I am trying to figure out which to go with or Both, an Yes I know there is a difference between a WA and a fisheye as I have both for my SD cam but my fisheye is the Extreme and this .55 does not look nearly as Fisheye to me....I have not seen any real test footage with the Sony WA but I saw the great footage of the fisheye by Steve, Now inside the helicopter it did not seem the distortion or bubble affect was very present and only when used extremely close to the object (headlight) did it start to bubble out. So can someone provide some examples of each of these two at full wide compared to just the onboard lens?
Ideally I would have got the Century WA but it obviously is not reliable at this time... I would be using the attachment for a shot in the Grand Canyon and also a fight seen in a Barn... Any help or suggestions would be appreciated...

Hi Jason,

I have both and they are very different lens. The WA does a great job and the distortion is minimal. Some have said it is heavy but I don’t really notice the weight. Focus is easy and very sharp. Yes the sunshade is weird. But I will cut it off once the Red Rock Matte box is ready to ship.

The Century Fisheye is a great lens once you know the focus tricks. Keep the focus ring forward for auto and switch to Macro. I also keep the bottom switch on manual and the focus dials right in and is very sharp. I have a few clips with the fisheye but not the same scene with and without. But I will put a clip up in a few hours.

Buy both if you can afford it!

Thanks Paul, I am looking foward to the clips...

Jason I will have to downconvert the clips since Cox only lets me upload 10 mb at a time.

Anyone have a trick so I can upload full size clips with Cox.net?

Jason not sure what the problem is but it only accepts one of the files. I always have a problem uploading files it must be cox.net. I will try tomorrow when I have more time to get the fisheye up.

Thanks Paul

Jason this is not working the upload fails every time and it is only 1.6 MB.

I did a shoot yesterday and 90% was the Sony WA and Century Fisheye. Both lens worked great. I have one more job through Sunday then will be able to show you some footage.

send me a email and I will give you a link to some clips next week if you are interested.

Has anyone compared the Century .6 with the .55?

http://www.schneideroptics.com/Ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1474&IID=6368

http://www.schneideroptics.com/Ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1474&IID=6373

I'm leaning toward the .55, even though it costs a little more, because it is more of what I'm going for. It would, though, be nice to see footage of both, side by side.

I just ordered the .55 fisheye and it will be here on 7/30... :) The .6 WA has some issues from what others have said including Ryan from schneider optics and they have been allowing returns and are currenlty working on the issue, Someone correct me if I wam wrong but as far as I know the .6 will be re-released in the future without issues...

I just ordered the .55 fisheye and it will be here on 7/30... :) The .6 WA has some issues from what others have said including Ryan from schneider optics and they have been allowing returns and are currenlty working on the issue, Someone correct me if I wam wrong but as far as I know the .6 will be re-released in the future without issues...

The .6x only has one issue that we have discovered at a later date than previous posts. For some reason, when the image stabilizer is turned on with the EX1, our .6x wide angle adapter vignettes slightly and only in underscan when editing. TV safe viewing is just fine. The focus issues are non existant if you use the attachment properly. The camera must be in macro mode and either electronic manual focus or auto focus. The Sony EX1 has a full manual focus mode where you engage the gears of the Fujinon lens but then you lose macro for some reason that I can't figure out. The Century .6x requires macro mode to focus on the virtual image created by the adapter which then creates the wide angle image.

As far as effects of both lenses; I haven't had time to shoot our EX1 attachments but the general effect is the same with the Canon XH-A1 which I do have clips of both lenses. Click on the appropriate lens and then the 'Samples' tab to check out the footage of each lens. The .6x and HD Fisheye are the only applicable lenses here. The others are not representative of our adapters on the EX1.

http://www.schneideroptics.com/century/dv/xh-g1/xh-g1.htm

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Ryan I just used the Century Fisheye on my last job and the results are excellent. Thanks for such a great lens for the price!

Go here and look at the link on post #56 for a short clip with the fisheye.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=124549&page=4

[QUOTE=Paul Cronin;910128]Hi Jason,

But I will cut it off once the Red Rock Matte box is ready to ship.

Paul, I also have the Sony .8...it works well for me also. I plan to get the red rock soon. Do you have a plan about cutting off the sunshade?
Thanks, Craig

Craig well I did not purchase the Red Rock Box since they were so slow at getting back to me so I went with the indiFocus. The Box arrives today and I will see what has to be done to make it fit the WA it might fit just the way it is?

Craig well I did not purchase the Red Rock Box since they were so slow at getting back to me so I went with the indiFocus. The Box arrives today and I will see what has to be done to make it fit the WA it might fit just the way it is?

Thanks so much Paul...I am in the same position regarding delivery time. I really appreciate your feedback especially beacuase we have the samw WA adapter.
Best, Craig

Craig I will see if it fits today when the Box shows up and let you know. Since I am on the road early tomorrow for a job the next two weeks.

Sorry Craig the box just arrived and I am leaving in hours so it will have to wait till I come back.

First impressions of the Mattebox and follow focus is they are very nice for the price.

I look fwd to hearing from you when you return.
Best, Craig

Sorry Craig the box just arrived and I am leaving in hours so it will have to wait till I come back.

First impressions of the Mattebox and follow focus is they are very nice for the price.

How did the matte box work out Paul with the Sony .8?
Thanks, Craig

Hi Craig,

The trip I was on I did not use the EX1 I used the Sony SR12 and Helmet Cam for the job. Everything had to fit in a camel back pack while in the mountains.

As for the matte box and the wide angle I will have to wait until next week to try it out. I sent my EX1 back to Sony for a few warranty repairs. The ND switch fell into the camera, the LCD was crooked, and firmware update. Sony said the camera is shipping back from NJ on Thursday so early next week I will try out the WA and let you know.

Craig the came is scheduled to arrive today. I will check out the matte box with the WA today and take a few pictures.

Craig sorry to say the matte box does not fit with the wide angle. The matte box and focus ring also does not fit with my Zacuto rails/shoulder brace.

I am sending the unit back tomorrow.

Craig sorry to say the matte box does not fit with the wide angle. The matte box and focus ring also does not fit with my Zacuto rails/shoulder brace.

I am sending the unit back tomorrow.

Interesting. I was thinking of getting one for my EX3... I wonder what kind of rails would work?

Odd that it doesn't work with the zacutos...

Jeff I think the rails would work if you had the drop down fitting. The big problem for me was the Wide Angle lens diameter is too but for the box.

Jeff I think the rails would work if you had the drop down fitting. The big problem for me was the Wide Angle lens diameter is too but for the box.

Hi Paul, Thnaks for the feedback but sorry to hear the bad news. I will have to hold off for the Redrock which they proclaim will work with the sony .8. Best, Craig