Craig,

Sorry for the delayed reply - I have been away. I can't say that I have tested it extensively, but I think what you say above is about true. My limited shooting at night on the day I received it was very unsettling. It vignetted very badly from about 6.5 to 12mm - very dark and ugly in the corners. This was made worse as my camera does not vignette!

Further testing in the day with the aperture closed down a little does allow use of the lens at the widest setting - just. I would say that from F2.8 on at the widest setting of the lens it is useable - but you cannot zoom even a whisker. The image is not bad at all within these limitations - a bit of barrel distortion at the edges (I think that would upset Tom!) but not more than I expected going on my previous experience with the Z1 version of this lens.

It is as usual for Century, very well made, but I am still not happy with the amount of vignetting. I hope that something can be done to fix this on my lens, but I doubt it.

Century's 0.75X Wide Adapter for EX1's Defects
 

Paul, looking at framegrabs shot with Century's new wide adapter for EX1, s few things are obvious:

1. All the wide framegrabs showed clearly the effects of edge blurring (sphererical aberration), complex a.k.a. "moustache" distortion where straightlines closer to the edges were barrel shaped closer to the center and bended into a pincusion shape near the edges (look at the row of shingles on the house's wall) . They also showed quite significant chromatic aberration which spread out over almost all the entire frame but more at near the edges (look at most outlines of dake objects over very light objects such as tree branches over the sky).

2. All the aberrations above were very symmetrical to my eyes (affecting all edge areas to a more or less similar degree), indicating a design flaw rather than QC or manufacturing flaws which would have shown some degrees of asymmetry such as the vignetting flaws shown by a number of EX1's own lens. If the design was sound then at the very least there was a serious law with either spacing of the lens elements or the adapter mount, push the the combined adapter/lens focal plane out of tolerances.

Whatever the problems are, the adapter has now been pulled from the market and yours, Paul, can be returned according to what is said in another thread in this forum.

The problems with the tele, though, involved only blurring and a less degree of chromatic abberation. This adapter has not been recalled as far as I know but the overall performance was still unacceptably poor. If I were you, I wouldn't hesitate for one second if it shoud be exchanged or returned. Century has really ruined their reputation by letting these two products out.

Though I do not own an EX1, I have the FX-1, HC-1, TRV 950 all of which mating with a few so-called high grade, far cheaper adapters from Sony with good results.

Sincerely
Wach

Wes the quality of the picture is not just the extra glass. I have had 1.6 tele for my A1's and Z1's and they were perfect. So this is a problem that does not work for me or my client base.

Wacharapong I have sent both back and will not order additional ones until I know the problem is solved and even then I will wait on other companies to come out with similar products. I do still have a Century Fisheye on order and hope they get that one right the first time since it has been 5 months delayed.

Hey guys,

I own Century, Sony and Canon WA lenses for my PD170's. Surprise! The Century is no better than the others....just heavier and lots more money. Now, we keep Canons on all our cameras. The only justification for the Century lens is that it lets me use their slotted lens hood with filters.

JoJo

Good point Dan I am going to look into a Sony WA for my EX1.

So far so good
 

I have used the Sony .8 from the start and so far so good. Would I like it to be a bit wider...yes, but not often.My biggest gripe is the permantently attached sunshade. I will need to remove it for use with a mattebox soon. Sony tech tells me people are cutting it off. I will have to form a plan how to do that. The lens overall is fine...however, no screw on front filter threads.
Best, Craig

In all these discussions about wide-angle adapters and vignetting, I don't recall seeing anybody talk about the menu option called "Wide Conversion" which should be turned on when using WA converters. Does anybody know exactly what this menu setting causes the lens to do? Does it prevent the lens from zooming out too wide thereby allowing you to see the corners of the shade....or what? Just curious.

Dave if you go back to my early post in the topic you will see that i did use the menu option for WA. It made no difference.

Sorry Paul, I missed that. Do you know what its' function is?

Don't have an EX1, but I'm pretty sure it's a change made to the Steadyshot control, just like on the Z1. The shorter the focal length the less obvious the camera shake, so the Steadyshot elements can have their vibration limits reduced.

Tom that makes sense to me.

I suspect that setting may also affect the cameras CA correction. If that's so then it could have implications for any WA lens not made by Sony. Hope I'm wrong as 0.8 doesn't do it for me at all.

