0.3 Wide Anlge Lens Option (heard of opteka?)

[Cyrus79 0]

Very interesting Blink, I don't see any difference in the still grabs...
I am going to get me one of these Opteka lenses and report back with my findings

[freefalle 0]

I know most people like them, but I just don't like fisheye lenses. Thanks for the photos though.

[DSE 3]

without both lenses and a resolution chart, it's all speculation. The pix provided don't provide any information.
I'm sure the Opteka is a decent lens. Whether it passes the same image as the Century or not...dunno. If Opteka wants to send me a bit of glass to compare straight across...I'll gladly throw it up on a resolution chart. Century and other lens manufacturers are usually pretty happy to send me glass for a week or so to test....Opteka hasn't responded to emails.

[velocityphoto 0]

What camera are those shots taken with?

A friend will bail you out of jail , a REAL friend will be sitting next to you in the cell slapping your hand saying "DUDE THAT WAS AWSUM " ................

[Blink 0]

Railing:
Canon HF10

Outside:
Sony VX1000

[icevideot 0]

Quote

... I was reviewing 5050 vs 3032 comparisons on raynox.com and the 3032 doesn't seem dramatically wider....

At first glance I agree with you but that is a difficult scene to judge from IMHO. Here is a link to the video on the Raynox site. I had trouble finding it myself.
http://raynox.co.jp/actualimage/video/movie/trv950/WMV/hd50503032comp.wmv

After capturing stills with screenhunter, I have decided the difference could possibly be enough to satisfy me without going to an outrageous fisheye.

I have come to believe these conversion factors (.3x or .5x) are almost completely arbitrary and worthless.

My .5 pro from Kenko (SGW05P) is wider by far than their cheap .5 and even wider than any .42 or .43 I have compared it to using the same camera.

Of course, it has been around too long to be HD and I have no idea what the results would be on a Res chart.

I wish I had access to these 2 from Raynox and the Opteka .3 37mm so I could have a better idea before I spend the coin. I am teetering on the brink of the 3032 but if it proved to be very similar to my Kenko .5 pro that would be sad.

I would love to hear more opinions and even better, see captures from the 3032 during a dock maybe, to better judge actual width.

"... this ain't a Nerf world."

[bdrake529 0]

Just got mine.

Attached is a quick comparison screenshot between the Opteka 0.3 and the Raynox 3032 on my HC5.

The Opteka is noticeably wider. Good.

It does appear to have some vignetting as the footage is blurry at the edges. This was a quick-n-dirty test in my office, and I left auto-focus on, so maybe that's a factor.

I bought the Opteka because the Raynox is not wide enough for a camera on an arm from the back of my helmet, facing down my body/wingsuit as seen in shots in "Fly the Line 2" (or so I'm told, my DVD copy is still MIA). With the Raynox, you mainly just see my rig filling most of the screen. I think the Opteka will be wide enough, and I can probably be satisfied with just cropping the blurry material.

Will jump this weekend and report further findings.

Brian Drake

[Newbie 0]

Thanks bdrake - woulod be VERY interested to see some test footage with the opteka too if you manage it!

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[billvon 2,391]

>This was a quick-n-dirty test in my office, and I left auto-focus on, so
>maybe that's a factor.

Also make sure you have "wide conversion lens" selected on the setup menu.

>I think the Opteka will be wide enough, and I can probably be satisfied
>with just cropping the blurry material.

Looking at those two pictures, it looks like that would mean cropping everything outside the center of the door glass at minimum. And that would seem to get you to . . . . about the angle of the Raynox. However, if you wanted to end up with a "squarer" format that might work well.

[PharmerPhil 0]

Quote

Also make sure you have "wide conversion lens" selected on the setup menu.

I believe that only affects the image stabilization.

[billvon 2,391]

>I believe that only affects the image stabilization.

From the manual:

==========
(SETTINGS) category

MOVIE SETTINGS

. . .

CONVERSION LENS Optimizes the Steadyshot function and focus according to the attached lens.
==========

I don't know what it does to the focus, but apparently it affects it somehow.

[Wharewaka 0]

Any more jumps been done with the Opteka .3 lense?

I will buy Opteka or Century but waiting for more info on the forums here on dropzone.com.

It will be used for handicam. I just bought the cx100 and want a good lense but if the Opteka is almost or as good as the Century I like to save the money.

[2shay 0]

I got my cookie liquid 0.3x lens for $150 new. it is about as low profile of a lens you will find.

don't try your bullshit with me!!!

[Wharewaka 0]

Thinking more about the result of the footage. And specifically between the Century and the Opteka. Or if the Opteka holds a good standard.

[bdrake529 0]

I don't have any usable footage from this weekend. But I have another question:

When I set my HC5 to infinite focus with the Opteka on, it's very blurry. The only way to keep it clear is to set to auto-focus (or some setting less than infinity).

I've been using infinity focus for all my shooting so far (no lense, or Raynox 0.3) and that's worked great. I'm very hesitant to use auto-focus for skydiving.

Is this problem (blurry when set to infinity) inherent to extreme fish-eyes or is this a problem specific to the Opteka?


Thanks,

Brian

Brian Drake

[alge 0]

Quote

When I set my HC5 to infinite focus with the Opteka on, it's very blurry. The only way to keep it clear is to set to auto-focus (or some setting less than infinity).

Is this problem (blurry when set to infinity) inherent to extreme fish-eyes or is this a problem specific to the Opteka?

Infinity focus on my CX105 + Century Baby Death is very blurry. Just let the camera find the best setting in auto (while aiming at something sufficiently far away) and then switch to manual so it won't change in mid-air.

[DSE 3]

Quote

Quote

When I set my HC5 to infinite focus with the Opteka on, it's very blurry. The only way to keep it clear is to set to auto-focus (or some setting less than infinity).

Is this problem (blurry when set to infinity) inherent to extreme fish-eyes or is this a problem specific to the Opteka?

Infinity focus on my CX105 + Century Baby Death is very blurry. Just let the camera find the best setting in auto (while aiming at something sufficiently far away) and then switch to manual so it won't change in mid-air.

With small-format, high resolution sensors, this is about the only way to assure consistent focus from lens to lens.