Wide Angle Lenses for DV Camcorders
 

Hey everyone. I'm new here but have been visiting this site for awhile. I recently purchased a Panasonic PV-GS150 which has been working great for me, but needed a wide-angle lens. I purchased one from Kenko which seemed pretty good. Can anyone tell me what type of specs one should be looking for in a wide angle lens? Can anyone check out the specs on the one I purchased and tell me if it looks good? Here is the link:

http://www.thkphoto.com/products/kenko/cdc-01.html

Is it better to have more elements/groups or less in a lens? There is a lens in their line right above the one I purchased and I'm wondering if its worth the extra money. Thanks for the help!

Anyone can help Miguel out?

Good Morning, Miguel.
First off, I would not worry about the number of elements in the lens. The fewer the better, for a sharper picture. The maker of any lens, designs it with the fewest that will do the job.

I looked at the specs, and it seems to be O.K. The best opinion on the lens, (or, the other one('s)) will be yours. Your paying for it.

Be super critical, when looking at your takes. If they are not sharp enough, you probably should consider an up grade to another lens. If the lens was purchased locally, (rather than by mail), see if there are some other lens that you can try on your cam.

Thanks for replying. So far the lens looks pretty sharp. The only thing i saw that was odd is that anytime sunlight hits the lens it creates a bit of lens flare. Aside from that its decent. I'm working on filming a short and posting it online soon. We'll see at that time how well it does.

I so couldn't do without my 0.7x as virtually everything I shoot is right up close, and I need the extra width. I'm so attached to it, I forgot to take it off when I did a shoot a fair distance back, and as I'm used to shooting in low light I didn't realise quite how much it needed a clean either, doh. Head not well and truly screwed on that day! Still the footage was partially experimental anyway, lots of playing with high shutter speeds and the post filtering looks nice, so I'm fairly happy with that :)