Experience with Century Optics 1.6x?

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pjtgrizzly

Member
I did a search in the forums for this lens and the web and am rolling snake eyes for finding someone with comprehensive experience with this lens on a DVX100b.

If anyone has any experience with this lens - or even the 2x version - some quick questions:

1) This lens connects via the bayonet mount - thus take the lens shade off 100b and connect this lens and then the existing lens shade should mount to the front of this lens? If purchased - looking to keep the lens on all of the time if it delivers (we do webcasts where the subject typically is 30-60 feet away from camera).

2) Durability - this thing solid? I hope so at the price. Anyone use this lens many times with connecting it and disconnecting? We use our cameras quite heavily and am interested in any concerns that may be related to repeated attachments, unmounting although per #1 above - would like to keep it attached permanently although the answer to #3 below may dictate whether this is possible:

3) Vignetting - if anyone has used the 1.6x version - it seems like the literature on this lens indicates that vignetting can occur when going wide. Does anyone have an estimate at what point in going wide where vignetting can occur? Full wide? As our webcasts are full frame image - there is no "fixing in post" or blowing up the image before hitting the encoders. It looks like the focal range of the 1.6x is 36-72mm - interested if anyone has an estimate where in that range vignetting occurs?

4) Anyone have any examples of still images or video in using this - especially a demo of a zoom from full wide to 72mm?

Thanks!
 
1) the lens shade doesn't go back on the front of the lens. You'd have to buy some aftermarket lens hood if you wanted one.

2) Yes, and no problems with multiple reconnections. The bayonet mount is very sturdy and there's no danger of damaging it, unlike lens threads where you might someday run the risk of cross-threading.

3) absolutely happens. You will not have the full zoom range anymore, with either lens, although you can get slightly more zoom range out of the 1.6 than the 2.0. Vignetting doesn't occur in the range of 36mm to 72mm, that's the whole point of spelling that out -- that's the usable range of the lens. Zooming wider than 36mm will cause vignetting.
 
Barry_Green said:
You will not have the full zoom range anymore, with either lens, although you can get slightly more zoom range out of the 1.6 than the 2.0. Vignetting doesn't occur in the range of 36mm to 72mm, that's the whole point of spelling that out -- that's the usable range of the lens. Zooming wider than 36mm will cause vignetting.
Click to expand...

Barry - I just reread this. What do you mean that you will not get the full zoom range out of either lens? When using the 1.6x one isn't assuming that one would get the full 10x zoom from the stock lens and in addition to that - the 1.6x from the additional telephoto lense - thus equally roughly a 16x optical?

If this math isn't accurate - what is it more like? Lot of money to spend on a lens and the ability of this lens to deliver actually impacts my camera choice but kinda confused on this part.

Thanks!
 
It means that you can only use a little bit of the zoom range. So you normally have Z00 to Z99, right? Well, forget about Z00 - Z59, anything in that range will show nasty circular vignetting. You only will have the range from Z60 to Z100.

I don't remember if those numbers are exactly right, so take them as an example.
 
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