Wide Angle Lens Converter for GL / XM

[Oskar We]

First of all i just want to apologize if the things i ask has already been talked about a million times (And that my english sucks! :D )

I bought a GL2 cam a few weeks ago (actually a XM2, i live in Sweden) Anyway, i´ve realized that i need:
1) A microphone
2) A wide angel lens

I want a small microphone that works great when shooting documentarys (you know like following a guy and interviewing him while his walking around in a mall or something)
I´ll be handling all things on my own (no crew) and there fore i want a microphone that i just can attatch to the cam and then know that it will be a good sound. No fuzz!
I´ve been suggested to buy the Sennheiser MKE-300 but i think it´s to big! I need a smaller one...

The wide angel lens i just want one thats good but costs a litter less. I don´t really want to spend all that money that the WD-58H costs.

Would be great if you could help me, and perhaps give me a suggestion or two about other things that would be great to have with my cam.
Thanks!

[Brian Miller]

Hey Oskar,

Your English is fine!

I just picked up a used Canon WD-58 on Ebay for $100. It didn't come with the lens hood, but I can spend the money on that one when and if I ever need it. I have seen them sell there for even less.

There are other manufacturers of accessory lenses for these cameras, but many of them are not as good as the Canon, and you will see the difference in your footage.

Regarding microphones, there are no easy answers. I have an Azden SGM-1x shotgun, which works pretty well. Not perfect at all, but I always seem to think that there is a better solution than I have to use at the moment.

The Sennheiser is another moderately priced shotgun, which I haven't used, but I assume its going to give similar results. I expect that a shotgun mic is the best solution for the situation you described. These microphones need to be pretty long. You can probably find a smaller one than the MKE-300, but keep in mind that they make them in that shape and size for a good reason.

I have recently been shooting a documentary in which the interviewer has been holding a Shure SM-58 vocal mic, and mixing that with my Azden Shotgun for ambient sound. The difference in sound quality is HUGE, versus just using the shotgun!

I can only assume that a really expensive shotgun is going to give you better results than these ones. Maybe a really expensive one would be smaller. I haven't used them, so I can't give you specific advice.

Good luck!

[Oskar We]

Thanks for your answer!

Oh, i forgot to say that i would prefer a microphone with mini-tele so i don´t need to buy that XLR-thing also!

How about the Sony ECM-MS908? Or will that be worthless for me?

[Brian Miller]

My personal opinion is that it is better to go with an XLR microphone, so when you expand to two microphones, connect to a mixer, etc. in the future, it will still be usable. You will definitely need to have an adapter to connect the XLR to the camera. You can go with the box that Canon makes (MA-300, which uses up the hot shoe on top of the camera), the nice Beachtek adapter (which I am sorry I didn't know about before I bought the MA-300), or get a cable converter from XLR to 3.5mm. Shure makes one - the A96F. This was all well discussed in the Audio section several months back.

Look at the following thread...

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22353

[Oskar We]

Yeah a cable converter from XLR to 3.5mm would be a solution...So now when i got the cable, all i need is the microphone... :D

[Oskar We]

How about the SGM-X? I don´t even need an adapter for that one

[Chris Rieman]

I added a Canon DM-50 mike not long ago. Very pleased with it and a simple dump into the hot shoe. I dub a lot of track over camcorder sound so mostly I need a directional for interviews or specific sound where Im "filming" the sound. I.E, autmobile exhausts, etc. It works well for the tasks I ask.

On the wide angle lens, I just picked one up but have a newbie question on it. Its a 0.42X AF Wide Angle. Just fitted adaptor ring and screwed onto front of GL2. The view is spectacular but Im getting the black halo from the lens border hood. Not really a hood, just the end of the lens. At full wide angle, the halo is as like a black circle around my footage, and shady at best at full zoom.

Im not using is with the GL2 hood on. Im sure Im doing something stupid here. I just put the WA Lens on an hour ago. What do I need to do to remove the black halo?

[Oskar We]

So the problem with buying a lens for $40 on eBay might be that the picture will be all messed up? just a useless thing to buy at a low price maybe?
Or is it a problem also with more expensive models like the WD-58H?

[Tom Hardwick]

Some good replies here folks. The danger of buying any lens of ebay is that it might be damaged. Any slight marks to the front element will show up badly on footage shot through it as the depth of field will be huge and the front element can be actually in focus in the sunshine. Beware.

I'd also post a warning about the Sennheiser MKE 300 Oskar. Make sure you get the 'D' (for digital) version as there's a lot of hum with the cheaper version. Sennheisser Sweden can do the internal modification for you if you get the original version. I know you think it's too big, but it'll be better than the Sony 908. The 300 is mono only, you realise?

Chris - you're seeing vignetting - a very common occurance with powerful wide-angle converters that are physically too small. The big 58mm filter thread and the VAP OIS on the front of the GL2 mean that you need big glass to give a 0.42x magnification of the image. I'd go with Brian's WD 58 suggestion - this is a fine lens, though not very powerful.

Oscar - look at the Raynox site - they make fine wide-angle converters.

tom.

[Oskar We]

OK, help me with this:
A camshop here in Sweden sell two type of lenses.
One has "0,7" and the otherone has "0,3", which one of these two is the "best"? I mean, which one gives the most wide angel, 0,3 or 0,7?

[Trond Saetre]

The 0,3 is more wide angle than the 0,7.

[Tom Hardwick]

The figure is a multiplication factor Oskar. So if you have a 6 mm to 60 mm 10x zoom, a 0,5x converter will change this to a 3 mm to 30 mm zoom.

If you're thinking of buying one of these lenses (0,3x or 0,7x) then I would suggest that you try them on your camcorder before you buy. The 0,3x will distort straight lines a lot, whereas the 0,7x will only distort them a little. The 0,3x is much more likely to vignette the image too - and give you black corners to your frame.

tom.

[Darko Flajpan]

I found on BHphoto Kenko KR-W075 58mm 0,75mm wide adapter for 79,95$. It sounds much, much cheaper then Canon ones. I need wide for my XM2, so I am considering this Kenko. Any experience with this lens, and are they zoom-through?

[Terry Lyons]

Hi Darko, We just purchased what I think was a Kenko wd for my sons 1 chip canon. They said it was a zoom through. At about 1/3 of the way through everything gets very soft. We also bought a WD-58 canon lens for our GL-2 and it is definately zoom through and does a great job. The Kenyo does a great job at wide but thats all. The cost for the Kenyo was about 50 or 75 dollars and I think the WD-58 was around 300 dollars.

[Darko Flajpan]

Thank you, Terry. I'll go with Kenko. 1/3 of the way seems ok for framing purposes. I am planning to use wide converter on few occasions anyway, not the whole time. For that purpose 75$ is simply a great price.