a few quick questions about the HMC40

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odonnelly99

Active member
Hey everyone, thank you for this site! As someone trying to learn about filmmaking and cameras, this site is indispensable. I'm about a day away from ordering the HMC40, but I wanted to ask a few questions beforehand. Thanks for any replies!

1. I noticed someone mention the difference between the bigger lens on the 150 vs the smaller 40 could be made up by buying a wide angle adaptor. Is this true?

2. Would using a wide angle adaptor affect your zoom at all?

3. Will you all stop scoffing at me under your breath for asking these questions?:cheesy:



Thanks, you all are awesome.
 
odonnelly99 said:
1. I noticed someone mention the difference between the bigger lens on the 150 vs the smaller 40 could be made up by buying a wide angle adaptor. Is this true?
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I assume by bigger you mean wider. The HMC150 has a wider field of view than the HMC40 at their respective widest settings. The HMC150 has a 35mm equivalent of about 28mm while the HMC40 is about 41mm. So if you add the Panasonic wide angle adaptor which is 0.7x then you would have a VERY similar field of view.

odonnelly99 said:
2. Would using a wide angle adaptor affect your zoom at all?
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Well it might affect your ability to use the full zoom range. Some adaptor introduce vignetting when you zoom. I do have have the Panasonic adaptor but I believe that it allows you to use the full zoom range without vignetting. I am sure someone that has the Panasonic adaptor will help. Don't forget that the top end of the zoom range will also be affected by the 0.7x factor, so you will not zoom in as close with the adaptor on. I think you will likely discover that in the situations that you want to use a wide angle adaptor you won't really want to zoom in very much anyway.




odonnelly99 said:
3. Will you all stop scoffing at me under your breath for asking these questions?:cheesy:
Click to expand...

No scoffing here. :happy:
 
1) the HMC150 has a wide-angle field of view equivalent of about 28mm, the HMC40 has about 40mm. So, to match the 150, you'd need about a .7x wide-angle adapter.

(on the other hand, the HMC150 has a maximum telephoto equivalent of about 390mm, whereas the HMC40's max telephoto equiv is about 480mm, so what you lose on the wide end, you do gain back on the telephoto end)

2) Yes, of course it woudl, it would limit your maximum telephoto, and it would likely degrade the quality of your image throughout. You'd only really want to use a wide-angle lens when you needed it; at all other times, take it off.
 
I'd like to know if anyone has tried putting a Raynox .7x on an HMC40. From what I've gathered, the 52mm Raynox WA works very well on an HV20/30/40 (with a step up ring - apparently works better than the 43mm version) with little barrel distortion. An HMC40 records images with quite a bit more detail (than an HV) though, so I'm wondering if the glass in the Raynox is of high enough quality for the HMC40.
 
I'm still thinking about which wide angle adapter to go with.

Right now, the Century 0.5x looks the most interesting at about $160:

577500.jpg


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=196635

Lens Mount 43mm Filter Thread
Mounting 43mm Filter Thread
Zoom Through Partial
Magnification 0.5x
Filter Size 67mm
Dimensions (WxD) 1.77 x 0.37" (45 x 9.4mm)
Weight 4.6 oz (131g)

Raynox makes some adapters:

Raynox
HD-3035PRO Semi-Fisheye Conversion Lens (0.3x, 37mm)
  • Broadens Angle of View 180%
  • Compatible with Up to 6x Zoom
  • High Resolution 520 line/mm
  • 37mm Thread Mount
  • 2 Groups/2 Elements
  • Utlra Wide Angle 0.3x
  • Lens Shade Mask Included
  • 27/30/30.5/34/43mm Adapter Rings
  • Up to 6x zoom

  • # HD-3035PRO About $125 Does NOT have a front mount for any additional lens hood.
646214.jpg




Raynox
HD-6600 Pro 43mm 0.66x High Quality Wide Angle Converter Lens


Magnification 0.66x
Zoom Through: Yes (I assume they are talking about the full zoom range)
Rear Mount Diameter 43mm
Front Mount Diameter 72mm (for lens hood)
Construction, Elements/Groups 3E/3G
Lens Diameter 3.0" (75mm)
Length 1.54" (39mm)
Weight 6.27 oz (178g)

# HD660043 About $120


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Bob Diaz
 
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The Raynox 6600PRO-52 is the one I was thinking of (.66x rather than .7x) - the 52mm mount version (using a 43mm to 55mm step-up ring) supposedly works better than the 43mm mount version. I like that you can put a 72mm filter in front of it for protection - not way awfully expensive for a pretty good one (like a Hoya SMC).
 
