Wide angle lenses
 

Right, starting to get interested in a wide angle lens and am curious as to how people are getting on with theirs, and whether they would like to shed their words of wisdom upon this mb.

Sony's fetches for about £350 in the UK, yet Optex (http://www.optexint.com/hdv/4/4.html) have one going for £200. Sounds reasonable.

Just want to know what i should be looking out for. As the C8 Teleconverter seems to have gone down a trick is there a similar 'cheap' solution for the Z1? Any 72mm screw on wide angle lenses the world has forgotten about selling for £5? Hey, can't hurt asking!

Cheers in advance,

Chris

I would like to know quality of Optex lens and if some store in US sells it and ships to Europe, maybe even ubder different name. 90% zoom, does it mean it does not work at 10% of widest range?

I posted on Raynox 180 deg. fisheye for FX1; it's supposed have superb resolution but some darkening at corners when at full wide angle, probably same as Optex. It costs under 1000 USD. Schneider costs 3,000 USD.

There are so many 72 mm video cameras. I think it is about time converters were produced and sold at reasonable prices. There is opticly very little in there and if production runs would be large enough, it should not cost much. All is needed is 1000 lines resolution. By 35 mm SLR standards is super low.

Radek

cheap as chips huh?


well

Canon do/did a clip on wide angle (0.75x) for 2/3" broadcast lenses (I believe they now do a HD version at silly money) for the J13 series IIRC

it looks like this

http://i13.ebayimg.com/03/i/03/ff/4a/ec_1_b.JPG

it clips on 77-80mm ish diameter - so you will need a 72 -80mm step up and then you can clip it to the outside of the step ring

It is a one piece glass with spectra coating - very sharp

you can get a used one 50 -100 sterling

I've used the Century Optics Fisheye adapter for the Z1 to good effect. B&H price around $500...