HV10 comparision standard / Raynox HD-5050PRO lens

John Hinkey · May 25th, 2007, 02:39 PM

Bert - What thread was this (the link only is the image) and what lens is this?
- John

Bert Na · May 25th, 2007, 03:12 PM

John - It's the Century Optics 0.55x fixed lens. I posted the link to the thread earlier but here is is again: <link>

John Hinkey · May 25th, 2007, 04:10 PM

Thanks Bert - I wish the photo example was a little better. I'm not so concerned about the barrel distortion (after all it would be about a 24mm equivalent FL for 35mm film), but rather the corner sharpness and CA. Even my 20/2.8 Nikor has barrel distortion, but it's really wide so I'm not dissapointed. - John

Bert Na · May 25th, 2007, 04:21 PM

I agree John, the posted sample is too small but the poster did say that there is some loss of sharpness at the edges, although it doesn't look as bad as my lens. I just ordered a Sony 0.7x adapter that's supposedly designed for their HD camcorders, but I have tempered expectations at this point... This will be my last and final attempt at getting a WA adapter.

John Hinkey · May 25th, 2007, 04:55 PM

Bert - There's this thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...t=75774&page=2) where Haywood Giles used a Raynox HD-6600PRO49 49mm on his HV10 and the pictures actually look pretty good. His picture with the zoom + WA appears to be the wrong one (same as the zoom without the WA). The 43mm version may be just as good.

I'm considering going this route as this lens is $119 @ B&H and is a mm or so wider than the Canon 0.7x and is a zoom through. Another option would be to get the Raynox 5050Pro and just not use it at the widest angle. It would be good if someone took some picts at various zoom/aperature settings to see where the corners get soft on the 5050Pro.
- John

Tom Hardwick · May 26th, 2007, 04:51 AM

Well - you would get excited about it if that was what you were after. The thing that bothers me about barrel distortion (apart from the obvious bowing of door frames as you track room to room) is that it barrels *everything* you photograph. In my case that includes the bride and her mother, and that 'thickening in the middle' is not an attractive trait.

If you shoot the side of a house with a barrel distorting lens you'll know what I mean - it appears as if the building is full of compressed air, and is about to burst. So too with people.

tom.

Tom Hardwick · May 26th, 2007, 05:12 AM

The Raynox 6600PRO is one of the least barrel distorting converter lenses I know, but Raynox are quick to point out that the image does soften noticeably beyond the half-way mark. So if you have a 12x zoom, consider it a 6X with the 6600 in place.

I suspect it's because one of the three elements used in its construction is an aspheric. The 6600 I had a couple of years back only seemed to have a single coating rather than the multi-coaring of much more expensive lenses, so it's best kept well hooded when you're out there in the sunshine.

So you want to see how much your camera+attachment lens distorts? Simple. Attach the wide-converter, zoom to wide angle, leave in auto focus and auto exposure and approach your flat screen TV. Go close enough so the TV's mask is just inside your v'finder frame, and what do you see?

tom.

John Hinkey · May 26th, 2007, 11:04 AM

Well, I'm going to order the Raynox HD-6600PRO43 (I see no reason to go with the 49mm threaded version as it is the same lens as the 43 - same external dimensions and front element diameter and weight) as soon as B&H opens up for business today. I'll shoot some stills and try to share some samples. I may get a HD-5050Pro later on just for the extra wide capability and not use it wide open to limit the corner problems.

- John

Oliver Reik · May 26th, 2007, 11:31 AM

Hi!

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hinkey

[...] I may get a HD-5050Pro later on just for the extra wide capability and not use it wide open to limit the corner problems. [...]

Zooming in does not have as much effect on the corner problem as you might think. Closing the shutter as fas as possible reduces the effect pretty much, but to make it totally disappear, you have to almost zoom in as far as the widest postion of the standard lens.

Maybe I can take tomorrow some sample shots, where I zoom in little steps.

