Century .3x Fisheye

Hello,
I'm Ben, and am all new in this DV world. Today I have few questions. What is the different between Fisheye and Wide Angle lenses? and which one would be more important in pro shooting?
Exciting and good to join this forum. Thanks!

[Chris Hurd]

Howdy from Texas,

A good wide angle lens will present a wide field of view while keeping distortion to a bare minimum. A fish-eye lens, however, is much more extreme and will turn straight lines into curved ones. Others will have more input but this is it in a nutshell.

Here, you can compare a fish-eye:

http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/video/prodv/prodvfisheye.html

to a wide-angle adapter:

http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/video/prodv/prodv7x.html#

Hope this helps,

Thanks Chris,

I've seen some of those after market wide angle lenses out there, which I find them cheaper prices (<$200). Are they okay? cause they are made in Japan. does a .5x wide angle has a lot of distortion? what other things I should know to buy a wide angle or fisheye lens? FYI, I have a VX2000.

Thank you.

[Marius Svendsen]

Ive heard that either the Mark1 for the VX2000 or the Mark2 Century .3x fisheye fits the good "old" VX1000, only the older mark 1 fisheye does.
But i was thinking, VX1000 has a 52mm lense and the VX2000 have a 58mm, would it just be possible with a step-up ring for the VX1000 to fit either the new Mark1 or Mark1 fisheye from century??
I mean, we are just talking about 6mm step-up....
Must be some way!

[Mike Rehmus]

It would depend upon the design of the fisheye. If it is designed to be a certain distance from the front lens element, then a step-up ring would probably cause a problem.

I think you have to ask the manufacturer about that one.

[Marius Svendsen]

Yeah I guess, I'll e-mail Century about it.
It's just that it's so hard to find a the old Century Mark1 fisheye for the VX1000, it's not old though, but for some reason Century don't make them no more.

[Brian McKenna]

i think that they still make vx1000 stuff:


http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/dv/3/chart.htm


make sure you get an exact match...the distance from camera lens to adaptor really matters a lot with these things. the model number must be specific to the camera as far as i have seen...
for example the 58mm screw mount version of the .3x fisheye fits the trv-900 with a stepdown ring and works great, the same lens 'fits' the vx-2000 and looks like crap.

i heard that the markI lenses have better glass than the markII versions

[Marius Svendsen]

Im really keen on buying a used Century .3x fisheye for my camcorder(VX1000).
If anyone have one or know anyone who might have one for sale I would be very, very thankfull if you could post a message about it:)

Thank You!!

Will a 52mm vx1000 bayonet century .3x fisheye work on a vx2000 if I use a 52to58 step-up ring?? will there be any bayoneting or adverse aspects if i do this?

[Mike Rehmus]

Only Century might be able to tell you. The best method is to try it. Vignetting is certainly a possibility.

[Chris Ruona]

what makes it so expensive?

[Devin Kalt]

The lens is so expensive because there is none to very little quality lost. Also, the barrel distortion is unbeatable compared to other fisheye lenses.When you use other cheaper fisheyes such as the raynox mx3000, quality is lost, and it isn't near as wide.

[Chris Ruona]

should i get bayonet mount or a screw on mount?

[Mike Rehmus]

Usually bayonet mounts are sturdier. You might mention just a little bit more about what you are going to mount and to what.

[Chris Ruona]

for my vx2100