GH1 - 20mm Lens & DV Wide Adapter- Poor Man's Tilt-Shift Lens

Cavemandude

Cavemandude

Well-known member
Well, I have some wide angle adapters for my DV camcorders and decided to mount them on my GH1 and 20mm 1.7 lens and see what it would look like.

In this video I used a 0.5x Wide Converter on top of my 20mm lens so I guess that would make it act like a 10mm. I also have a 0.7x which gives a more subtle blur effect around the outer edges and would make my 20mm into a 14mm lens.

Nice thing about adding a wide adapter is that it is much easier to shoot stable video. Both video shots were handheld without rig in this video.

Shot at 720p in AFS autofocus mode.

Edited using Eduis Neo Booster 2.5. Only added a color correction filter to add some contrast/color since I shot it very flat. No blur effects were used.

Randy

 
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Forgot to add that the one surprising thing I noticed right away is how much quicker the 20mm lens focused when using either of these adapters. When I was testing the 0.7x adapter indoors it was focusing almost as quick as the kit lens.

Randy
 
This GH1 video was shot using a 20mm 1.7 lens with a 0.7x wide converter lens attached to it which should make it a 14mm lens. This adds some blurring on the outer edges of the image, more on the left and right side compared to the top and bottom. It also significantly speeds up the autofocus of the 20mm lens and allows focusing on objects withing 1 to 2 inches of the lens adapter possibly closer.

Shot handheld with no accessories to help stabilize it.

720p AFS autofocus mode.

Edited using Pinnacle Studio 14. Only added a Magic Bullet preset filter. No blur effects were used.

Randy

 
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caveman - how heavy is the adapter? does it stress out the 20mm when autofocusing? I just picked up a Raynox .66 for good price. gonna see how it goes on my 20mm. hopefully its not too heavy. I'm not expecting perfect picture at the corners, it is an adapter after all =) would be nice though.
 
The Canon WD-46, in the second video in this thread, is very light and it speeds up the auto focus on the 20mm lens close to what you get with the kit lens.

The Canon WD-55, I'll post a video below, is a heavier metal build and the auto focus is the same as without using it. Advantage of the WD-55 over the WD-46 is that it has a high-quality sharp image from edge to edge with no distortion.

They are both 0.7x lens adapters.

Randy


 
thanks for the clips and comparisons cavemandude. WD-55 looks pretty good, cheap on eBay too. Any test with .5x or semi-fisheye lens? need one for sports like skate and snowboarding.
 
MR Fanny said:
caveman - how heavy is the adapter? does it stress out the 20mm when autofocusing? I just picked up a Raynox .66 for good price. gonna see how it goes on my 20mm. hopefully its not too heavy. I'm not expecting perfect picture at the corners, it is an adapter after all =) would be nice though.
Click to expand...

would love to see that
 
Arr yes, forgot about the first post oops :). Is there a way to reduce that blurry affect? Was hoping for a nice crisp as possible image to capture some sports action.
 
Thanks for posting those cavemandude, the WD-55 looks promising. Could you upload a shot showing it attached? I'd like to see how much bulk it adds.

How do you feel about the extra weight on the pancake?

I'm about to get a GH2, was planning on the 14mm/f2.5 pancake, but the reviews really aren't great for it. It's not just slower, but also edge sharpness isn't great and vignetting is massive. So 20mm/WD-55 is intriguing, but the extra weight and bulk might be too much for my setup.
 
I would definitely use that adapter as an effect for an 'altered state' POV type shot. It would be nice to know if there are any adapter combinations that dont have the vignetting happening.
 
Randy,

I just started looking into wide angle adapters, and your videos looking promising. I presume the difference between the WD-46 and WD-55 is the diameter of the mounting threads. I have the Lumix 14mm and 20mm lenses, and want to try a wide angle adapter on these. So, if I bought the WD-46 it will fit "as is", but the WD-55 will need a step up ring, correct?

I like how the focus distance becomes shorter with these adapters. Do the adapters change the depth of field in any way?


Cavemandude said:
The Canon WD-46, in the second video in this thread, is very light and it speeds up the auto focus on the 20mm lens close to what you get with the kit lens.

The Canon WD-55, I'll post a video below, is a heavier metal build and the auto focus is the same as without using it. Advantage of the WD-55 over the WD-46 is that it has a high-quality sharp image from edge to edge with no distortion.

They are both 0.7x lens adapters.

Randy


Click to expand...
 
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