Wide angle lens: Kenko, Vitacon, Tiffen..

[Damien]

Any ideas which of the cheaper wide angle lens is best for digital photographing?? As for price: $80 kenko (58mm, CP); $90 Vitacon (58mm, AlanPhoto);...
ANy comments?

 

[mpenza]

none are good. get them only if you don't mind degradation in image quality and distortion.

 

[Damien]

well, okie, thanks. Just thinking whether to buy and try a 2nd hand Tiffen one. Quite cheap @ 45 only,but maybe have to consider now.
ANymore comments from the other club members and friends?

 

[Ah_Seng]

Originally posted by mpenza
none are good. get them only if you don't mind degradation in image quality and distortion.

Hi mpenza,

may i know why do you say that none are good?

Is there any other brands that you recommend then or do you mean wide angle lens in general are no good?

Hope to learn something from you.....thanks!

 

[taicw]

At the moment, I'm using the a vitacon 0.5x 58mm on my Olyc2100, I do get vignetting at the corners and to be picky, I find the edges slightly soft. But it's cheap so can't really expect much.

I had a glance at the kenko, found it almost identical in make to the vitacon, not sure what's the difference in quality exactly.

If you're interested I can always let you try a few shots with the converter and let you decide if you can live with the photo quality.

 

[Damien]

Thanks Mpenza and taicw for the advice, think I consider buying a better quality wide angle lens...

 

[mpenza]

Originally posted by Damien
well, okie, thanks. Just thinking whether to buy and try a 2nd hand Tiffen one. Quite cheap @ 45 only,but maybe have to consider now.
ANymore comments from the other club members and friends?

Tiffen Megaplus series are ok. Not too sure about the other series.

 

[mpenza]

Originally posted by eagles_creek
Hi mpenza,

may i know why do you say that none are good?

Is there any other brands that you recommend then or do you mean wide angle lens in general are no good?

Hope to learn something from you.....thanks!

Many (cheap ones) are meant for video cameras (which have much lower resolution compared to the MP digital cameras). Perhaps, I should qualify to say that Kenko, Tiffen do make good ones but these are usually priced at a premium.

Here's a link to some discussion on converters for digital cameras:
http://kazutoku.cside21.com/G1andG2/report1_eng3.htm