z1 wide angle recommendations
 

I'm looking for the perfect wide angle lens to get for the z1. What would you guys recommend? price isn't an issue.. Thanks

Centuary Optics 0.6x

.06 16x9, available at BandPro. only better than the century at full wide. Otherwise, I can't tell which is which.

I have the Cenutry .6x and I find it useful. But the image is definitely a little soft, and it will give you a lot of barrell distortion. Lots of discussion on this topic already:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58525
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=67014
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=72949
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58390

Expensive the little thing!

Though it's 0.7 instead of 0.6.

thanks for the catch! I have always thought it was a .6, and now know why I can see a difference between it and the Century. The additional angle on the Century would account for the edge distortions.
Yeah, it's expensive, but worth it for what we do.

If I were to believe you as stated then there can only be one...

Canon WA75HD with the adapter 85II, plus you will need a 72-85 step up ring.

Raynox DCR7900ZD
 

Has anyone tried this wide-angle adapter in HDV?

Some time ago an ad came to my mail from Raynox's Brazilian rep, suggesting the 7900 for the Sony Z1.

In the US only Amazon is selling it, for $257.25, which is not too cheap for this brand and might suggest a more serious product.

Raynox DCR-7900ZD
 

This is what I could find out about this lens:

With an adapter ring of RA6272, sold separately, the DCR-7900ZD lens fits on Sony HDR-FX1/HVR-Z1 high vision cameras and increases the chance of wide angle shooting, with superb image quality. It is the first lens we developed with the lowest distortion percentage of 0.92%, yet with a high resolution power of 230L/mm at center and 210L/mm in fringe (MTF 30%). The conversion lens itself has almost none distortion independently.

It is limited to use the lens at the widest point of zoom lens.

Made of a sturdy metal construction
Magnification: Nominal 0.79X Actual 0.79X ( diagonal. 0.79X horizontal 0.79X)
Distortion : -0.92%
Lens Construction : 2-Group/4-element, high index optical glasses all surfaces fully coated
Front Filter-92mm Mounting thread : Originally shipped with 58mm (exchangeable)
Measurements: 95mm x 33mm 293g
Effective Zoom range: 1X(16 : 9 Mode) 1X(4: 3 mode)

I don't quite like the fact that you only can use the adapter at the zoom's widest angle.

At least the Century seems to allow using half of it, right?

Yes, IIRC you can zoom about halfway out with the Century .6x before you lose focus. But I think the Century .7x is full zoom through.

16x9inc has a nice .7 wide that lets you use full zoom. I have one and love it. My only wish was that it was a little wider.

http://www.16x9inc.com/images/produc...rCanonXLH1.jpg

www.16x9inc.com

My only wish is it was little less expensive...;)

You get what you pay for ;)

May I suggest the Sony VCL-HG0872? It's the one Sony sells for the camera family, and it's a very sweet zoom-through lens. Magnification is 0.8, which is not quite as wide as the Century but it also shows less barrel distortion. Anyway, keep in mind that the 16:9 format of the Z1/FX1 camera already is surprisingly wide, considerably wider than the VX2000 I sold.

I bought my lens via eBay last March for about $250.