Fascinating garage sale item optex lens at DVinfo.net

David Korb · January 2nd, 2004, 11:01 PM

The lady wanted a dollar for this lens, labeled as such “Optex hemispheric wide angle video lens”…this lens also had the following info stamped on it OVL 341…BUT made in Japan…now this lens is very interesting but who made it…??? It has a 58 mm mount and I was able to look through it with my Olympus 2100 uz and what a treat!!!…im really interested in this company…the lady had about 6 of them so I went back and bought all of em after looking at this one particular lens…im not sure how to mount the thing on my pdx10…but after looking at the amount of light this thing puts in front of the lens…and the snapshots I took with the Olympus I really want to experiment with this hunk of glass on the front of my Sony…if I can do it, ill bet it may be the best 10 dollars I’ve spent so far…I cant find one spot of information about this lens on the internet and the optexint.com site don’t list it…some other very wide angle lens made for the canon…1100 dollars plus…doubtful its even the same company…any ideas ???
Indecently I shot some doors while testing to see if it was going to act like a fish eye…nope…the doors were straight as an arrow…very odd piece of glass…must have added 35 percent field of view or MORE…and at least that much light

Chris Hour · January 3rd, 2004, 08:50 AM

Hi David,

Did a quick search and found no info. You said you bought the others that she had... ... are you interested in selling them?

Gee... if I gave you $10.00 for one you'd cover the cost of all of them and still make a tidy profit !!! ;-)

Please let me (and the group) know if you are interested in selling the extras. It's always fun to play with a new peice of glass.

Cheers

Chris

David Korb · January 4th, 2004, 08:21 AM

Very tempting offer there Chris…however after reading my post I miss represented an important factor…all the lenses were optex however a variety of sizes and focal lengths.
All were screw on adapters, 4 wide angle and 2 telephoto’s in the group. I’ve ordered a handful of adapters and may post a few examples of this hemispherical wide angle if anyone is interested. I still haven’t found this Japanese company and while the spelling is the same as its European counterpart…the logo is a bit different. I did some shooting with the Olympus again and found I could zoom just about half way or about 5x, I might be a redneck and just duct tape the thing on my Sony. There are no front threads to accept hood(it begs for a hood) or filters and its goinna look funny on the thing…but what the heck
About selling them however…I shoot with my 2 daughters who also have video and still cameras plus I shoot both video and digital stills, needless to say there will be no surplus of cheap knockoff lens adapters or other cheap supplies for that matter. I’ll spare you the details.

Chris Long · January 4th, 2004, 10:14 AM

Might these be from the same company? It could be, too, that the logo has simply been changed, style-wise.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=29964

Bryan Beasleigh · January 4th, 2004, 01:57 PM

Optex lenses are excellent products supplied through Optex int of the UK

http://www.optexint.com/sales/lenses.html

To throw a fly in the ointment, there is a company named Gentec, that sells carded , low priced treasures under the name optex as well (In Canada and US). They are opposite ends of the quality spectrum.

http://www.gentec-intl.com/Default.asp?mode=brn

David Korb · January 4th, 2004, 04:46 PM

Yep Chris...the second link you have shows the logo, cant tell on the first one...i went to the canadian web site however and couldnt find any lens adapters by optex...i did see some media and cheap tripods...i photographed one of my guitars today with the pdx10...i shot the olympus and pdx10 both but my trusty ole olympus is falling outa favor...the guitar shows a bit of noise even though i preset the thing to soft...almost all the way...if you care to see it

www.wiktel.net/dkorb/karvin.jpg

www.wiktel.net/dkorb/gibson.jpg

think the gibson looks a bit better

Bryan Beasleigh · January 4th, 2004, 10:29 PM

Optex UK doesn't produce anything themselves. it's all made by contract suppliers. My Optex 58mm WA adapter is made in japan.

David Korb · January 4th, 2004, 10:49 PM

Ummm...do you like it ??

Bryan Beasleigh · January 5th, 2004, 12:19 AM

The optex lens are very well made. My adapter is fully coated through all elements and has a bayonet mount. One of our sponsors is the US dealer.

http://www.zgc.com/zgc.nsf/active/8AC99EF37C80586885256D3A00736F01

Chris Thiele · March 13th, 2005, 05:24 PM

Can any of you tell just from a photo the type of optex lens?
What I mean is, which end of the quality spectrum , the cheaper US Canadian or the UK is.
http://www.dsvid.com/PDX10p/Optex/
Any assistance would be appreciated.

