Love the new cam, but wide-angle kills deal

Robert Adams · January 7th, 2008, 11:50 AM

I bought one a few months ago. I have a number of issues with it.

1: Because (I think) it is such a finely ground piece of glass, it is extremely hard to avoid every bit of dust on the lens from showing up. This can be dust on either side of the glass; if it's on the outside, obviously, you just blow it away. If it's on the inside, you have to unscrew the lens, blow it off, and refit - by which time the chances are there's more dust got on the glass.

If you're working in a a clean environment this is manageable. If you're working news, and taking the adaptor on and off, carrying it in a camera vest pocket, y'know, all that stuff, it's impossible to keep clean.

2: It requires extremely precise handling of the macro ring to bring to perfect focus. the slightest mis-alignment and the picture goes soft. 'Cos JVC in their wisdom (for good budget reasons, no doubt) didn't put a CRT viewfinder on the HD111 series cameras, there've been too many times when I've got a decent focus in the v/f, come back to the hotel to edit and found the pix are soft. I don't use the adaptor any more.

In conclusion: probably OK for controlled, clean environments - maybe architectural films or the like. Not practical for news and current affairs work. I'll stick to my old Optex (UK badged Century Optics) x0.7/x0.5 wide angle adaptor combo until i can get my hands on a Fujinon TH13x3.5BRMU.

Goran Conjar · January 13th, 2008, 01:18 PM

I own XL2 with 0,6 Century WA adapt. I'd like to buy new Century 0,8 (zoom thru) and need some information/reviews about it.

Century optics WA adapter 0,8 0VS-08CV-72
http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecomm...=1075&IID=2974

January 7th, 2008, 11:50 AM	#31
Robert Adams Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Harare Zimbabwe Posts: 162	Red Eye wide Angle adaptor. I bought one a few months ago. I have a number of issues with it. 1: Because (I think) it is such a finely ground piece of glass, it is extremely hard to avoid every bit of dust on the lens from showing up. This can be dust on either side of the glass; if it's on the outside, obviously, you just blow it away. If it's on the inside, you have to unscrew the lens, blow it off, and refit - by which time the chances are there's more dust got on the glass. If you're working in a a clean environment this is manageable. If you're working news, and taking the adaptor on and off, carrying it in a camera vest pocket, y'know, all that stuff, it's impossible to keep clean. 2: It requires extremely precise handling of the macro ring to bring to perfect focus. the slightest mis-alignment and the picture goes soft. 'Cos JVC in their wisdom (for good budget reasons, no doubt) didn't put a CRT viewfinder on the HD111 series cameras, there've been too many times when I've got a decent focus in the v/f, come back to the hotel to edit and found the pix are soft. I don't use the adaptor any more. In conclusion: probably OK for controlled, clean environments - maybe architectural films or the like. Not practical for news and current affairs work. I'll stick to my old Optex (UK badged Century Optics) x0.7/x0.5 wide angle adaptor combo until i can get my hands on a Fujinon TH13x3.5BRMU.

January 13th, 2008, 01:18 PM	#32
Goran Conjar Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Nova Gradiska, Croatia Posts: 28	I own XL2 with 0,6 Century WA adapt. I'd like to buy new Century 0,8 (zoom thru) and need some information/reviews about it. Century optics WA adapter 0,8 0VS-08CV-72 http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecomm...=1075&IID=2974 __________________ Goran