Fisheye comparison using HMC150

Strobe Media

Strobe Media

Well-known member
So I thought I'd help all those people out who are baffled over which fisheye lens to buy for the Panasonic AG-HMC150. Here's a comparison between

Panasonic HMC150 stock lens
vs.
16x9 Inc. .45x Super Fisheye lens (larger of the 2 16x9 fisheyes, MSRP $659)
vs.
Opteka .3x 72mm Fisheye (Screw, largest fisheye made by Opteka, MSRP $259)

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bottom line, the Opteka fisheye is more bang for your buck, but if you're looking for a more professional looking fisheye lens with no vignetting, the 16x9 is the way to go, although you can zoom through the opteka lens to somewhere around z70 before it's no longer able to focus.
 
yeah, it's not so bad if you zoom in enough, and at that point it's still wider then the 16x9 and nearly 1/2 the cost
 
also can you show a screen grab or footage where the vig is shown against a white wall or graph? i cant really see where it starts because of how dark/cluttered it is. and i would honestly pay more money for a lens without that much vig. i cannot stand vig and dont know why so many skateboard filmers find it acceptable. that is why i went with the 16x9, it has minimal vig.
 
yes i'll take a picture with it on the camera and against a white area, honestly, I've just accepted it because, 1, my friends own SD cameras and it's a ***** to mix 4:3 SD footage with 16x9 HD footage, and the 16x9 isn't all that wide so I just bought this lens so I can not only have a wide fisheye, but not have to rely on standard defenition footage.
 
I too want another fisheye and I like the century version as it's a bayonette mount so it's super easy to put on and off. I wonder if these Opteka people make a .45 or something..


Is it possible to get enough of a zoom through to avoid the vignetteting? I guess if not, there's up to about 8 percent you can zoom in post without seeing much in terms of image compromise...


Getting something for 250 bucks seems like a steal. I knew there would be more options in the 72mm range than there were in the 82....


Thanks for posting.. Got any footage with it? I"m more interested in spending less money these days than spending more money.. I think a lot of people are in that same boat.
 
I mean it definitely adds an extreme amount of coverage to your shot but that fisheye look just looks... so.. ugly... completely distorting the image

Is there another wide angle that you could add onto the stock lens from the hmc that would give you a little more coverage but not warp the footage so much?
 
the point of the fisheye lens is to distort it like that, it gives it the barrell distortion. while the wide angle isnt meant to do that, i think thats the point of these two lenses. the thing that bugs me is the ugly vignetting....yuck!!!
 
i agree, vignetting is unacceptable even on the 16:9 inc fisheye. Mark Von Lanken just did a video article on the Century Optic .45 fisheye and this one does not vignette. This is my first and only choice for a fisheye lens. check it out at http://www.eventdv-tv.com/ and click on the video to the right called, Von Real, Episode 1.
 
boo said:
i agree, vignetting is unacceptable even on the 16:9 inc fisheye. Mark Von Lanken just did a video article on the Century Optic .45 fisheye and this one does not vignette. This is my first and only choice for a fisheye lens. check it out at http://www.eventdv-tv.com/ and click on the video to the right called, Von Real, Episode 1.
Click to expand...
yea i saw that episode, i agree with you. vignetting is not acceptable especially when you expect someone to pay for what you put out. the reason i use the 16x9 is because i had already owned it for my dvx100b and it was also compatible with my hmc. if i am charging for a product and i use my fisheye lens, i am sure to zoom in far enough that there is no vignetting.
 
Strobe, that is totally what I want to see. Zoomed in, passed the vignette. I had the .45 century and it was great.. a really great lens, but its 3 times a much. It's also more of a extreme wide than a fisheye.


Fisheye by definition is tons of barrell destortion. People wanting less should get an extreme wide.. but since the HMC is already pretty wide, I'd say that a .55 or a .6 would be probably perfect...
 
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