Wide Angle Lens Converter for GL / XM

Patrick Smith · April 13th, 2005, 04:50 PM

i want one so it protects the wide angle. i guess i would need a bayonet type.

any one know what mm the canon wide angle is or a copmany that makes one?

April 29th, 2005, 07:45 PM

What a good wide angle, cost effective lens for the GL2?

K. Forman · April 29th, 2005, 07:55 PM

The Canon WD58 is probably the best bet, and not too expensive. Don't make the mistake of buying a cheapo no name off of ebay. You'll regret it.

Graham Bernard · April 29th, 2005, 11:55 PM

One of my cameras has the WD58 screwed to it - all the time! Love it!

When you are well zoomed out - WA - be careful of the bending lamposts on archtectural shots - oh yes it'll do it. If I really need "that" shot then I either move camera OR zoom in a bit OR combination of both . . whatever you need. But do take note at the edges of a shot of vertical lines - eg lamposts - and other "impotant" reference points. Unless you do WANT bendy lamposts - of course. ;-)

Grazie

Waldemar Winkler · April 30th, 2005, 03:52 AM

The Canon WD-58 or one made by Century Optics. Canon's is by far the less expensive. I've seen rave reviews from owners of several different brands of cameras with lenses using 58mm dia filter threads. I have always had one on my GL1. It approximates the angle of view one would get with a 28mm lens on a full frame 35mm film camera. That will cause some noticable image distortion of vertical lines. It is a fact of optics.

Sekhar Ravinutala · May 17th, 2005, 11:53 AM

I just got the Century reversible .55X wide adapter.

On the fisheye side, I'm seeing severe vignetting on the left part of the image; no problem on the right side. Is this normal? Seems odd that the vignetting is not symmetric.

Works OK on the wide angle side.

Sekhar Ravinutala · June 5th, 2005, 10:23 PM

John, what's your experience with this (DS-55WA-58) adapter? I recently got that and am seeing:

(1) Severe vignetting on the fish eye side
(2) Mild chromatic aberration on the wide angle side

Wanted to compare notes...

John Lee · June 6th, 2005, 02:58 AM

Hey Sekhar,

Yeah I get the severe vignetting with the fish eye as well. I pretty much never use it. I just thought it would be neat to be able to occasionally use it as a fisheye, but I was dissappointed with the amount of vignetting.

I also noticed some chromatic aberration on the wide angle side when I was shooting very bright/high contrast images. I didn't really notice it until you pointed it out and I checked out some of my footage, but yeah, it seems to be there on my camera as well.

The barrel distortion bothers me a lot more than the aberration, which is why I've considered buying the canon WD-58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sekhar Ravinutala

John, what's your experience with this (DS-55WA-58) adapter? I recently got that and am seeing:

(1) Severe vignetting on the fish eye side
(2) Mild chromatic aberration on the wide angle side

Wanted to compare notes...

Sekhar Ravinutala · June 7th, 2005, 07:29 AM

The surprising thing is nobody (and no review) talked about these problems...I did a lot of Google searching before I bought. May be the lens is still better than other .55x adapters at that price.

Anyway, you can get rid of the barrel distortion completely with After Effects Pro. There is an "Optics Compensation" effect (only in Pro) that works great. 50 degrees seems to work fine with this lens. Using "Optimal Pixels" and then zooming in a bit salvages a bit more of the frame.

If you don't have AE Pro, check out the "Lens Distortion" effect in Premiere Pro. I didn't try it, but may be it's as good, since that's from Adobe too. See http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/pers...correction.htm for a tutorial.

Adam Stokoe · June 7th, 2005, 11:12 AM

Can anyone tell me the overall length of the canon xm2/gl2 when the wide angle (WD-58/H) is attached? I ask because I'm looking for one that can be attached while the camera is in an underwater housing, but as the housing is built to the camera specs if it's too big I won't get the door shut!

Graham Bernard · June 7th, 2005, 03:43 PM

With or without shade? With or without battery? What Size battery will also increae/decrease length.

Grazie

John Lee · June 7th, 2005, 05:51 PM

I do have AE Pro. Thanks for the advice, I was unaware of that feature. I'll have to give it a shot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sekhar Ravinutala

The surprising thing is nobody (and no review) talked about these problems...I did a lot of Google searching before I bought. May be the lens is still better than other .55x adapters at that price.

Anyway, you can get rid of the barrel distortion completely with After Effects Pro. There is an "Optics Compensation" effect (only in Pro) that works great. 50 degrees seems to work fine with this lens. Using "Optimal Pixels" and then zooming in a bit salvages a bit more of the frame.

If you don't have AE Pro, check out the "Lens Distortion" effect in Premiere Pro. I didn't try it, but may be it's as good, since that's from Adobe too. See http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/pers...correction.htm for a tutorial.

Graham Bernard · June 7th, 2005, 11:38 PM

HAH! Excellent option! I know Vegas has a "Distort" Fx . . I'll go find this one . . THANKS Sekhar . .thank you for the hint . . .hooooo...!!!

