Hey, all:

Need to get a wide angle lens for my TRV25. Sony proivdes a 0.6X Wide Conversion Lens (VCL-0630S) and a 0.7X High Grade Wide Angle Lens (VCL-HG0730). I was told the high grade one can minimize the distortion and offers twice the detail at the edge, but it is $80 more from B&H.com. So is it really worth to spend extra $80 for this high grade lens? Is the effect of VCL-0630S acceptable? Anyone compared these two?

Thanks a lot,

Spend $100 and get yourself a good Raynox HD series lens instead.

raynox.com

You can see pix and videos for yourself there.

-Ken

Make sure that the lens you buy has zoom through. You don't want to manually focus...

I bought the cheaper 0630S and it's good enough for me but I can see sometimes some soft edges (but my guess only at certain narrow angle). It also has some lens flare but I think it's unavoidable and not a problem for me.

I found the cheaper Sony to be quite adequate. I compared a Raynox that had a slightly narrow angle of view (.7x), but the barrel distortion on the Raynox was worse than on the Sony at equivalent coverage, so I returned the Raynox and kept the Sony.

Here's a link to the comparison:

http://home.earthlink.net/~olddigiman/lenscompare.jpg

Did you compare apples with apples?

Raynox and Sony make various level of quality and models.

What models (and price) did you try out? I'm curious.

Thanks!

-Ken

The Sony sells for $60 and the Raynox for $75 at B&H Photo, so it's pretty much an apples to apples comparison on price. The link shows the model numbers.

Ah, yes, the Raynox DVM models. I forgot that is the cheapy one. I would have gotten a HD6600 series for around $100, but if the cheaper Sony does what you want, cool. Guess Sony makes a better cheapy model.

-Ken

I just purchased & received in 3 days the Raynox HD 5000 PRO wide angle conversion lens for my TRV-38 & it works great for the
$106.95 shipped price. Purchased from Bug Eye Digital.
BugEyeDigital.com
Only complaint is that even though it specifies "FULL" zoom feature, it actually starts the full zoom from the converted wide angle focal length to less than the the normal telephoto end of the scale w/o wide angle conversion lens attached. It's good enough for what I need it for as far as focal lengths though.
I "DO" like the .5 ratio better than Sony's .6 & .7 available choices.

Now if I could only find a quality external mic that carries the frequency of 50 hz or lower "&" attaches to the hot shoe!
I'm doing music concerts & NEED that bottom end!

Bob

Sounds like you wanted .5 angle for more of a semi fisheye effect???

-Ken

Ken -

Size was a big concern for me - the cheap Sony is only 2" in diameter compared to the Raynox 6600, which is 3". Not to mention that I was looking to spend as little as possible .

I didn't notice a "fish-eye" effect really, more of an extreme wide angle or just a bit more of the stage to fit in from the 1st row when you're only a few feet from the stage.
I haven't compared the focal length to my 35 mm set-up yet, but will do that shortly. I can then give a better summation of its approximate focal length @ the wide end. I'm not noticing any more barrel distortion than a normal 20 mm wide angle wouldn't produce also. For the $$ it seems quite good actually.

Bob

I'm thinking of getting one of these Raynox wide-angle converters also. I'd be interested if someone who has one could do a comparison like the one above in this thread, but with the more expensive ($100) Raynox.

A side benefit for me is that the higher-end Raynox has 62mm thread on the side that doesn't mate with the camera, and I have some very nice B+W 62mm filters for a digital still camera already. Hopefully there won't be any vignetting if I only add one of these.

The Sony's don't have this end threaded, right?

Bob, does this Raynox model come with a usable lens cap, and what camcorder are you using? Also, assuming you're using one of the Sony's with 30mm threads, how far does this contraption stick out with the 30mm to 37mm step-up ring attached? Any chance you could post a picture somewhere showing it attached?

Thanks!

Troy....

I have the Sony TRV-38.
I've been using a Hoya Circular Polirizer filter as an attachment to the Raynox HD 5000 PRO wide angle conversion lens. Also use a Skylight filter as an attachment to protect the front element all the time. I've haven't seen any signs of vignetting yet.
I would think the Sony would have the threaded front element also as this is usually standard.
The Raynox comes w/ a standard front lens cap like regular 35 mm lens'. The Raynox comes w/ an assortment of threaded attachment rings for different size threads on camcorders. You need to remove the supplied & attach the size needed for your particular camera. I've attached a photo of my TRV-38 w/ the Raynox lens attached for a comparison on lens extension.
Yes, it extends & is rather bulky but it's esential IMO & it looks a bit more professional to the curiousity seekers.
Theoretically, the approximate focal length of the Sony TRV-38 w/ the Raynox wide angle lens attached should be about 25 mm w/ the .5 specification, but in actuality it's about 28 - 30mm I would guess. I did some focal length comparisons between the Sony TRV-38 & my 35mm camera lens' & it's difficult to compare because the horizontal & vertical views within the viewfinder of each set-up are somewhat different. They're not identical & the barrel distortion within the Raynox attached to the Sony TRV-38 is more apparent in viewing than a 24mm lens from a 35mm camera. I don't see this as a hinderance as it's not so pronounced that it would cause problems unless you are looking for true aspect ratio within an architectural project. The slight bowing @ the edges is only the slightest & it's maybe bordering a slight fish-eye effect w/ certain feilds of view & subjects.

I'll be doing some filming w/ the set-up this weekend & will then get a true test to judge by.

Hope this helps....
Have a great day!

Bob

Attached Images

 

Bob - thanks so much for the information and the picture! It looks larger than I thought it would, but I guess I can live with it. I agree that it's necessary, even more so with the 50mm wide-angle limit of the TRV38.

Neither of the Sony (30mm rear thread) wide angle lenses are front threaded for a filter.