Ryan
What great service! Thank you... Please see my other post with reference to this project... VX2100 (Used on Jetranger Helicopter).

I purchased the lens from BH last week (online)... I just received it last Monday and my VX2100e (Pal Version) in-store from them last June...

Is it possible to please send me the repair kit to have it fixed locally? I can then take the equipment to John Barry group or Lemac (local dealer/repairer?) and they fix everything up on warranty??? Are they able to do this on your behalf?

Many thanks...

Kind regards,
Mark Fitzsimmons
Blue Sky Helicopters
Sydney - Australia

vx2100 wide angle questions.
 

hi, im looking for a new wide angle lense, i had an mx3000 and it was ok, the image quality i got wasnt that great though, so im now looking at century .55x wide angle adapter, and the century .65x. the .55x is a wider view if im right, so why is it cheaper than the .65?
im looking for a wide angle with a pretty slight fisheye effect, like just enough so you can tell its wide angle. but quality is most important to me. so with the .55x will it be lower quality than the .65? it is century so im assuming its going to be nice nomatter what.
can someone help me out?

Scott,

The Century .55x is a single element wide angle adapter. This means that you cannot fully zoom the camera in with the attachment in place. You can only zoom from full wide to about half telephoto. The 58mm (0DS-55WA-58) version of this lens has a reversible front element so you can unscrew it and make it a fisheye in about 10 seconds. Pretty cool if you ask me. This piece sells for around $300 at most stores. Linked below.

http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecomm...D=1070&IID=883

The Century .65x is a multi element zoom through converter so this means that you gain full zooming through the range. This piece costs more because there is more glass in it.

The quality difference will be almost unnoticeable. The fisheye effect on the .55x when not in wide angle mode will create a lower quality fisheye than if you bought our .3x fisheye.

Ryan Avery
Regional Sales Representative
Schneider Optics

John Barry cannot do warranty work on our behalf as far as I am aware. However, they might be willing to do this for you as a favor or for a small fee. Please email me your address and all other pertinent info and I will mail you a conversion kit.

Thanks,
Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

What you will find with the .65 is that it will noticably soften the image and create some barrel distortion.

When I discovered this, I contacted Century and they had me ship it to them. The result was a statement that "it is performing up to specification." I had to pay them for the testing and postage before they'd ship it back to me.

I still feel that for the price, it doesn't perform any better than the much less expensive Canon that I exhchanged with B&H because it too softened the image and had some barrel distortion.

I suggest you save a bunch of money and try the Canon first. It even comes with a case!

alright thanks i think ill go with the .55x then. it seems like the right chice for me, i most likely wont be using much zoom when using it so that shouldnt be a problem, and the .3x fisheye is too much fisheye for what i need.

Give me a couple hours and I'll post footage from my vx2000 with no lens full wide.
Full Wide with the .55x
Then full wide with the .3x

that would be great!

Mike,

Sorry for your troubles with the .65x. We have worked very hard to make that lens better and the design isn't cooperating. While most of our attachments are excellent, the .65x does have some issues and the quality of the attachment varies greatly from camera to camera due to a 5% descrepency in CCD placement from camera to camera. We have many customers who are completely satisfied with their .65x and it would appear that it is a combination of not our strongest design and a CCD placement issue.

We hope that you will consider our lenses on all new models as they become available due to varying designs.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Frankly I got the feeling that Schneider had taken over and was just being arrogant. That experience made me decide to not purchase any other Century products and to advise others to avoid them.

I can understand design issues, even if I don't like the results. But to be told 'it meets the functional criteria,' when it obviously doesn't meet the application need and then to be charged for the insult was too much.

However, to continue to promote the .65 WA adapter doesn't speak well for your company. It should be withdrawn from the market in my opinion. I do have two other Century WA adapters for other cameras and they do perform well, making the .65 look even worse by comparison.

Mike,

Thanks for your input and I hope my presence on this site is helping you to understand that we truly do care about our customers and the Schneider purchase has only increased our capabilities.

Fortunately, we have shipped thousands of these units with no complaint. I again apologize for you unfortunate experience.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Sorry I never got back and posted a comparison. School work got in the way.
I WILL post a few screen grabs after my next class.

Edit: Here are the photos.

http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd268/bmxky/

They should be pretty self explanatory, however if they aren't let me know and I will clarify.

The .3x century does have some scratches(not my fault I bought it on ebay like that....but it was only like $180.)
There is also the .3x century
There is also the regular vx2000 lens on it.

Thanks for the footage Eric!

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

no problem. Thank you and your company for the presence on this message board.

Hey Ryan, do you know how much it would cost to replace the glass on the .3x adapter?

It depends on what piece of glass you want to replace. The front element on most .3x Ultra Fisheye lenses run about $300 plus labor. You might be able to guess how many skateboarders come through our Office with damaged front elements.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

I assume lots. Mine has a bunch of little nicks in it...I have no idea what the previous owner did to it.

Probably ran a skateboard tail into a few times. . .as usual. :)