Question RE: raynox fisheye for weddings
 

Right now I have the raynox XL-3000 which is the snap on .3 fisheye lens. At full wide on a vx2100 it will show some vignetting. Not a big problem if you use a widescreen matte or zoom in a bit, but I'm tired of zooming in more than I need to or not zooming in enough and still getting some vignetting. I'm wondering if the MX-3000 Pro which is also a .3 fisheye but not a snap on, has the same problem on a vx2100/PD170 etc? It looks as though there isnt a smuch plastic around the lens, which would be less to get in the way, but I thought somebody here might know beofre I buy one just ot test it out.

Thanks
Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I have both the screw on and the snap-on and I'm not seeing any vignetting. Odd. The only thing I see is softness at the edges - and even though it doesn't seem like it should be this way the snap-on is sharper further out toward the edge.

Hi Joel,

Thanks for the reply. You shoot with all vx2000 correct? Maybe the 2000 isn't as wide? I have vignetting on both the vx2100 and the pd170. Does your snap on lens have a plastic casing that goes straight outward on the lens side (as opposed to the threaded side)?

I'm not using any filtyers on the lens either, just full wide with the snap on fisheye. I'm okay with the softness too, its just the heavy vignetting (almost solid black) that really stands out. This is very confusing.

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I always thought the 2100 and 2000 had the same lens, but that could be wrong. The point you make about there not being another filter on, like a protective UV filter, is a good point. I don't use any filters either. That could have had something to do with the vignetting if you did. I haven't seen any darkening with the screw on or the clip on, and this is viewing the footage on the computer monitor when you don't have any overscan to cover the edges. I found one example inwhich I overused the raynox (because it was new - a common mistake with new toys).

http://www.EventVideographer.com/PRE...PT_WITH_RAYNOX

I mask the edges slightly for online movies to get rid of overscan artifacts, but I think any vignetting would show up. I do have a slight vignetting filter applied in FCP but nothing that shows up too much.

My clip-on has a slight lip on the inside of the lens - maybe 1/8" - which actually goes on the outside of the lens assembly so the camera lens is flush with the raynox.

Thanks again Joel. After much testing, I think I got it figured out. With the snap on version, you can attach the lens to the outer portion of the threads on your camera which leaves a small gap between the lens and the camera and results in vignetting. I pushed the snap on portion in more and pushed the lens further back and it seems to be almost completely vignette free. I hadn't even considered that it could be the way I was putting it on as I thought it would be normal for the fisheye to vignette slightly. Thanks again for being so thorough.

Patrick