor or are u looking at the LCD/viewfinder that everyone complains about (including me).

Regarding focusing with the WD-H72:

It is a fully zoom-through adaptor, so if I'm shooting an installation or something, and I've got the camera up on my shoulder mount I'll zoom all the way in on my subject to get critical focus with the LCD. I also always have Peaking turning on, which helps a lot.

So, I just use what's included on the camera. The Magnification and Peaking buttons, zooming in to focus, etc. Also, it's a wide-angle lense, which seems to open up the focal plane a bit. So maybe I've got my focus set about 5 ft. from me, but anything up to within 3 feet will be in focus, and stuff back to about 10 feet will be in focus too.

I do documentary style stuff, so sharply exact focus isn't as much of a concern as capturing "what's happening right now." The wide angle gives me some room for error.

As far as using it handheld for dramatic upclose shots of muscle cars and stuff: I close the aperture down a bit (to open up the focal plane) and set my focus between 12-18". Then I can make big sweeping shots of the cars from 1/2" away up to 24" away and still have everything be crisp.

But it's a process and things are constantly changing. It's a superb lens. Pick one up and go shoot!

Update: Here's an example. I'm shooting in HD (Click the "Watch in HD" button), from my shoulder, and focus is pretty good for the whole segment. But see, at 2:37, when I zoom in tightly on a detail about 6' away that the focus is slightly off. This doesn't bother me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6CjgD5ttes

Sorry for the tardy reply! The WA adapter is completly zoom-thru and I have no complaints about it's optical performance. Looking closely at the footage, I don't see any partcular difference between it and the basic lens. Caveat: we shoot news for the web. Maybe my eye or need is not as critical as yours might be, so you might want to have a hands-on with it. But the Canon wa is specifically made for the XHA1 and thus, I think, as well optically matched as they could make it, unlike a generic 72mm fits-all add-on, which as I mentioned, we have tried on a Sony with less satisfactory results from a much more costly adapter. Theoretically anything you add to your lens will have some impact on the final image in resolution, or flare or something, but I must say the Canon WA is, in our experience, highly satisfactory. / Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team