I've gone through two of the three (or so) available DVD training disks on the EX1 but, so far, nobody has addressed the purpose of this setting. Based on things I've seen in the past, I believe it must affect the positioning of the lens or limit its' movement so that it can't exceed some predetermined setting.....but that's purely speculation on my part.

Hi Paul,

The 1.6x TC just proved to be too soft for your needs?

Randy it was too soft and most of the time out of focus for the outer 1/3.

Thanks Paul,

I received my 1.6 TC Century from Zacuto last week and have done two sets of tests with it. I also am dissapointed. I have to decide if I will keep it for when I am in a pinch, or just send it back.

I have owned teleconverters for still photograpghy (up to 2X) as well for video, and this one is the least impressive. Very soft, even by TC standards where some softening is expected.

I would really love to hear from Century here to see if there is work being done to refine the design or if this is the final product.

wide angle recommendations?
 

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but since this one is getting so much action... Would you all post of your good experiences and recommendations of a wide angle lens (including Sony's) for the EX1? From what I have found the biggest complaint about Sony's is the sun shade... but any positive feedback on this or other WA lenses would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-sutton

The message is pretty clear Sutton. Buy Sony's pretty feeble 0.8x with its attached hood or abandon the idea completely. The Fujinon doesn't take kindly to add-ons, and the Bolex Aspheron (0.52x) that I've used for many years on other cameras is unuseable on the EX1.

Randy,

This is the first I have heard of any issue with the EX1 and our 1.6x tele-converter. We have had this on documentaries and major feature films; all with positive feedback.

I would like to see some sample footage if possible.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Ryan,
If you look further down this thread you will find still samples from Paul Cronin's tests with the tele. Completely unusable.

Again, this is anomoly. We have not experienced this with any other pieces that have left the factory. We have worked very hard to resolve Paul's issues with his camera.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Paul,

Was this in auto focus or manual focus? Any other camera settings would be useful to know.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

A careful examination of the "without" photo's show a marked drop in sharpness off axis. They also show noticeable color fringing. Adding attachments (even very high quality ones like the Century 1.6x) magnifies the aberrations present in the camera's built in lens and add some of their own.

The Century 1.6X is very high quality ,originally designed by David Grafton (who won an Oscar this year for his design work). During the development of accessories for the Panasonic HVX200 the 1.6X design was reviewed by Optical Research Associates, quite possibly the premier independent optical design group in the world, who said the design could not be improved.

Most customers using Tele-Attachments are interested in the central part of the image, and the shallow depth of field mixes with any off axis issues to the extent that the customer is satisfied with the results. We have sold 1000's of the 1.6x with very few complaints.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Ryan,
Any update on the vignetting issue with the .6x wide angle?

Ryan I tried both auto and manual. The pictures are with manual focus.

We have experienced this issue with less than 1% of the units shipped. It is an issue with the spacing of the lock ring and the individual camera.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for your comments. I think that one of the main concerns would be the numerous instances where the subject may be centered (i.e. Paul's license plate example) where the goal is to have the subject filling more of the frame (thus the 1.6X). It just looks a bit odd to have the plates at one level of focus and the tail lights at another when they occupy the same depth of field.

Could you provide some of the samples that Century has produced in testing this lens that show performance at a near and far point of focus? It would be very helpful in seeing if I am realizing the norm for this lens' performance or an anomoly.

Thanks again.

Ryan,

I and a couple of others here are part of the 1%. Is there any way to fix my 0.6X lens - it vignettes very badly from about 6.5 - 12mm.

Is the only solution a return - and if I do will the new one also vignette?

Look forward to your reply.

Thanks Tom. That was exactly the kind of advice I was looking for! I have actually been impressed with some of the video I have seen others post while using the Sony 0.8x. I am just a little shocked that there isn't a better option yet.

cheers,
-sutton

I was asked by my local shop to check out and post some images of the new ZUNOW Optics 0.75 Wide Angle adaptor for the EX1. Its not schedule for international release till the fall but its out in Japan now. Ill be going into the shop thursday and will post screen shots hopefully that night. Apparently it has zero distortion and full zoom through but lets wait and see.

