3CHIP Productions
Active member
So I jut upgraded from my DVX to an HMC150. I love the cam but needed a good fisheye. The last thing I wanted was a wide angle or a partial fish... I needed the real deal with a very wide FOV and good barrel dist. The other thing I needed to avoid was vignetting. Thats the last thing I want. So I ruled out anything .3x. I then ruled out Century all together as their "super" fisheye really isn't all that super...
After hearing all of the hubub about Opteka I had to see what the fuss was about. So I got my hands on their .4x 72mm fisheye. It seemed to be a good quality lens from the vids online and for a measly $200 worth a look. I screwed it on and it looked good. I tried a Tiffen UV filter as a spacer and it did widened things up a bit but also produced a little vig... A little blurry vig... The spacer was not an option for me there. Yuk. Over all the quality was to be expected from a $200 Opteka. The housing is stamped metal and the glass seems to be average.
Having owned all kinds of lens attachments and have grown very partial to the bayonet mount. I was pumped to see that 16X9 offers bayos now. Having used their EXI on my DVX I fell in love with their quality. So scooping up the Bayo EXII was a no brainer. It's a few more bucks but honestly, why cheap out on something that will directly effect the footage? So I popped the EXII on and all I can say is WOW! 16X9 has really stepped it up again! I had seen some footage of the screw mount EXII and although it was nice and wide and had really good barrel distortion it did vig just a bit. The bayo EXII does not vig AT ALL. Ahhhhh.
Also, I have never seen a bayo so easy to mount/dismount. YES, easier than Century! The quality is right up there too. The housing is machined aluminum and the fit and finish is superb. As with any 16X9 product the glass is top quality.
Here are the pics!
Long Lens:
Opteka:
Opteka Spacer:
EXII:
Winner? The 16x9! Wider field of view, higher degree of clarity, more barrel distortion, bayonet mount and better general quality.
Check it out!
Alf
After hearing all of the hubub about Opteka I had to see what the fuss was about. So I got my hands on their .4x 72mm fisheye. It seemed to be a good quality lens from the vids online and for a measly $200 worth a look. I screwed it on and it looked good. I tried a Tiffen UV filter as a spacer and it did widened things up a bit but also produced a little vig... A little blurry vig... The spacer was not an option for me there. Yuk. Over all the quality was to be expected from a $200 Opteka. The housing is stamped metal and the glass seems to be average.
Having owned all kinds of lens attachments and have grown very partial to the bayonet mount. I was pumped to see that 16X9 offers bayos now. Having used their EXI on my DVX I fell in love with their quality. So scooping up the Bayo EXII was a no brainer. It's a few more bucks but honestly, why cheap out on something that will directly effect the footage? So I popped the EXII on and all I can say is WOW! 16X9 has really stepped it up again! I had seen some footage of the screw mount EXII and although it was nice and wide and had really good barrel distortion it did vig just a bit. The bayo EXII does not vig AT ALL. Ahhhhh.
Also, I have never seen a bayo so easy to mount/dismount. YES, easier than Century! The quality is right up there too. The housing is machined aluminum and the fit and finish is superb. As with any 16X9 product the glass is top quality.Here are the pics!
Long Lens:
Opteka:
Opteka Spacer:
EXII:
Winner? The 16x9! Wider field of view, higher degree of clarity, more barrel distortion, bayonet mount and better general quality.
Check it out!
Alf
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