Century Optics .7x Wide Angle for Z1/FX1 at DVinfo.net

Whit Wales · May 5th, 2005, 01:00 PM

Anyone purchased the .7x Century Optics Converter?
Worth the beans?
Any weight and balancing issues with it?
Any other wide angle zoom through one might recommend?

Whit

John Beale · May 5th, 2005, 04:11 PM

I have the Century Optics 0.6x wide angle lens designed for the DVX100. It "almost" works on the FX1, in that the lens itself is the right size, but Sony's bayonet mount is just different enough from Panasonic's that the lens mount will not actually fit on the camera. However if you just hold the Century in front of the FX1's lens it appears to work ok, the image looks fine on the viewfinder with no obvious vignetting. There is of course some barrel distortion. You can focus through roughly 2/3 of the FX1's zoom range, just like with the DVX100. I don't know what the steady-shot implications would be, and I'm sure image sharpness and chromatic abberation is affected to some degree, but it looked ok in my very casual 10-second test.

Barry Green · May 5th, 2005, 04:37 PM

If you decide to use that lens exclusively on your FX1, I believe Century can exchange the bayonet mount for an FX1-compatible mount for not much expense...

May 5th, 2005, 01:00 PM	#1
Whit Wales New Boot Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: United States Posts: 18	Century Optics .7x Wide Angle for Z1/FX1 Anyone purchased the .7x Century Optics Converter? Worth the beans? Any weight and balancing issues with it? Any other wide angle zoom through one might recommend? Whit

May 5th, 2005, 04:11 PM	#2
John Beale Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: San Francisco Posts: 74	Century 0.6x for DVX100 "almost" works on FX1 I have the Century Optics 0.6x wide angle lens designed for the DVX100. It "almost" works on the FX1, in that the lens itself is the right size, but Sony's bayonet mount is just different enough from Panasonic's that the lens mount will not actually fit on the camera. However if you just hold the Century in front of the FX1's lens it appears to work ok, the image looks fine on the viewfinder with no obvious vignetting. There is of course some barrel distortion. You can focus through roughly 2/3 of the FX1's zoom range, just like with the DVX100. I don't know what the steady-shot implications would be, and I'm sure image sharpness and chromatic abberation is affected to some degree, but it looked ok in my very casual 10-second test.

May 5th, 2005, 04:37 PM	#3
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	If you decide to use that lens exclusively on your FX1, I believe Century can exchange the bayonet mount for an FX1-compatible mount for not much expense...