Someone tell me the difference?! WA Adapters

[David Woodland]

Okay. I've noticed that people constantly talk bad about the raynox wide angle lens. My question is.. I've got the raynox .3x clip on lens and i rarely use it for my skate videos but when I do I never see a difference in the quality. Everyone on another skate messageboard i go to talks bad on it saying the quality is horrible when you use it and shouldn't use it at all. But seriously...from the clips I've filmed and looked at, they still look beautiful. Can someone PLEASE tell me what I am not seeing because this cheap $100 lens works perfect for me.

p.s. I know the glass is much cheaper than the century's but still, are those really worth it for what I'm doing.. (rollerblading videos)

[Frank Granovski]

Raynox make some very good adaptors (and some not so good ones). Read about them on the MX Forum. A lot of GL2 owners like the Canon adaptors.

[Barry Goyette]

You know, David...if you don't see much of a difference, then it probably isn't there. My guess is that if you put the two lenses head to head you might discern it, on the other hand, in the skateboard biz it seems like you have a little more rep if you have a little lowertech look, and perhaps if the raynox loses sharpness near the edges ( a typical defect in a lower quality lens) then you might be ahead in this market.

I once considered buying a "titanium" lens (really cheap) for the color and distortion abnormalities it would add to the picture...l've been on a few of the skateboard forums and seen the same opinion more than once, but considering it probably came from a 16 year old with a budget bigger than mine...I wouldn't put too much faith in it.

Barry

[Corey Sturmer]

I came here to post a topic about the WD-58H, and thought this would save everyone the trouble, but how does it compare, to say, the highest quality wide angle lense out? Does it offer a good wide shot, and does anyone have any comparison pictures? I got one in the mail coming, but I can't wait that long!

[Alan Tran]

there was an indepth review between the wd-58 and the century optics wide angle done on here...you can search for it

[Yow Siang]

Just bought a Vitacom 0.5 wide angle lens at $120 singapore dollars. It looks sharp all round the range. With visible barrel distortion at the widest end (i guess its the same for all wide adapter even canon's own?)

I though I had a very good buy, compared to S$300-S$350 for canon's orginal lens..

ys

[Harry Doyle]

hi,
the raynox mx3000 really doesn't look that bad. i had it for a few months before i broke the bank and got the century .3x fisheye. the century is a bit wider, with no vignetting, but the raynox certainly gets the job done, and doesn't look all that bad. you might want to throw a uv filter or two on the cam before you clip the raynox on to get the widest angle, though it will produce a little vignetting.

bottom line is it looks half decent, it's cheap, and it's not the end of the world if it gets hit by a board. i don't understand why people are constantly bashing this lens on the various skate sites i've read.

[Adrian Douglas]

Judging by the number of bad looking skate videos around I wouldn't put too much strength in the opinions of many of the people on many skate message boards. If the shots look good to you then your lens is probably not bad. Most of the guys knocking the lens probably don't know how to shoot properly anyway.

Why don't you try something different, shoot without a fisheye...shoot long, try a more cinematic look, shoot from up high anything but fisheye. It seems like every kid with a skateboard lately grabs whatever camera, throws on a fisheye lens and suddenly he's a skateboard filmmaker. It's really dragged the quality of skate videos down, not to mention the fact that skate videos used to be the cutting edge of action sports videos, now their a dime a dozen and all look the same.

[Harry Doyle]

it's true that the fisheye is overused in a lot of am videos, but i think it is a necessary staple of the video style. for shooting lines, i wouldn't use anything but a fisheye, and also gaps and rails a lot of the time too. now that i have a bit of experience shooting skateboarding, i like to shoot a lot more long lens than i used to, but i always have a fisheye on me.

[Ryan Krga]

I, not being a skateboarder, will have to disagree with you Adrian. I was very curious on how skateboard videos were coming along these days and decided to purchase a very praised skateboard movie entitled "Yeah Right!" by Girl Skateboards. The special effects in this video were amazing, along with the filming, fisheye and long lens shots. I highly recommend checking this DVD out.

[Adrian Douglas]

Ryan,

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every skate video is crap these days, there are still a few guys out their being creative. Skateboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and so many people are jumping on the bandwagon. The problem is that with the affordability of video gear quality and creativity seem to be going out the window in favour of a quick buck. Many of the videos on the market today look like the 'filmmaker' has simply thrown a fisheye on, set the camera to auto and pointed it at his mate boosting a stair gap or grinding a concrete step. Don't be one of those guys who slaps on a fisheye and sets to auto, push yourself to come up with something fresh.

I'm not against fisheyes either, I use a Canon 15mm fisheye for stills, I'm just saying try to be creative, try different lenses/focal lengths, if a fisheye is the best for a particular shot then use it, just don't overuse it. Skateboarding usually determines the style of actions sports anad it's a shame to see it dipping into mediocrity. You guys obviously feel the same as you are here asking questions to make your videos the best they can be. Good luck and remember to have fun.