I'm looking to get an "okay," inexpensive wide-angle lens for my Sony DCR-TRV11 minidv cam.

Can anyone recommend one, or where to look, what to expect?

I've been looking at the Sony VCL-0637S 37mm 0.6X wide angle, found it on eBay for real cheap.

One of the cheapest wide-angles I've just tested is the 'clip-on' 0,5X made by Raynox. It's small, light, cheap, sharp. Only two catches - it's only half zoom through and it barrel distorts (but don't they all?).

tom.

That is the cheap Sony 37mm wide angle lens, and I think you will find that it's pretty worthless. They are available at discount stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. too. Awhile back I found one of Sony's cheap 37mm telephoto lenses on the clearance table at a discount store for about $15. I figured there wasn't much to lose so I bought it. When I put it on the camera I found that the image was so soft and distorted that it wasn't even usable. Tossed it right into the trash... $15 wasted.

Unfortunately I think you will need to spend closer to $100 to get a decent wide angle adaptor lens. I'm not familiar with the TRV-11 or its optics. The cheap adaptors like the one you mentioned are aimed at people who use inexpensive camcorders and watch the results on not-so-great TV's where the optical defects won't be so noticeable.

We have discussed a variety of better wide angle adaptors with 37mm threads in the past. Here are some links to those discussions:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29139
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25964
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25890
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26119
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10273
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17282
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16383