Using Wide Angle / Tele Converter on your camera

[soons]

^ lol, 10 years warranty.

I have used a Emolux Wide angle convertor before, the image quality really sucks. It ended up like fish eye and it increases un-pleasing flare on my S5 IS as well.

However, I do not have any complains on Canon's 1.5X Teleconvertor, which increase my max range from 432mm to 648mm. IQ wise still great.

 

[denniskee]

Wide con : Cherry Aux. Wide Angle Lens For AF35ML (2 glass elements, 48mm thread mount), refer to #1
Camera : Panasonic LX3 (wcon function "off")
Connection : 3rd party adapter + 52-55 step up ring stick to external of the Cherry Lens, no filter in between
Setting : Tripod mounted, Lens at widest, Aspec Ratio 16:9, ISO 80, 8sec, f8.0

Centre crop to 20%

Middle left crop to 20%

Bottom left crop to 20%

 

[Snoweagle]

Wide con: Panasonic DMW-LW46 (3 elements, 3 groups, 0.75X).
Camera: Panasonic LX3 (wcon function "off").
Connection: Panasonic DMW-LA4.
Settings: Tripod mounted, Lens at widest, Aspec Ratio 3:2, ISO 100, 2 sec, f/8.0.

Wide con: Panasonic DMW-LW46 (3 elements, 3 groups, 0.75X).
Camera: Panasonic LX3 (wcon function "on").
Connection: Panasonic DMW-LA4.
Settings: Tripod mounted, Lens at widest, Aspec Ratio 3:2, ISO 100, 2 sec, f/8.0.

100% crop (wcon function "off")

100% crop (wcon function "on")

The setup:

 

[Snipsnapsnet]

i love your thread.

im a newbie, im planning to buy a WA lens for G11, just wondering which lens will you recommend?

 

[krisietong]

Wide con : Raynox DCR-6600PRO(3 Groups/3 Elements, 52mm thread mount)
Camera : Canon S3 IS
Connection : Raynox Adaptor Tube, no filter in between
Setting : Hand held, Lens at widest, ISO 80, 1/500sec, f5.6

Resized Pic

100% crop at top of pic

100% crop at centre of pic

100% crop at bottom of pic

hahaha.. i think u r staying a few blks away from me..

 

[denniskee]

i love your thread.

im a newbie, im planning to buy a WA lens for G11, just wondering which lens will you recommend?

I have not test most of wcon, but looking at the trend from the popular camera brands, they dont go below 0.7x, infact, 0.7x is more likely to be the 1st generation, the later ones are 0.75x - 0.8x. So I suspect the IQ will drop if wcon goes below 0.7x, but u do get the wideness.

Also, bear in mind that u have to take the conversion factor into consideration when stitching the photos into panoramic shot. The info embeded in the images will state only the focal length at which they are taken since it has no way to know that a wcon has been attached.

Base on the little experience I have, Raynox and the popular camera brand that produce wcon with 3 or more elements should be safer bet. Best value for money I think should be the Oly 0.7x wcon. Peterpan1975 recently got one at around S$100 iirc. Take note that due to the size, it will block the built-in flash. Using a external flash will solve this problem.

Please contribute to this thread by posting photos taken by ur wcon into the format I have arranged.

 

[khongovic]

Will auto-focus work on the Canon 450d if i use a 3rd party wide-angle converter?

 

[denniskee]

Will auto-focus work on the Canon 450d if i use a 3rd party wide-angle converter?

imagine wcon as a filter, ie mount infront of the lens, it doesnt affect the AF system. there r no dedicated wcon for dslr from individual camera maker.

tcon on the other hand can be split into 2 types.

1) mount infront of lens. when mounted, will not affect the af system but is very likely to cause heavy vignetting. they r primarily made for video camcorders & compact cameras.

2) mount between lens & camera body of dslr/slr. you will need to get dedicated tcon for individual camera brand, 3rd party included. also, it will reduce "reduce" the aperture size by 1stop for 1.4xtcon & 2stops for 2xtcon. in this sense, it may affect the af system, slowing af down or will not work at all cause the resultant aperture is smaller than the camera's requirement.

 

[khongovic]

imagine wcon as a filter, ie mount infront of the lens, it doesnt affect the AF system. there r no dedicated wcon for dslr from individual camera maker.

tcon on the other hand can be split into 2 types.

1) mount infront of lens. when mounted, will not affect the af system but is very likely to cause heavy vignetting. they r primarily made for video camcorders & compact cameras.

2) mount between lens & camera body of dslr/slr. you will need to get dedicated tcon for individual camera brand, 3rd party included. also, it will reduce "reduce" the aperture size by 1stop for 1.4xtcon & 2stops for 2xtcon. in this sense, it may affect the af system, slowing af down or will not work at all cause the resultant aperture is smaller than the camera's requirement.

