Wide Angle Adaptor for XH A1?

[Dan Herrmann]

I have bought several and finally broke down and bought the lens from Canon and I now leave it on all the time.
Great glass and perfect for the camera...
only issue is i cannot use filters due to no threads.
Do not waste your money on cheap or your auto focus will end up out of whack.

[Eric Weiss]

i agree. the canon wa for the a1 is awesome.
i rarely take it off.

[Andy Gordon]

I've got the Raynox MX3000Pro 0.3 semi fisheye (58mm thread). This can be unscrewed and the lens element comes out. I've glued this into a 72-67 step down ring which happens to hold the lens element at the right distance from the A1 lens so there's no vignetting. The image looks quite acceptable for the price.

What puzzles me about video camera wide angle adapters is why I can't seem to find any without barrel distortion. I've got a Sigma 20mm f1.8 35mm lens which has zero barrel distortion, the look is very different to the normal distorted super wide angle look. I use it on my 35mm adapter but the adapter plus lens is not a convenient size. Thing is the sigma lens is a hell of a lot cheaper than a Raynox 72mm semi fisheye, and the image is infinitely better.

[Simon Imiela]

I own a "red eye" 72mm factor 0,7 and I use it with the 3x zoom canon lens on the xl2.
I only use it for internet productions, though where I do not need the full resolution for the actual product. In standard def. the picture gets much too blurry! And yes, I know how to manually fucos with that lens.
The "red eye" might be light-weight but that is because it is not made out of glass. So scratches are a garanteed side effect if you don´t have camera assistant who wears silk gloves at all times.
Buttom line is: I am very disapointed with that piece of equipment and I would recommend saving the money for a proper wide angle, especially if you guys are filming HD.
I rented a century converter for a production once and I was stunned by the difference in the preformance of those two.
I guess good optical equipment has it´s price. But it is money spent wisely. You wouldn´t want to ruin a shot that has to pay the rent because you saved some money on optics.

[Jeremiah McLamb]

Anyone using this wide angle adaptor? I have one and it does the trick for me....however..I didn't know if there was a way to put a threaded filter on the front (its only purpose would be to protect the glass) and if so what would be the size? I can't remember if the wide angle is threaded on the front as I don't have it here with me. ....and for what I'm doing I can't use a matte box....

thanks
jeremiah

[Juan Diaz]

Unfortunately the adapter is not threaded in the front so you'd have to use a mattebox with filter stages.

[Jeremiah McLamb]

blast!...well..i guess i'll just have to risk it without any protection..

thanks

[Stacy Dudley]

I recently purchased a couple filters made by SunPak (Ultraviolet UV and Polarizer). I haven’t yet had the chance to try them out yet but I am wondering if others on this forum have used them or have them. If so, what are your thoughts? Did I waste my money?
More information about the SunPak filters can be found here: http://www.tocad.com/filters.html.

Also I want to purchase a wide angle lens and am wondering if anyone has purchased a "less expensive" lens from ebay (or such). There are several I have found for considerably less than the WD-72. They are only .5x but that should be fine for my needs at this time. What scares me is I will purchase the lens, put it on, and find some funky distortion or fringing due to cheap glass. Have any of you noticed a big difference in the quality of lens's you have purchased over the years? Is there anything in particular I should be leary of?

I am a big advocate of “you get what you pay for” but since I started doing video for a hobby, I am finding that a lot of companies just seem to take advantage of consumers who are willing to pay high prices for our toys. Thank God for all those who have posted links to great DYI projects. :)

I still have a lot to learn yet so thanks for the help, suggestions, critisizm, sarcasm, or whatever you have to offer.


Stacy

[Mike Gorski]

I don't know about the quality of SunPak filters but I just got my A1 in today and I ordered a Hoya UV filter with multi coatings and its looks great. If the filters were very cheap than you might want to consider a higher end piece of glass since it will hinder the A1's performance.

[Miles Torres]

Does anyone have any viewable footage using the WD-H72 Wide angle lens? ... or any other WA lens setup? I'd like to pick one up but need some samples so I know the general effect i'm buying into.

Thanks!
Miles

[Chris Hurd]

Search is your friend...

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=80691

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=80716

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=79336

[Miles Torres]

Danka , Chris

[Dave Pecunies]

Has anyone used the impact w/a?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ide_Angle.html

[Steve Montoto]

Originally Posted by Patrick Moreau

Okay, I made a quick comparision with the stock lens, 0.5x red eye lens and a modded 0.3 $100 clip-on raynox. I should also note that I had problems using instant AF with the red-eye only (it pulses frequently when turned on). I use this on a steadicam so most of the time the AF is a helper. Normal AF works with the red eye though.

Hope that helps.
http://smcouples.com/Samples/wideangle.mov

I've been working on getting Vfgadgets to send me a couple more wide angle lenses so I can do a comparision with all of them, but they are too busy with NAB right now. If you call them, please mention that it would be nice to have a comparision video with all the different options shown.

Patrick

Patrick,

Is that Raynox lens you used the XL3000Pro,that clips on? I bought one for my VX2000 and was curious if it would work on the A1 with stepdown adapter.

Thank you for the samples.

Steve

P.S. I found a link on BH to the Raynox I have

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ltra_Wide.html

[Blake Calhoun]

Seen this stuff mentioned a lot, but haven't heard which folks actually prefer for the A1... the Canon wide angle or the Century Optics?

They're priced the same at $499, but the Century Optics appears to have threads for a filter ring on the end, which makes it more functional in my eyes. But how does the glass compare between the two?

I'd go with the Canon instantly if it had threads.

Thanks,
Blake