Grazie

Kevin Richard · July 27th, 2005, 12:33 PM

I think you can hardly go wrong for the price but I'm just curious as to how it stands up when compared next to other commercial WA lenses for the GL2... I know Neil Slade says it's great but it's his baby so I don't expect less... I'm looking for "independant" reviews of his DIY WA. Has ANYONE built this thing? I can't find anything via searches on here (other than Neil Slade ;) )

I think for $40 bucks even if it's got artifacts it might be useful at times, such as skate videos where any extra bulk is going to be bothersome as I try to skate along with the skaters and shoot the footage.

Any thoughts?

Lloyd Coleman · July 28th, 2005, 10:10 AM

Kevin,

Maybe I'm living in the dark, but I'm not familiar with this home made wide angle solution that you referer to. Please let me know where I can find info about it.

Thank you.

April 13th, 2005, 04:50 PM	#361
Patrick Smith Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Utah Posts: 208	i want one so it protects the wide angle. i guess i would need a bayonet type. any one know what mm the canon wide angle is or a copmany that makes one? __________________ patricksmith04@hotmail.com

April 29th, 2005, 07:45 PM	#362
Guest Posts: n/a	Good Wide Angle Lens for the GL2? What a good wide angle, cost effective lens for the GL2?

April 29th, 2005, 07:55 PM	#363
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	The Canon WD58 is probably the best bet, and not too expensive. Don't make the mistake of buying a cheapo no name off of ebay. You'll regret it. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

April 30th, 2005, 03:52 AM	#365
Waldemar Winkler Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Durango, Colorado, USA Posts: 711	The Canon WD-58 or one made by Century Optics. Canon's is by far the less expensive. I've seen rave reviews from owners of several different brands of cameras with lenses using 58mm dia filter threads. I have always had one on my GL1. It approximates the angle of view one would get with a 28mm lens on a full frame 35mm film camera. That will cause some noticable image distortion of vertical lines. It is a fact of optics. __________________ Waldemar

May 17th, 2005, 11:53 AM	#366
Sekhar Ravinutala Tourist Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sunnyvale, CA Posts: 3	Vignetting with Century .55X wide adapter I just got the Century reversible .55X wide adapter. On the fisheye side, I'm seeing severe vignetting on the left part of the image; no problem on the right side. Is this normal? Seems odd that the vignetting is not symmetric. Works OK on the wide angle side.

April 29th, 2005, 11:55 PM	#364
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	One of my cameras has the WD58 screwed to it - all the time! Love it! When you are well zoomed out - WA - be careful of the bending lamposts on archtectural shots - oh yes it'll do it. If I really need "that" shot then I either move camera OR zoom in a bit OR combination of both . . whatever you need. But do take note at the edges of a shot of vertical lines - eg lamposts - and other "impotant" reference points. Unless you do WANT bendy lamposts - of course. ;-) Grazie

June 5th, 2005, 10:23 PM	#367
Sekhar Ravinutala Tourist Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sunnyvale, CA Posts: 3	John, what's your experience with this (DS-55WA-58) adapter? I recently got that and am seeing: (1) Severe vignetting on the fish eye side (2) Mild chromatic aberration on the wide angle side Wanted to compare notes...

June 7th, 2005, 07:29 AM	#369
Sekhar Ravinutala Tourist Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sunnyvale, CA Posts: 3	The surprising thing is nobody (and no review) talked about these problems...I did a lot of Google searching before I bought. May be the lens is still better than other .55x adapters at that price. Anyway, you can get rid of the barrel distortion completely with After Effects Pro. There is an "Optics Compensation" effect (only in Pro) that works great. 50 degrees seems to work fine with this lens. Using "Optimal Pixels" and then zooming in a bit salvages a bit more of the frame. If you don't have AE Pro, check out the "Lens Distortion" effect in Premiere Pro. I didn't try it, but may be it's as good, since that's from Adobe too. See http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/pers...correction.htm for a tutorial.

June 7th, 2005, 11:12 AM	#370
Adam Stokoe Tourist Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 3	Can anyone tell me the overall length of the canon xm2/gl2 when the wide angle (WD-58/H) is attached? I ask because I'm looking for one that can be attached while the camera is in an underwater housing, but as the housing is built to the camera specs if it's too big I won't get the door shut!

June 7th, 2005, 03:43 PM	#371
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	With or without? With or without shade? With or without battery? What Size battery will also increae/decrease length. Grazie

June 7th, 2005, 11:38 PM	#373
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	HAH! Excellent option! I know Vegas has a "Distort" Fx . . I'll go find this one . . THANKS Sekhar . .thank you for the hint . . .hooooo...!!! Grazie

July 27th, 2005, 12:33 PM	#374
Kevin Richard Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 270	DIY wide angle vs commercial I think you can hardly go wrong for the price but I'm just curious as to how it stands up when compared next to other commercial WA lenses for the GL2... I know Neil Slade says it's great but it's his baby so I don't expect less... I'm looking for "independant" reviews of his DIY WA. Has ANYONE built this thing? I can't find anything via searches on here (other than Neil Slade ;) ) I think for $40 bucks even if it's got artifacts it might be useful at times, such as skate videos where any extra bulk is going to be bothersome as I try to skate along with the skaters and shoot the footage. Any thoughts?

July 28th, 2005, 10:10 AM	#375
Lloyd Coleman Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 256	Kevin, Maybe I'm living in the dark, but I'm not familiar with this home made wide angle solution that you referer to. Please let me know where I can find info about it. Thank you.