Wide Angle Adaptor for XH A1?

Bogdan Tyburczy · November 6th, 2006, 11:24 PM

It worked this time - thanks Chris.

The first picture shows the points at which the opening in the adapter had to be widened. Note: it shows reassembled adapter.

Second picture: just satisfaction :)

Chris Hurd · November 6th, 2006, 11:31 PM

Amazing. Does the Instant AF function work with this adapter? It looks like the IAF beam just might clear the barrel housing. Thanks for posting these.

Bogdan Tyburczy · November 6th, 2006, 11:50 PM

Instant AF is not reliable with wide angle adapter because any focal length modifier changes characteristics of optical path. Instant AF relies on direct distance measurement and it's designed for standard configuration.

Normal AF works fine.

Chris Hurd · November 6th, 2006, 11:56 PM

Thanks Bogdan,

You have a wonderfully informative and concise posting style. It's a pleasure to have you aboard here.

Whittling away on an expensive adapter takes guts. Glad to see that it worked out for you.

Holly Rognan · November 7th, 2006, 11:51 AM

Has anyone put on any wide angle lenses yet?

How well do they work (barrel distortion, ghosting, CA)?

Also does the XH A1 have more or less CA compared to the XL H1?

Henry Cho · November 7th, 2006, 12:45 PM

bogdan, that's an awesome tip. now i regret getting rid of my adapter. in any case, thanks...

anyone who has an issue with taking a file to their adapter can send their adapters to century/schneider. they will change mounts on compatible adapters for the price of parts and labor. i imagine they'll have an xh mount sooner rather than later.

Marty Hudzik · November 7th, 2006, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

$400 is the lowest amount I would consider paying for a WA adapter. In fact I'm having a hard time with this one being as inexpensive as it is.

2 questions....

1. Do you think the Canon WA is not up to snuff based on the price? Is this not as good of an adapter as say a "century optics .8x" ?

2. Will the Canon WA adapter for the A1/GI work on the H1? I think they are both 72mm mounts........

3. (I know I said 2 questions to start) Are there threads on the Canon to mount a filter in front of the WA lens?

Thanks! The cost of the Canon has me concerned about the quality myself so your input is highly valued.

Peace.

Zachary Breitenstein · November 7th, 2006, 10:40 PM

Bogdan,
Does the newly modified adapter still work with your XL2? Thanks for all of your work. peace.

Holly Rognan · November 7th, 2006, 11:00 PM

Thanks for taking the time doing this I really appreciate it. I was contemplating doing the same thing, and now that I know it works, I will give it a try.

Does it have significant barrrel distortion, considering that it already starts at a decent wide angle?

Also, can you notice a vast reduction in resolution, or is too minimal to care. (I am not really worried about the resolution drops as so much the FOV gained, but I am interested to see what you've noticed.)

Holly Rognan · November 7th, 2006, 11:01 PM

One more thing, would it be possible to post some grabs of stills showing the differences with it on and the point in which the zoom through looses capability?

Bogdan Tyburczy · November 8th, 2006, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zachary Breitenstein

Bogdan,
Does the newly modified adapter still work with your XL2? Thanks for all of your work. peace.

I don't have XL2 here to test it with, but with almost 100% confidence I can say it will fit XL2 and other XL cameras with stock lenses. It's just the way it attaches to the bayonet.

However, some of you may find the image quality unacceptable. Depends on how strict your requirements are. I will post some examples soon.

Bogdan Tyburczy · November 8th, 2006, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holly Rognan

...
Does it have significant barrrel distortion, considering that it already starts at a decent wide angle?

Also, can you notice a vast reduction in resolution, or is too minimal to care.
...

No big surprise here. There is significant barrel distortion and loss of resolution near the edges, but it holds very well in the center.

Personally, I find it usable when extreme wide angle is more important than resolution for practical and/or artistic reasons. One more thing. It's 0.6x adapter (vs 0.75x in WD-H72 for example). It pushes the angle of view to the limit.

As far as critical zoom-in point is concerned, nothing surprising here either. It allows precise focusing as you zoom-in, until it doesn't :)

Definitely, WD-H72 promises better performance, but not so wide angle of view. If it proves to deliver pristine quality edge to edge, it will be worth $400 and I will go for it.

