Good wide angle lens for PC 9

[clint 1]

I have been using the kenko .5 lens for the past 7 years but it really sucks. I just found that out.

So what would you recommend for a lens. I don't really want to spend more than $100.

Thanks,

-

Clint MacBeth
Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP
M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012

[Canuck 0]

The Sony .6 is a nice lens. Of the multi-element lenses, it's about the smallest you're going to find. Don't let the numbers fool you either, it's actually a wider lens than the Kenko .5.

You can get them for $80 CDN, so probably about $60 US.

Canuck

[crazydiver 0]

the diamond 0.03x lenses that max cohn sells are amazing. It's a single element lens..which is more desireable. Plus, you can zoom in a little and have more range...the .03 is great for being in a formation, filming freeflying, or on an aff instructors helmet. Its really low profile too and has no vignette(black corners on the screen).

Check it out at http://www.royal-lens.com/

It runs a little more than 100 bucks, but is well worth it in is versability, durability, and quality.

Cheers,
Travis

[AndyMan 7]

I really like the Sony .6.

It's actually wider than my Kenko .5, which I rarely use any more.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[riggerrob 558]

Quote

the diamond 0.03x lenses that max cohn sells are amazing. It's a single element lens..which is more desireable. Plus, you can zoom in a little and have more range...the .03 is great for being in a formation, filming freeflying, or on an aff instructors helmet. Its really low profile too and has no vignette(black corners on the screen).

Check it out at http://www.royal-lens.com/

It runs a little more than 100 bucks, but is well worth it in is versability, durability, and quality.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Last year I did almost 200 jumps with one of Max's 0.3 lenses screwed onto my hand-mounted Sony HC40 and got great results with zero distortion or vignetting.
Late last season Max sent me a 0.2 wide-angle lens, even wider than my old 03. with only a tiny amount of distortion.
Max's lense are not cheap, but they are tiny enough to minimize snag hazards and provide great images.

[WayCool 0]

See this post>>http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1577903;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

[clint 1]

Which Sony .6x to buy?

I saw 4 sony .6 lenses?

-

Clint MacBeth
Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP
M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012

[Canuck 0]

VCL-0625s is the model you want. You can find it on Sony.com for 50 bucks.

Unless the PC9 is a 30mm thread camera, in which case want you want is the VCL -0630s...

Canuck

[clint 1]

the 9 is a 30 mm thread. Just ordered it for $55

Clint MacBeth
Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP
M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012

[xblackendsoulx 0]

I really like the Diamond 0.3 distributed by Max Cohn. It does what it says without vignetting and no visible distortion. It also keeps you from ripping the lens off your camera since the profile is so low. I have been using a Kenko 0.42 on my PC-9, with good results, however I think you are trying to get away from them.

[AndyMan 7]

Quote

I really like the Diamond 0.3 distributed by Max Cohn. It does what it says without vignetting and no visible distortion.

I see this claim a lot. I had a chance to play with one a few weeks ago, and I saw tons of distortion around the edges of the frame. I think it's incredibly misleading that none of the advertising shots show straight lines in that section of the frame.

They are great lenses compared to what predates them, because there's no vignetting. There certainly is distortion, though.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[CTSkydiver 0]

Quote

VCL-0625s is the model you want. You can find it on Sony.com for 50 bucks.

Unless the PC9 is a 30mm thread camera, in which case want you want is the VCL -0630s...

Canuck

What about this lens? Almost same dimensions, but this one (sunpak) is just a tiny bit shorter. Same price @ B& H, plus it is threaded for a filter unlike the Sony.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=285775&is=REG

[Canuck 0]

Never seen one before, but it looks a lot like the Titanium .45, and that lens sucks.

The Sony .6 is much wider than the numbers would indicate, and there is zero vignetting and basically zero discernable distortion.

Check out Quades website futurecam and look at his wide angle lens comparison.

Canuck

[CTSkydiver 0]

Quote

Never seen one before, but it looks a lot like the Titanium .45, and that lens sucks.

Well, looks like I'm gonna find out. But you're right, they sure do look similar. Alas, if only the Sony wasn't out of stock...

[mr2mk1g 10]

for the sony try e-bay. bought mine on there for absolute peanuts about a year ago. Back then there were plenty on there... would be surprised if you couldn't still find em.

