Century wide angle converter

[Jason Steussy]

The Century Optics wide adapters use the bayonet mount in place of the lens hood, don't they? Would I be better served to buy a 72mm threaded adapter if I want to keep the lens hood on? Does anyone have any info on the Digital Optics .5 or .45 adapters that are all over EBay now?

[Yi Fong Yu]

if it's possible, can you put a century .6 on top of the 3x lens? if so does that mean you get an even wider and more distorted look (2.35?)

[Shaggy Franks]

Hi,

could somebody give me a break down why to buy a Cavision and not a Century or vice versa Matte Box?
From what I can see (on the Net) Century seems to be a better quality (looks more solid) well and they have a better Internet presentation (we all know we can't judge the quality of the product from that)

How well do these Matte boxes work with the 3x Wide lens from Canon?

Thanks for the Help.

Shaggy

Oh yeah, are all the Cavision Matte boxes the same? They only Mention Sony and Panasonic Camcorders on the B&H page.

[Bill Ravens]

I bought Cavision bellows matte box from B&H in parts, because they didn't sell a complete kit for the XL2. The quality of the components is excellent, however, the bellows arrived from B&H with missing rails and mounting hardware. A few emails(which were never responded to) and a phone call to B&H customer service told me they had to refer my question to Cavision. I've NEVER heard back from B&H.

At this point, I must say that the Cavision product is very well made, however, trying to find a place willing to support Cavision is difficult. Considering the outrageous price of their componentry, I consider this to be fraudulent.

[Richard Noll]

I just purchased the Canon 16x Servo lens for my XL1s and then got a Century 1.33x Anamorphic lens adapter for it. The adapter is a bayonet mount with instructions on how to mount it on the lens. I have gone over these instructions several times now yet the adapter remains loose on the lens; it can even be remove without reversing the mounting procedure. A matching flanged mount and tightening ringing are supposed to be lined up with the distance line mark on the adapter. This is then mounted and turned till hitting an internal flange stop. Then the tightening ring is suppose to be turned further, in the same direction until the adapter is pulled tight up against the lens.

It seems that the bayonet mounts internal flange width isn't quite thick enough for the turning ring to clamp down on the corresponding lens bayonet flange.

Is this a defect in the lens? Adapter? Just the way it is? I am missing something? I have to adapt something for tightening? Or the lens adapter should be returned for another? Anyone else have a similar problem?

The adapter is CEVSWS13MXL (Century's number) $1299. - VSWS13MXL (B&H Photo number). The lens is Canon 16x Servo Manual Zoom XL 5.4-86.4mm, $1499. Both are quite expensive (to me at least) and I thought that for the price and the fact they were designed to work together that they should have a positive and tight fit up.

As is, I would be afraid of the adapter falling off while in use. I also don't see how the combination could maintain any type of focus, though I have not tried it out yet to see if that is true.

I am shooting an expedition near the end of this month and need the issue addressed.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Richard Noll]

OK, guess I will be answering my own questions here.

Called Century and found out that sometimes the Lens bayonet mount isn't "timed" properly, closing tightly on the lens flange. There is a field fix, but involves removing some optical pieces and trial-and-error adjustments till it seats properly. I opted to just send it back to their California plant for the "timing" adjustment. My understanding is that this is more of an improper clocking of the mount internally, not allowing the mechanism to close down enough to lock on. They gave me their Fedex number and said it should be back this week adjusted properly.

[Richard Noll]

I also found out that these adapters can be used on other lenses just by re-timing the mounts. Unfortunately, Canon decided to change the thickness of the bayonent flange mounts; 16x Manual is thinner and made of hardened metal whereas the 16x Auto is thicker and made of composite material. They also recomended that the only sun shade I should consider is a taped on black piece of construction paper. I also have used a superclamp setup and a large umbrella... works great! Now for filters....

[Henry Cho]

richard,

i appreciate you sharing this info with us. i'm sure it will prove useful for me and others down the road.

good luck...

[Richard Noll]

from Century last night. They were not the most cooperative company to work with and I will be going out of my way to not use any more of their products. Sure the unit came back finally fixed but the lackadaisical way they approached the fix on my new purchase tells me that they do not value customers at my level. A couple hour fix took 16 days to get back to me. Why they could not have just sent me a new one escapes me since they stressed to me how big of an operation they really have there in California.

I do have a question though... I know it is helpful to put the camera viewfinder in the 16:9 line mode, but I don't see too much squeeze with this 1.33 adapter. I shouldn't be using the camera setup 16:9 mode as well, right? This method is new to me and yes I am going to shoot some tests first of course. I will also be using a DTE hard drive and laptop to make sure everything in the field is working as advertised.

So now I adjusted the back focus ring on the Canon 16x Manual Servo lens and then attached the adapter to it and discovered it would not focus very well at infinity. Checking the lens carefully I discovered that the macro button was pushed in and stuck there. I tried everything to get it unstuck... it is straight out of the box that way.

I am taking it back to Glazer’s tonight to see what they can do about it. My shooting date is quickly approaching. I am doing a documentary of an expedition for the History channel which will be airing after Nov. this year. I am cutting some things real close this time. My stabilizer arm is still in route. Wish things would a little easier.

We will be using horses and ATV's during the expedition and shooting with sticks will be all but impossible for most of the stuff.

[Richard Noll]

The macro button housing became misaligned when one of its screws loosened up. Glazer's fixed the problem on the spot.

[Sean McHenry]

Try the Cinetactics MatteBlox. See if the opening on their soft matte box is large enough for your lens. I use it on my much smaller (but native 16:9) PDX10.

Sean McHenry

[Jon Goodman]

Hi all,
I'm just wondering if anyone here is looking for a wide angle converter.
I have a Century Pro DV .7X model for sale in the classified forum if anyone is interested. I made a mistake when I bought it, because it won't fit the 20X lens
of my XL2. It's a beautiful piece of lass with zoom through.
Cheers
Jon

[Don Palomaki]

Bayonet mount? Century will modify the mount for you - at a cost.

I have the 0.6x, and can make it fit on the XH-A1 with a bit of careful manipulation. It take a bit of practice to get it down.