Right now I help myself by simply not using the 37/37mm spacer. However this is a solution I am not really happy with - I can't even screw the filter in for more than a 4/5 of a single turn before it heavily touches the lens cover of the HV-10. I also think the coating of the lens will pretty soon suffer because of this treatment. :-(

Right now I am in Tokyo - tomorrow I want to go to Akihabara, what is something like electronic-shoppers-paradise. I hope to find a 37/37 spacer that is slim enough to solve the problem or I would go for a Raynox 6600PRO or a Sony or Canon WA lens.

Regards, Oliver

Oliver Reik · May 27th, 2007, 04:28 AM

Hi!

I have just bought a Canon WD-H37C.
As I thought the comparision between the WD-H43C and the Raynox HD-5050PRO might also be interesting for others, I have started a new thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=687043

Regards,

Oliver

Bruno Donnet · May 27th, 2007, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver Reik

I have just bought a Canon WD-H43C.

You say that you have bought a WD-H37C in the referenced thread!
Please, confirm which one you have finally bought...

The flowers are very nice... but not usefull to appreciate the barrel distortion of the Canon WA: may I ask you some photos of buildings, or something else permitting to see vertical and horizontal lines?

Oliver Reik · May 27th, 2007, 07:44 AM

Hi Bruno!

[QUOTE=Bruno Donnet;687090]You say that you have bought a WD-H37C in the referenced thread!
Please, confirm which one you have finally bought...
[...] [QUOTE]

I am sorry - I bought a WD-H37C after having a look at the 43mm HD-6600PRO with a 43/37mm dowconverter... ;-)

I can also add some pictures of buildings, but I can't tell when I have the time to do this. I might get next weekend until I find the time.

Regards,

Oliver

Bert Na · May 27th, 2007, 12:52 PM

I would expect that the Canon will do fine in terms of barrel distortion thanks to its smaller wide angle factor, 0.7x compared to 0.5x for the Raynox. The sample shots show that both converters yield comparable quality, the next question is whether 0.7x provides sufficient wide angle coverage.

Oliver Reik · May 27th, 2007, 04:01 PM

@Bert:

I will answer your post in the other thread to keep it straight. Otherwise it willl get confusing.

Regards, Oliver

John Hinkey · May 27th, 2007, 06:00 PM

Regarding the Raynox HD-6600Pro - I bought the 43mm thread version last night from B&H and should get it some time this week. I'll try to post some stills next weekend. If this is too soft in the corners I'll probably get the WD-H37c and then get a Raynox 5050 or try the single element Century optics that will only be on for wide shots.

May 27th, 2007, 04:28 AM	#40
Oliver Reik Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mettmann / Germany Posts: 96	Hi! I have just bought a Canon WD-H37C. As I thought the comparision between the WD-H43C and the Raynox HD-5050PRO might also be interesting for others, I have started a new thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=687043 Regards, Oliver Last edited by Oliver Reik; May 27th, 2007 at 07:42 AM.

May 25th, 2007, 02:39 PM	#31
John Hinkey New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle Washington Posts: 15	Bert - What thread was this (the link only is the image) and what lens is this? - John

May 25th, 2007, 03:12 PM	#32
Bert Na Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Milpitas, CA Posts: 47	John - It's the Century Optics 0.55x fixed lens. I posted the link to the thread earlier but here is is again: <link>

May 25th, 2007, 04:10 PM	#33
John Hinkey New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle Washington Posts: 15	Thanks Bert - I wish the photo example was a little better. I'm not so concerned about the barrel distortion (after all it would be about a 24mm equivalent FL for 35mm film), but rather the corner sharpness and CA. Even my 20/2.8 Nikor has barrel distortion, but it's really wide so I'm not dissapointed. - John

May 25th, 2007, 04:21 PM	#34
Bert Na Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Milpitas, CA Posts: 47	I agree John, the posted sample is too small but the poster did say that there is some loss of sharpness at the edges, although it doesn't look as bad as my lens. I just ordered a Sony 0.7x adapter that's supposedly designed for their HD camcorders, but I have tempered expectations at this point... This will be my last and final attempt at getting a WA adapter.

