Felipe Henao
Well-known member
I have been looking for a wide angle for this great camera, and want to keep the optical quality, seems like this is the best option.
If any body has experienced this lens, experiences welcome.
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HMC40 Wide angle VW-W4607 Quality ?
- Thread starter Felipe Henao
- Start date
I have been looking for a wide angle for this great camera, and want to keep the optical quality, seems like this is the best option.
If any body has experienced this lens, experiences welcome.
Greg Smith
Veteran
That lens says it is 46mm (filter thread diameter) on the rim; the one you actually want for the HMC40/80 is the 43mm threaded VWW4307HPPK, currently $184.95 at B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...VW_W4307HPPK_VWW4307HPPK_0_7x_Wide_Angle.html).
I have that adapter and use it with my HMC80 (same lens and sensors as the HMC40). It stays on the camera most of the time when I am working indoors. Despite my reservations about adding any kind of extra glass in front of the lens, it works pretty well. Distortion and sharpness loss are minimal, there is no vignetting I can detect, and you can zoom through the full range with no issues. Everybody I talked to (or read about here) who had the Century or other WA adapters reported one or more problems, but the consensus seems to be that the Panasonic adapter is the best one overall.
Another mild objection I have is that the adapter is pretty heavy, and makes an already front-heavy camera even a little more difficult to hold steadily on the shoulder. Actually, I wish they'd just put a significantly wider zoom lens on the camera to start with, but in an imperfect world, this is probably as good as you will find.
- GDS
I have that adapter and use it with my HMC80 (same lens and sensors as the HMC40). It stays on the camera most of the time when I am working indoors. Despite my reservations about adding any kind of extra glass in front of the lens, it works pretty well. Distortion and sharpness loss are minimal, there is no vignetting I can detect, and you can zoom through the full range with no issues. Everybody I talked to (or read about here) who had the Century or other WA adapters reported one or more problems, but the consensus seems to be that the Panasonic adapter is the best one overall.
Another mild objection I have is that the adapter is pretty heavy, and makes an already front-heavy camera even a little more difficult to hold steadily on the shoulder. Actually, I wish they'd just put a significantly wider zoom lens on the camera to start with, but in an imperfect world, this is probably as good as you will find.
- GDS
Felipe Henao
Well-known member
Greg thank you for your answer. The reason I want 46 mm is because everything points toward future Panasonic cameras will have 46 mm thread, as the TM900 and future AVCCAM from this line, another reason, is that the 43 mm lens was designed for Standard definition aprox. 6 years ago, that is probably why there is some minimal loss in distortion, this 46 mm was designed for HD 1 year ago aprox, and with the step ring should not have any problem.
I decided to buy this new version, AND I WILL let you know in a couple of weeks about the results with the HMC40, Probably that might interest you.
Again thank you for your answer.
I decided to buy this new version, AND I WILL let you know in a couple of weeks about the results with the HMC40, Probably that might interest you.
Again thank you for your answer.
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