wide angle lens

F

flasch1633

New member
I was hoping I could get some advice on wide angle lenses. The panasonic oone is $420. And Century makes two for $330, and $600. What is the difference between the two? (zoom?) and also what does bayonet mount mean?
Thanks
 
Re: wide angle lens

Bayonet means that it attaches like the sunshade does, not like a screw-in filter.

The .6 is much lighter, smaller, and half the price of the .7. But it only allows you to zoom up to about Z60 before you irretrievably lose focus. The .7 allows you to use the entire zoom range, but it's correspondingly much bigger, heavier, and more expensive.

It's also proving quite difficult to find a mattebox or sunshade that will work with the .6 (which I have) so flaring is a problem. I would expect the problem to be the same with the .7, since (IINM) the diameter of the outer element is the same.
 
Re: wide angle lens

Barry,

Chrosziel's 411-53PK Mattebox system says with an adapter it can be used with the .7 wide angle from Century. Have you had any experience with it? I guess from what I've read you can also use the anamorphic if the hood is cut. I'm looking for a matte box that I can use both wide angle and anamorphic and from what I've found this Chrosziel is the only one. Any input?

http://www.16x9inc.com/chrosziel/dvcine/dvx100/index.shtml

Thanks,
Billy
 
Re: wide angle lens

I haven't looked hard at the Chrosziel ($1700? Too expensive!), but I wasn't aware that it claimed to support the .6x. At NAB I asked the Century guys directly what mattebox would work with the .6, and they said "none. Maybe the Image2000 from Birns & Sawyer". So I keep waiting for new designs, I figure someone will come up with one soon enough.
 
Re: wide angle lens

Has anyone used or heard about the less expensive digital optics wide angle lens. Also how is panasonics wide angle lens? Or should I stick with century?
thanks
 
Re: wide angle lens

Digital Optics is a no-name knockoff brand that is used by unscrupulous resellers to inflate their profit margins while making the unwitting buyer think he's getting a "good deal" (i.e., "buy the DVX for our ridiculously low price of $2900 and we'll let you have a $899 Digital Optics Wide-Angle lens for only $699!"). Do the math, you end up paying $3600 for the camera plus lens, whereas you could have gotten that lens for $60 off ebay. Not that you'd want to pay $60 for it, mind you...

I think the best way to view the Digital Optics lenses is as a gauge to determine the reliability/worthiness of a reseller (i.e., if they carry that line, I use that as a good judge to weed them out of consideration)!

Panasonic's lens looks good. I used it briefly at NAB. Only knock against it is that it's not very wide (.8x wide-angle, so it's wider than stock, but not quite in the same league as .6 lenses...)
 
Re: wide angle lens

Yes barry is correct, stay away from Digital Optics.. bad news.

However, the .8 may be a good solution to alot of people. Its a nice balance of wide-ness and doesnt distort as much as the .6 does.

And as for the Birns and Sawyer mattebox, Im getting one in so I can test it.. im kinda on a rampage to find the perfect mattebox without spending $4000 on an Arri or $2000 on a chroz.
 
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