May 25th, 2007, 04:55 PM	#35
John Hinkey New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle Washington Posts: 15	Bert - There's this thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...t=75774&page=2) where Haywood Giles used a Raynox HD-6600PRO49 49mm on his HV10 and the pictures actually look pretty good. His picture with the zoom + WA appears to be the wrong one (same as the zoom without the WA). The 43mm version may be just as good. I'm considering going this route as this lens is $119 @ B&H and is a mm or so wider than the Canon 0.7x and is a zoom through. Another option would be to get the Raynox 5050Pro and just not use it at the widest angle. It would be good if someone took some picts at various zoom/aperature settings to see where the corners get soft on the 5050Pro. - John

May 26th, 2007, 04:51 AM	#36
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Well - you would get excited about it if that was what you were after. The thing that bothers me about barrel distortion (apart from the obvious bowing of door frames as you track room to room) is that it barrels everything you photograph. In my case that includes the bride and her mother, and that 'thickening in the middle' is not an attractive trait. If you shoot the side of a house with a barrel distorting lens you'll know what I mean - it appears as if the building is full of compressed air, and is about to burst. So too with people. tom.

May 26th, 2007, 05:12 AM	#37
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	The Raynox 6600PRO is one of the least barrel distorting converter lenses I know, but Raynox are quick to point out that the image does soften noticeably beyond the half-way mark. So if you have a 12x zoom, consider it a 6X with the 6600 in place. I suspect it's because one of the three elements used in its construction is an aspheric. The 6600 I had a couple of years back only seemed to have a single coating rather than the multi-coaring of much more expensive lenses, so it's best kept well hooded when you're out there in the sunshine. So you want to see how much your camera+attachment lens distorts? Simple. Attach the wide-converter, zoom to wide angle, leave in auto focus and auto exposure and approach your flat screen TV. Go close enough so the TV's mask is just inside your v'finder frame, and what do you see? tom.

May 26th, 2007, 11:04 AM	#38
John Hinkey New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle Washington Posts: 15	Well, I'm going to order the Raynox HD-6600PRO43 (I see no reason to go with the 49mm threaded version as it is the same lens as the 43 - same external dimensions and front element diameter and weight) as soon as B&H opens up for business today. I'll shoot some stills and try to share some samples. I may get a HD-5050Pro later on just for the extra wide capability and not use it wide open to limit the corner problems. - John

May 27th, 2007, 07:44 AM	#42
Oliver Reik Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mettmann / Germany Posts: 96	Hi Bruno! [QUOTE=Bruno Donnet;687090]You say that you have bought a WD-H37C in the referenced thread! Please, confirm which one you have finally bought... [...] [QUOTE] I am sorry - I bought a WD-H37C after having a look at the 43mm HD-6600PRO with a 43/37mm dowconverter... ;-) I can also add some pictures of buildings, but I can't tell when I have the time to do this. I might get next weekend until I find the time. Regards, Oliver

May 27th, 2007, 12:52 PM	#43
Bert Na Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Milpitas, CA Posts: 47	I would expect that the Canon will do fine in terms of barrel distortion thanks to its smaller wide angle factor, 0.7x compared to 0.5x for the Raynox. The sample shots show that both converters yield comparable quality, the next question is whether 0.7x provides sufficient wide angle coverage.

May 27th, 2007, 04:01 PM	#44
Oliver Reik Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mettmann / Germany Posts: 96	@Bert: I will answer your post in the other thread to keep it straight. Otherwise it willl get confusing. Regards, Oliver

May 27th, 2007, 06:00 PM	#45
John Hinkey New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle Washington Posts: 15	Regarding the Raynox HD-6600Pro - I bought the 43mm thread version last night from B&H and should get it some time this week. I'll try to post some stills next weekend. If this is too soft in the corners I'll probably get the WD-H37c and then get a Raynox 5050 or try the single element Century optics that will only be on for wide shots.