Some examples below. I did them in 30F and framed similarly so you could have better picture of distortion and resolution problems. Hope this helps and does not disappoint too much. It didn't disappoint me. I was kinda expecting it.

The first two images show LCD screen and all four are pretty compressed jpegs. Originals are a little bit sharper and cleaner. Oh, it's raining here and it affected outdoor shots a little bit.

XH A1 is amazing :) Cheers!

Holly Rognan · November 8th, 2006, 01:34 AM

looks allright to me, especially for artistic views as you said. Thanks

Marty Hudzik · November 8th, 2006, 12:15 PM

Talked to my vendor this morning and they just got the Canon WA adapter and it does "not" work on the H1. They didn't tell me why, but I was told it did not work. FWIW.

Steven Glicker · November 8th, 2006, 11:31 PM

I was just hunting around the Internet and didn't see any WD-H72's in-stock (on the english websites). Where did you find it?

November 6th, 2006, 11:24 PM	#16
Bogdan Tyburczy Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brooklyn Posts: 161	It worked this time - thanks Chris. The first picture shows the points at which the opening in the adapter had to be widened. Note: it shows reassembled adapter. Second picture: just satisfaction :) Attached Thumbnails

November 6th, 2006, 11:31 PM	#17
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Amazing. Does the Instant AF function work with this adapter? It looks like the IAF beam just might clear the barrel housing. Thanks for posting these. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

November 6th, 2006, 11:56 PM	#19
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Thanks Bogdan, You have a wonderfully informative and concise posting style. It's a pleasure to have you aboard here. Whittling away on an expensive adapter takes guts. Glad to see that it worked out for you. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

November 7th, 2006, 11:51 AM	#20
Holly Rognan Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Coalville America Posts: 244	Wide angle lens tests? Has anyone put on any wide angle lenses yet? How well do they work (barrel distortion, ghosting, CA)? Also does the XH A1 have more or less CA compared to the XL H1?

November 7th, 2006, 10:40 PM	#23
Zachary Breitenstein New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8	does the modified adapter still work with the XL2? Bogdan, Does the newly modified adapter still work with your XL2? Thanks for all of your work. peace.

November 6th, 2006, 11:50 PM	#18
Bogdan Tyburczy Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brooklyn Posts: 161	Instant AF is not reliable with wide angle adapter because any focal length modifier changes characteristics of optical path. Instant AF relies on direct distance measurement and it's designed for standard configuration. Normal AF works fine.

November 7th, 2006, 12:45 PM	#21
Henry Cho Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 516	bogdan, that's an awesome tip. now i regret getting rid of my adapter. in any case, thanks... anyone who has an issue with taking a file to their adapter can send their adapters to century/schneider. they will change mounts on compatible adapters for the price of parts and labor. i imagine they'll have an xh mount sooner rather than later.

November 7th, 2006, 11:00 PM	#24
Holly Rognan Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Coalville America Posts: 244	Thanks for taking the time doing this I really appreciate it. I was contemplating doing the same thing, and now that I know it works, I will give it a try. Does it have significant barrrel distortion, considering that it already starts at a decent wide angle? Also, can you notice a vast reduction in resolution, or is too minimal to care. (I am not really worried about the resolution drops as so much the FOV gained, but I am interested to see what you've noticed.)

November 7th, 2006, 11:01 PM	#25
Holly Rognan Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Coalville America Posts: 244	One more thing, would it be possible to post some grabs of stills showing the differences with it on and the point in which the zoom through looses capability?

November 8th, 2006, 01:34 AM	#28
Holly Rognan Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Coalville America Posts: 244	looks allright to me, especially for artistic views as you said. Thanks

November 8th, 2006, 12:15 PM	#29
Marty Hudzik Trustee Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canton, Ohio Posts: 1,771	Talked to my vendor this morning and they just got the Canon WA adapter and it does "not" work on the H1. They didn't tell me why, but I was told it did not work. FWIW.

November 8th, 2006, 11:31 PM	#30
Steven Glicker Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 52	I was just hunting around the Internet and didn't see any WD-H72's in-stock (on the english websites). Where did you find it?

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