testing gl2 low light w/wide angle

[Rob Jacobs]

has anyone done any low light testing with a wide angle adapter on their camera vs. the normal lens? It seems to me it would gather more light and help shooting outdoors in late and early sunlight.

[Michael Connor]

Not tried it, will be interesting to find out. But someone told me that when you put more glass on the camera, ie another lens, it reduces the amount of something, cant remember wether they said it was sharpness, or light...getting into the camera. anyone else any idea?

[Frank Granovski]

Yes, that seems to be the case. But I don't think that the wide angle adaptor will steal very much light.

It seems to me it would gather more light and help shooting outdoors in late and early sunlight.

This isn't correct.

[Ken Tanaka]

Wide-angle lenses gather more light by virtue of their larger width of view. That, however, does not affect low-light sensitivity of the camera, per se.

Also, yes, adding more glass to a lens does reduce the amount of light that reaches the ccd's. All glass refracts some light (measured by its "index of refraction"). That is, it scatters it rather than passing it. Additionally, despite the effectiveness of lens coatings, all lenses reflect some light rather than passing it.

So, in the end, the cumulative refractive and reflective properties of the camera's primary lens and an accessory lens (the wide-angle) conspire to producer somewhat of a zero-sum game.

Ex: If you are using a wide-angle adapter and frame a subject as you might without the adapter, you will actually be getting a slightly dimmer image than you would without the adapter.

[Rob Jacobs]

The reason I ask is because with other optics such as binoculars and scopes, any time you have a larger diameter objective lens you increase light transmission and overall lowlight capabilities. I figured the same would apply to an increase of light reaching the ccd of a video camera.