I'm really quite hesitant to shoot anything now, without a protective UV filter in front of the lens. A few years ago, I was shooting video of my son's buddies partying. Got some pretty humorous footage (and great blackmail material!), but while everyone was just having a good time and behaving quite responsibly on the whole, they were getting rather inebriated, and one of the kids (ok, to me 25 year olds are kids) threw some salad or something at the camera (thinking he was being funny ...not!) - and I was shooting with a bare lens. There was no damage to the lens, but I saw the light (pun intended) and became awfully religious about lens filters after that. I've got a nice big Canon WA adapter for bigger cams (72mm mount), that I've never actually brought myself to use, largely because it's not practical to put anything in front of that huge piece of fine glass, to protect it from kids with a high octane blood content, or anything else.
 
I instal a protective UV filter on every camera I use. Usually right out of the box.

As far as the wide angle adapters, remember that glass quality is very important in HD shooting. The last thing you want to do is spend your money on a really sharp camera, then dull it down with crappy filters, adapters, etc. Search for the best W.A. adapter you can afford that isn't going to make your image less beautiful than it should be.
 
What attracts me to the Raynox isn't really the price, but the low level of barrel distortion (not that I mind low prices). If it doesn't notably soften the images coming out of the HMC40, I want one. If it's akin to smearing oil on the lens, I'll pass.
 
The Panasonic .7x wide angle on the HMC40 experiences no vignetting, and I can't tell any image quality loss. I shoot nearly entirely with it...

Chris
 
I have the Panasonic .7x WA, as well as a Pearstone .7x adapter (which was a stop gap until the Panasonic .7x came in from backorder). From side by side tests, the Panasonic adapter is quite sharp through most of the zoom range; the Pearstone, not so much - if at all. So the Pearstone now lives in a junk drawer, while the Panasonic is rarely off the camera.
 
I was going to ask how much the Panasonic .7x adapter degrades the image but Chris seems to have answered that. It seems almost an essential add-on with the 41mm max wide angle of the HMC40.

Has anyone found that they consider the image quality noticeably degraded for their use?
 
I shot some resolution tests when my Panasonic 0.7X arrived. My conclusion was that when shooting 720P it introduces no significant loss in resolution, and just a slight loss in contrast towards the corners. There it a little curivilinear distortion at wideangle but not at all objectionable. I consider myself 'fairly' fussy, and I am comfortable leaving it on my camera for 90% of my shooting (which is all at 720P).

At 1080, there is a very slight hit on sharpness at the corners - depending on how important uber-resolution is to you, this may or may not be worth considering.

The lens has no filter threads - some discussion on lens hoods for it is here: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=199415
 
I just did a shoot using a Canon wide angle adapter (the one for the HV20) and was very impressed with the results. no noticeable distortion, no focus problems (even while zooming,) no softness around the edges.

just thought this might help somebody out.
 
I haven't found any mention of it on the forums, but the Raynox HD 6600 Pro does work fairly well with the HMC40. I'm using the 52mm version which I already had available from the HV30, and using the appropriate step up ring I've had no problems with vignetting. Although it has no front threads I've always used a XH series lens hood with it and it works like a charm (fits snug thanks to the grips).

If anyone is interested I can post some photos of how it looks for those curious about aesthetics. I will say that the Raynox gets some very noticable colour distortion when zoomed through fully, however for reasons I am not technically savvy enough to explain it's considerably less noticble on the HMC40 vs. the HV30.
 
It seems like the search for the "perfect" wide-angle adapter is still ongoing. Right now, it seems like a toss-up between the official Panasonic .7x, the Raynor HD6600 Pro, and the Century 0.5x.

I really would LOVE to get one of these for my start into wedding and event shooting but I really have NO IDEA which one is the best. What do you all recommend? With all these, would I need to remove the original lens hood/shade? And can any of these fit a 3rd party lens hood? Because shooting without the lens hood makes the camcorder look really weird. And, yes, I know outer camera looks mean nothing and its teh final result which counts... but still! lol
 
This is a choice I have yet to make too.

1. Century 0.5x
+ really wide!
+ cheapish
+ seems pretty good quality
- no full zoom through

I used to use a Red Eye 0.7x partial zoom through on my old Sony cam, and I did find it limiting at times - if you need to quickly zoom in when something exciting happens, it's too easy to go past the limit of the zoom.

2. Panasonic 0.7x
+ full zoom through
- apparently no front thread for a lens hood (though you can cobble one together if you are handy)

3. Century 0.65x
+ full zoom through
+ front threads for lens hood
- more expensive (though not crazily so)

4. Raynox
+ full zoom through
- some distortion (lack of sharpness, chromic abberation, or whatever it's called)

I am still filling in more pluses and minuses to make a choice.

I am leaning towards the Century 0.5x. My Sony V1 was a similar focal length to the HMC41, and I found myself using the wide angle a lot less than I expected, so maybe the cheaper Century is a better option for occasional use - i.e. inside vehicles, in tight corners etc., where wideness is more important than zero distortion.
 
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It is my personal opinion that the Panasonic wide-angle .7x would probably be the perfect wide-angle adapter if it had a front thread for a lens hood. Ugh!
 
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