January 2nd, 2004, 11:01 PM	#1
David Korb Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: n.w. minnesota Posts: 35	Fascinating garage sale item optex lens The lady wanted a dollar for this lens, labeled as such “Optex hemispheric wide angle video lens”…this lens also had the following info stamped on it OVL 341…BUT made in Japan…now this lens is very interesting but who made it…??? It has a 58 mm mount and I was able to look through it with my Olympus 2100 uz and what a treat!!!…im really interested in this company…the lady had about 6 of them so I went back and bought all of em after looking at this one particular lens…im not sure how to mount the thing on my pdx10…but after looking at the amount of light this thing puts in front of the lens…and the snapshots I took with the Olympus I really want to experiment with this hunk of glass on the front of my Sony…if I can do it, ill bet it may be the best 10 dollars I’ve spent so far…I cant find one spot of information about this lens on the internet and the optexint.com site don’t list it…some other very wide angle lens made for the canon…1100 dollars plus…doubtful its even the same company…any ideas ??? Indecently I shot some doors while testing to see if it was going to act like a fish eye…nope…the doors were straight as an arrow…very odd piece of glass…must have added 35 percent field of view or MORE…and at least that much light __________________ If at first you dont succeed...well so much for skydiving

January 3rd, 2004, 08:50 AM	#2
Chris Hour Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 27	Hi David, Did a quick search and found no info. You said you bought the others that she had... ... are you interested in selling them? Gee... if I gave you $10.00 for one you'd cover the cost of all of them and still make a tidy profit !!! ;-) Please let me (and the group) know if you are interested in selling the extras. It's always fun to play with a new peice of glass. Cheers Chris __________________ Always trying to make a "Million dollar" production on a $20 budget ;-)

January 4th, 2004, 10:14 AM	#4
Chris Long Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Middletown, Maryland USA Posts: 177	Might these be from the same company? It could be, too, that the logo has simply been changed, style-wise. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=29964 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=29964

January 4th, 2004, 10:49 PM	#8
David Korb Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: n.w. minnesota Posts: 35	Ummm...do you like it ?? __________________ If at first you dont succeed...well so much for skydiving

January 4th, 2004, 08:21 AM	#3
David Korb Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: n.w. minnesota Posts: 35	Very tempting offer there Chris…however after reading my post I miss represented an important factor…all the lenses were optex however a variety of sizes and focal lengths. All were screw on adapters, 4 wide angle and 2 telephoto’s in the group. I’ve ordered a handful of adapters and may post a few examples of this hemispherical wide angle if anyone is interested. I still haven’t found this Japanese company and while the spelling is the same as its European counterpart…the logo is a bit different. I did some shooting with the Olympus again and found I could zoom just about half way or about 5x, I might be a redneck and just duct tape the thing on my Sony. There are no front threads to accept hood(it begs for a hood) or filters and its goinna look funny on the thing…but what the heck About selling them however…I shoot with my 2 daughters who also have video and still cameras plus I shoot both video and digital stills, needless to say there will be no surplus of cheap knockoff lens adapters or other cheap supplies for that matter. I’ll spare you the details.

January 4th, 2004, 01:57 PM	#5
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	Optex lenses are excellent products supplied through Optex int of the UK http://www.optexint.com/sales/lenses.html To throw a fly in the ointment, there is a company named Gentec, that sells carded , low priced treasures under the name optex as well (In Canada and US). They are opposite ends of the quality spectrum. http://www.gentec-intl.com/Default.asp?mode=brn

January 4th, 2004, 04:46 PM	#6
David Korb Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: n.w. minnesota Posts: 35	Yep Chris...the second link you have shows the logo, cant tell on the first one...i went to the canadian web site however and couldnt find any lens adapters by optex...i did see some media and cheap tripods...i photographed one of my guitars today with the pdx10...i shot the olympus and pdx10 both but my trusty ole olympus is falling outa favor...the guitar shows a bit of noise even though i preset the thing to soft...almost all the way...if you care to see it www.wiktel.net/dkorb/karvin.jpg www.wiktel.net/dkorb/gibson.jpg think the gibson looks a bit better

January 4th, 2004, 10:29 PM	#7
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	Optex UK doesn't produce anything themselves. it's all made by contract suppliers. My Optex 58mm WA adapter is made in japan.

January 5th, 2004, 12:19 AM	#9
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	The optex lens are very well made. My adapter is fully coated through all elements and has a bayonet mount. One of our sponsors is the US dealer. http://www.zgc.com/zgc.nsf/active/8AC99EF37C80586885256D3A00736F01

March 13th, 2005, 05:24 PM	#10
Chris Thiele Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Launceston, Tasmania, Australia Posts: 59	Can any of you tell just from a photo the type of optex lens? What I mean is, which end of the quality spectrum , the cheaper US Canadian or the UK is. http://www.dsvid.com/PDX10p/Optex/ Any assistance would be appreciated.