OK, I'm waiting to see. The Zunow produced for the Z1 was shown at the Video Forum in London last year but when fitted to my Z1 had oodles of barrel distortion. I didn't need to zoom to full tele to check it out further, I didn't want my brides barrelling in the middle.

Let's hope their latest design is better.

Well I guess I am part of the one percent also. I have vignetting from full wide, all the way through to above 10mm. The bulk of my shoots involve the need for a wide angle lens, so this is a problem. Is there a fix from those of us suffering from this issue? I know at one point you stated that you were "formulate a solution"....what are the options available for those of us with this issue? Is it something you are able to address or does the camera have to go back to Sony?

Zunow WEX-075a WIDE ANGLE LENS....
 

I got a chance to try out the new Zunow Wide Angle Lens here in Tokyo today. Who on earth are Zunow? Good question. They are a small Japanese Lens Maker who stiil hand make their lenses in Akita, Northern Japan. Its hard to get much information on them. They had a wide Angle for the Z1 that, although popular in Japan, seemed to get average reviews overseas.

I'm posting comparison shots with the Sony Wide Angle Adapter. I'm no pro user but here are my comments. Let me know if I left anything out. This Lens is nice piece.

My comments...
Noticeably less barrelling than the sony WA .
Its wider than the sony WA. Its 0.75. Sony's is 0.8.
It IS full zoom through just like the sony WA.
A removable hood unlike the sony WA permanently attached hood.
Heavier than the sony WA, around 830grams compared to the sony's 630grams.
It locks onto the front lens by putting it in position and turning a metal ring to lock position.
Very solid build. The hood is a hard rubber material.
It wont be available in the US until October.
It retails at 98,000 Yen here. That's about $900 US I think. I'm told it will be about 20% more when it hits the US market.
Seems like a better lens than the Sony WA but maybe hard to justify double the price for some people.

My local shop is trying to work something out for anyone wanting to buy one from outside Japan. If you are interested let me know. Otherwise you might try through your local dealer.

Cheers, Alex

Yes, the Zunow does barrel distort a lot less than the Sony, but to say it sees wider than the Sony is pushing at microns. Still, I find Sony's barrel distortion quite unacceptable, so even theough the Zunow is a huge amount of money, it's the one I'd choose from this comarison.

Shooting into the light would test out the flare, though as both lenses are hooded and multi-coated I'd not expect to see much difference between them.

tom.

yeah, I agree, fractionally wider but the less barrelling is really its strong point. That and the fact you can add a matt box. I panned around and did shoot some shots directly towards the sun actually. Maybe I'll post some stills if any one is interested.
I don't mind the barrelling on the sony. I don't film brides and the Japanese are all so skinny anyway.

Anyone experiencing issues with their lens can, as always, send thier lens in for inspection. However, we can only bring the lens to the specification we manufacture the lens to meet which is based on our testing of numerous Sony cameras. If the lens is found to be within our specifications and doesn't vignette on any of our samples of the EX1, then you may consider other avenues of inspection for your camera.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Hi Ryan,

Thanks again for your responses here. I would respectfully ask again that you post some samples of these lenses working correctly. That will be a much more convenient manner for your customers to guage how their lens/camera combo is functioning, as opposed to a costly and time intensive send-back/inspection period. As you mentioned, these have been thoroughly tested, so it should be a fairly simple matter of posting already existing samples.

Is that not possible?

Randy

Ryan,
I have tried two .6x lens now and experienced similar vignetting on both. I am assuming then it is a camera issue. Can you please provide the information we should pass on to Sony to ensure they inspect and service the correct thing, since I only want to send it in once (if that!).

Thanks

From the samples posted the Sony is a lot sharper than the Zunow, both at full wide and zoomed-in.

FYI, barrel distortion is hard to avoid at this price point. It's something I can live with for the shooting I'm doing.

If I really need to reduce or remove it, that can be done with the help of a filter in After Effects. You do lose parts of the image, however.

Dean, Im not sure if I moved the focus ring when changing adapters. The Zunow was the second one. Although I had peaking on all shots, Im not sure if I had it at max on the zunow. Having said that though, while moving the zunow around and focusing I did find it hard to see any peaking fully zoomed in o another shot aimed more toward the sun. I thought that might have been because I had to close the aperture a little. I wish I'd had more time with it to confirm.