Awesome Craig, look forward to it.

- Ray

Got the WA lens today
 

I just recieved the Sony WA adapter today...mind you the camera won't arrive until tomorrow. The lens is a bayonet mount as mentioned and the front element outer diameter is just under 4.5" in diameter. There is a hard rubber like WA sunshade built onto the lens and it appears to be non-removable. This is an interesting feature should one wish to use the WA with a matte box. I am inclined to beleive that it won't be possible. I am going to look into if the shade is removable from Sony.
The look and build is very, very good however.
Best, Craig

A good grab would be the same backgroud with/without the WA.
I got a call from my dealer in France who received 2 WA.
but :

1) would like to have a look at it before
2) would like to have a comparison with the schneider (which is 3 times the price)
3) would like to know if the French price is not 3 times the US price :)

So screen grabs are welcome :)
many thanks

with and without WA adapter
 

Here are samples with and without the Sony .8 WA adapter.

http://abracadabrastudios.com/EX1/LensWAadapter.htm
Best, Craig

What was your focal distance? Or, how many feet would you have to step back in order to get the same shot without the adapter?

It doesn't look like as big of a difference as I would expect.

Focal distance
 

I was 4.5 feet from the front surface of the center pot.
Best, Craig

0.8x is always going to be a very mild increase, but I'm pretty sure Sony have limited the power in an effort to limit the losses. If you could shoot inside a library (and perpendicular to the bookcase Craig) we could assess the sharpness of the book spines up in the corners as well as seeing if the bookshelves bow outwards from frame centre.

tom.

Thanks for posting the pics. While I've been tempted it just doesn't seem like that gives enough bang for the buck.

A'ight Ryan Avery, it's your turn!

- Ray

Hey. This only looks 20% wider!

My only comment at this time is that the .8x from Sony seems to have alot of Barrel Distortion. I know for a fact that our .75x doesn't display that much BD.

Without seeing this lens shot on a test chart and color pattern I will have to reserve judgement. Thus far I will say that it seems to be a good low budget option for a zoom through piece. For the same money you can buy our .6x partial zooming piece that weighs less. As usual, its always a tough call and there is no perfect answer.

I will attempt to post some shots from my lenses as soon as I can.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

And Ryan, you can still send me some lenses and I'll post the pics! =)

(Can't blame a guy for tryin!)

- Ray

Dimensions?
 

[QUOTE=Ryan Avery;829102]My only comment at this time is that the .8x from Sony seems to have alot of Barrel Distortion. I know for a fact that our .75x doesn't display that much BD.]

Ryan, I am interested in your .6. I would like to know what the front outer diameter is, so as to fit into a mattebox. I would also intend on using your .6 with my Steadicam. Approx. how much of a zoom is possible with your .6 lens before you loose focus? Is there a front thread? What is the mm?
The major drawback about the Sony aside from weight is the non-removable sun shade hence no mattebox.
Best, Craig Hollenback
www.KeysTV.com

[QUOTE=Craig Hollenback;829125]Craig,

Our .6x has a 105mm outside diameter which should fit into most matte boxes including our Century Wide Angle Matte Boxes made by Vocas. The front thread is 102mm. We tried to make it a standard size but the next common size down was 95mm and the next common size up was 127mm so we went with a custom size of 102mm. We make a 102mm UV and Linear Polarizer. The zoom is about half of the zoom range from wide to mid-telephoto.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

availability
 

Ryan, Thanks for the info. It sounds great. Can you tell me when it will be available via B&H? Also, will your Vocas matte box work directly (clear the built in mic) with the native EX1 lens as well as your .6x WA adapter. Does it ship with rods, etc?
Best, Craig

We have a significant number of back orders on this lens. I would image that B&H will likely have it available some time in late April at this point. I am not certain how many they have on back order.

We have tested our Vocas clamp-on matte box and it works ok with the EX1. The version with rods does not and my understanding is that Vocas is working on an EX1 version with rods. With the current clamp-on version, it clears the mic fine but filter tray has to be loaded from the bottom. My understanding is that all the matte boxes currently available have the same problem but I haven't tested them all.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics