Does anyone know if the older Sony VCL-0637H lens will work with the HC1/A1U?

Does anyone know if the older Sony VCL-0637H lens will work with the HC1/A1U?

It will work, but the corners of the picture will not be very sharp.

I used the VCL-0637H lens with my Digital8 and then continued using it when I bought my HC1. It works with the camera but the lens is a piece of crap. At $15 you get what you pay for. The picture is VERY blurry around edges. Don't bother with it.

Rick,
I'm really curious...where did you find the VCL-0637H for $15.00? Or did you mean...Don't waste a $15.00 tape using it.

Bill,
Check out this frame grab taken with the A1U and the VCL-0637H conversion lens and see what they mean about the blurred corners. It's very annoying indeed...

Ah, for some reason I thought I paid $15 for the lens. I think I paid more like $50. $15 or 50, it's still not worth the time with an A1 or HC1.

I would have to agree!

I have an HC1.

I bought my VCL-0637H on eBay for $20 (including shipping) since I don't have the $$ to spend on the more expensive (but worth it) Wide Angle lenses from Sony.

Got what I paid for! Ha!

The edges will smear.

If you are using it for home video and/or things that don't require the type of quality the HC1 or A1U can give you then use the lens.
But if that's the case, why would you have one of those cams in the first place!

Anyway, in my opinion, get the lens if you can't afford a better one or just save up for a lens like the Sony VCL-HG0737Y

Check out the Raynox wideangle lens too. Some say they are better than the Sony Y lens in terms of glass quality and color aberrations.

Who says so? I have the Raynox 0.5 (hd500pro) and it's good but not great, some smoothing in the corners.

"Who says so? I have the Raynox 0.5 (hd500pro) and it's good but not great, some smoothing in the corners."
I second that Mikko. The Raynox HD-5005PRO is nice and wide at 0.5x. The image is very good at full wide, but as you zoom the corners become quite fuzzy. The more you zoom the greater the portion of the image that is blurry. It is suppose to be a full zoom thru, and must be cause the center of the image stays in focus. The Sony - Y lens is only 0.7x, but stays sharp throughout the image area at all levels of zoom.

Don't know about the zoom-through capabilities of the Raynox, but I was told they are better when in focus than the Y lens because of superior glass, so less color aberrations or something. This is unconfirmed on my part. I only have the Y lens.

I have the Raynox HD3030PRO for my HC1.

At full wideangle it gives a very sharp image (although with considerable curvilinear distortion). Unfortunately, as soon as you begin to zoom in the edges go soft.

Don't know about the zoom-through capabilities of the Raynox, but I was told they are better when in focus than the Y lens because of superior glass, so less color aberrations or something. This is unconfirmed on my part. I only have the Y lens.


The Raynox is FULL ZOOM THROUGH, but even their spec sheet only lists sharpness "at the center." All lenses-even the one built on the camera are sharper at the center then they are at the edges. However, with a good lens the difference is not noticeable. Any "accessory" screw on lens will not perform as good as a prime lens. My Raynox is very sharp at full wide, but as you zoom the lack of sharpness at the edges becomes significant and progressively moves to fill more of the image as you zoom. This is not because I'm not maintaining focus or a loss of focus - cause the center is still sharp. At full zoom only the center of the image is sharp, the rest is VERY blurry. Because of this I recently purchased the Sony "Y" lens (don't recall the full model #). I have only played with it a little bit, but it seems to maintain a much sharper image across the frame when you zoom with it. Hope that clearifies what I meant in my previous post. Have a Great Day :) - PK

From the way you describe it, I wouldn't call the Raynox a full-zoom through lens then (unless that's the technical definition of it). From how I've understood it, if the picture gets noticeably blurry (or blurry) on the sides as you zoom in more, then it's not full-zoom through. The Y lens doesn't get noticeably blurry at any zoom position so I consider it a full-zoom through lens. I'm not really disagreeing or agreeing with you on the quality of the Raynox lens - I'm just saying that someone on this board once said that the Raynox was better, but I don't remember who, so I thought I'd throw that out and for those interested, they could do a search on it.

But we are comparing the hd5005 which is a 0.5x lens. Not a 0.7x. It is less sturdy than the 0.7x wides.

From the way you describe it, I wouldn't call the Raynox a full-zoom through lens then (unless that's the technical definition of it). From how I've understood it, if the picture gets noticeably blurry (or blurry) on the sides as you zoom in more, then it's not full-zoom through. The Y lens doesn't get noticeably blurry at any zoom position so I consider it a full-zoom through lens. I'm not really disagreeing or agreeing with you on the quality of the Raynox lens - I'm just saying that someone on this board once said that the Raynox was better, but I don't remember who, so I thought I'd throw that out and for those interested, they could do a search on it.

Hi Alex,

I have had other lenses that were not zoom thru and when you tried to zoom the image became blurry everywhere - including the center of the image. I love the .5x magnification of the Raynox. On a Windjammer sailing ship, the .5x Raynox enabled me to get all 3 mast-with all those white sails against the deep blue sky - a great shot and it is very sharp. I could not get all that in with the .7x Sony. If you keep it near the wide end its a great lens. I'm sure some of the blurring is do to the limits of optical design - ie its harder to make a .5x versus a .7x. I tried to keep the lens clean, but some of it may have been due to salt spray. If you can - try shooting some footage with the different lenses/focal lengths to see which one fits your needs best. Good Luck - PK

I use an Raynox HD5005 pro on my HC1 too: I confirm that from 0.5 to 90/95% of the max. full zoom, the focus is kept correctly and all the picture stays sharp. After, the borders become obviously less sharp than the center.

But even if a Sony x0.7 (VCL-HG0737X or Y model) is perfect at any zoom position, I will not change my Raynox: it is not only x0.5, instead of x0.7 for the Sony's models, but it weighs only 110g against... 320g for the Sony's ones. At the end of the day in action without a tripod, you fill the difference!

The Raynox HD5005 stays now full time attached to my HC1...