Thanks denniskee for the clear explanation. Will wcon cause vignetting like tcon?

 

[soons]

Thanks denniskee for the clear explanation. Will wcon cause vignetting like tcon?

Probably not. If it does, it is a really bad converter.

 

[Oberon]

Nope, you can't use teleconverters on EF-S lenses. And you have the wrong understanding of teleconverters and wide converters. The teleconverter multiplies the wide end of your zoom range as well, so you lose the wide end.

Best solution for you is to shoot as much as you can with your current lenses first. You will gradually become more aware of what you normally shoot. Don't be overly concerned with trying to cover all focal lengths... instead discover what your favorite focal lengths are.

:thumbsup: Best Advise!

 

[denniskee]

Thanks denniskee for the clear explanation. Will wcon cause vignetting like tcon?

Probably not. If it does, it is a really bad converter.

it is not so much good or bad wcon, it is more of finding the correct match.

eg. if you have to use multiple step up/down ring in oder to mount the wcon onto the adapter tube, that will very likely to cause vignetting, be it good or bad quality wcon.

the oly 0.7x wcon is very good, but still cause vignetting as u can see in the above examples.

 

[denniskee]

found a good site for WCON & TCON reviews

Panasonic DMC-FZ 30 User Guide
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/FZ-30/

 

[denniskee]

Tele con : Canon TCDC 52B (1.6x)
Camera : Canon G2
Connection : 3rd party adapter, no filter in between
Setting : Tripod mounted, Lens at full zoom, ISO 50, 1/500sec, f4.0

Centre Frame 20%

Top Right 20%

Centre Right 20%

Bottom Right 20%

 

[denniskee]

Tele con : Olympus TCON 14 (1.45x)
Camera : Canon G2
Connection : 3rd party adapter, step down ring 52mm - 46mm, no filter in between
Setting : Tripod mounted, Lens at full zoom, ISO 50, 1/500sec, f4.0

Centre Frame 20%

Top Right 20%

Centre Right 20%

Bottom Right 20%

 

[ovaltinemilo]

Hmmm... What's the point of having this (good) thread, if:

1. Newbies never search the forum anyway
2. People only come on here to complain *after* they bought the lens?

I think this is helpful...if no. 2 happens, then they can only blame themselves...

 

[FongAlv]

Hi all,

Does anyone know what are the differences between the wide angle converters meant for camcorders and those meant for still cameras? I see that those meant for camcorders are alot wider, and smaller in converter thickness than those meant for stills.

 

[denniskee]

If i am not wrong, those cam-corders filter thread size normally are 30mm or 37mm.

At that size, the elements are very small, which will cause vignetting.

Also, the resolution of the converter lens is very low compare to those meant still camera (I refer to the better made ones that I had mentioned before.)

Also, I mentioned that most acceptable IQ (subjective) are converters with factors not bigger than 0.7x, ie those 0.45x.

My dad had a cam-corder with a 0.45x wide con attachment thats 37mm mount, so he had to use a step-up ring of 30mm - 37mm. Image quality for video is good enough for viewing. But when i use it on my canon g2 & sony dsc707, the IQ totally screw up. This is also true for those bigger wide con (conversion factor 0.5x) with 52mm mounting thread size, though their elements are bigger.

Alot of CSers got rip-off by shops, selling them wide-con at $100-$300 but IQ sucks. Go read up those thread.

 

[FongAlv]

hey dennis, thanks for the detailed reply and yup I'm aware of those converters sold by shops almost everywhere(including reputable shops). For a while I was even quite tempted for one labeled "HD DSLR Pro" going for ~S$150(67mm), but I now know better after going thru the threads here.

One more question out of curiosity tho, if I were to TRY on one of those 0.25X 180 degree coverage fisheye lenses, would I get the 180 coverage even after zooming in? This was what I was considering initially because of how we usually zoom in a little to overcome the vignetting, so technically there would be no vignetting and yet an increased coverage.

 

[denniskee]

One more question out of curiosity tho, if I were to TRY on one of those 0.25X 180 degree coverage fisheye lenses, would I get the 180 coverage even after zooming in? This was what I was considering initially because of how we usually zoom in a little to overcome the vignetting, so technically there would be no vignetting and yet an increased coverage.

i dont understand, why zoom in when u use wide con? u wanted it to be wide right? thats why some compact P&S has a option in the manual to set the camera to "wide con" mode, in this mode u cant zoom. see the discussion

Panasonic LX3 & Wide Con
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597699&highlight=wide+angle+conveter+on+lx3