[skysurfcam 0]

Quote

it looks a lot like the Titanium .45, and that lens sucks.

I'll happily dispute that.

My PC101 has seen duty with nothin but a Titanium .45. 1000+ jumps, a couple of national gold medals, a world meet top 10, a hell'lva lotta boogie vids, training camps, and even the odd tandem. It's two piece construction allow for easy application of catcrap to all surfaces, and it fits exactly inside a 55mm Hoya filter.

Whats not to like?

C.

Brother Wayward's rule of the day...
"Never ever ever go skydiving without going parachuting immediately afterwards."
100% PURE ADRENALENS

[Canuck 0]

Can't really tell from your post if you're impressed with your lens, or your competition accomplishments

Anywho...

The Titanium .45 that I've seen had brutal vignetting and barrel distortion, which would have been more acceptable if the lens was really wide, but it's actually less wide than a Sony .6. It was on an older TRV model camera, so maybe that was the difference. Pretty bulky too.

Canuck

[Zoter 0]

Ditto on Max Cohns 0.3 and 0.5 Lenses
If there is distortion AndyMan......its so slight it does not affect picture quality.
Perhaps you could post a few screenshots that highlight this distortion....
With this lens the fact you can zoom in...is super low profile , deffo no vignette and is 'reasonably' cheap....makes it an great all rounder IMHO

[Canuck 0]

I like the Diamond .3 too, but Clint was specifically asking for a lens that costs less than 100 bucks.

And there is deffinately some distortion in the .3. Again, check out the comparison on Quades website futurecam.com and look at the pictures of the hangar.

Canuck

[skysurfcam 0]

Actually I was more reinforcing the quality of the lens, on the basis that comp judges dont give good scores if the vid is vignetted or suffers from barrel distortion. My aplolgies, I often forget to spell everything out clearly and slowly when dealing with folks from the north...

On a PC101, 5, 9 etc, the titanium suffers no vignetting, minimal distortion, and allows infinity focusing. It's wider than a my hoya 0.5, which in turn is wider than old my sony 0.6. Its dimentions are virtually the same as the sony 0.6. It's threaded for a filter, and that extra mm of barrel length also allows a 55mm filter to be placed around it, which helps if you're building a filtered enclosure. YMMV.

The downside of the various single element lenses is their inability to handle infinity focusing, and a softness at the outer edges of the frame. I've also not yet ben able to come up with a decent way to enclose them behind a filter, which is also difficult with the sony 0.6. Again, YMMV.

The original poster asked for a lens below $100. The Sony 0.6 will work, so will the titanium. My experience with the titanium is that it's a better fit for skydiving than the Sony, with the caveat that it needs step ring.

C

Craig

Brother Wayward's rule of the day...
"Never ever ever go skydiving without going parachuting immediately afterwards."
100% PURE ADRENALENS

[CTSkydiver 0]

You bring up some good points. For the poster who said the Titatium .45 had a high amount of vignetting, was a step ring installed? I specifically looked for a lens that didn't require one (I chose a 30mm threaded lens for my TRV-17) so this will put the (oddly similar to Titanium) lens I chose as close as possible to the camera's lens. It's threaded for a filter as well, unlike the sony; and I'd like at least a UV-1 haze on there.

Some of you folks mention buying a super wide and zooming it in when you don't need all of it, but that doesn't work for me. I've got to have a unique lens for each goal. I like being able to reach up, hold the zoom in the wide direction for a bit, and know what I'm getting. To protect against it being nudged into the wrong setting.

Anyway, what's does is done; I'll let you know how it works when it arrives next week.

[CTSkydiver 0]

It works fine (the SunPak .45x with 30mm mount). I get no vignetting at full wide angle (on a TRV-17) even with a Tiffen Haze-1 UV Filter on the front threads (49mm) ... the Tiffen is front threaded as well.

The field of view matches up almost exactly horizontally with what I can see through the viewfinder of my DigitalRebelXT when full-wide (18mm) on the Kit Lens. Since the viewfinder shows about 95% of the image, I think this is a pretty good match. The SunPak lens was $49 bucks and the filter under $10 from B&H.

No stepdown rings; and 2 part construction letting you get at all the glass should you need to.

Those .3x fish-eyes look cool for freefly but I'm gonna have to budget an external flash at the same time. Any wider and the Rebel's pop-up flash will become visible in the video (when in use).