Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

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ChrisBarcellos

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Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostFri Apr 05, 2013 10:03 pm

I wondered in other threads if anyone has tried a simple wide angle front of the lens adapter. It seemed no one had. I sent away for a simple one at $ 20.00, got it in a day or two, and have done a couple of preliminary test. Are we over thinking the need for wider lenses, or will this work for you needs. You be the judge.






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Brad Ballew

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostFri Apr 05, 2013 10:32 pm

It would be interesting to see how some of the more expensive ones hold up to close scrutiny.
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Benton Collins

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostFri Apr 05, 2013 11:59 pm

Century Optics makes pro converters which are very good, but they may not hold up to the demands of 2.5K fillmaking. These were probably meant for ENG type capture.
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Marco Solorio

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSat Apr 06, 2013 4:49 am

Looks like this this topic became a new thread. Here's what I wrote in the other thread:

I've been using wide angle adapters as well. A bit of a throwback to the early DV days in fact. Quality can and will make a difference though. Poor quality lens adapters will get soft at the edges (even on the 2.3 crop factor of the BMCC) and chromatic aberration can be quite noticeable, ESPECIALLY on cheap glass, and especially if mounted to a primary lens that is of poor quality. We've been using the optics from 16x9 Inc. and been having good luck, but YMMV depending how critical you can/want to be on these wide angle adapters for the reasons I mentioned. But in short, it's possible to bring your favorite lens from a 2.3 crop factor, down to say 1.6X, which people are used to doing when going from say, a 5D to a 7D (your 24mm can become a 33mm instead of a 55mm). It's actually possible to even get a 1:1 ratio (so your 24mm stays a 24mm as if it were on a 5D), but heavy distortion can come into play. I actually went deep into this as part of my 2-way workshop in Atlanta last weekend!

Cheers,
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Brad Ballew

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSat Apr 06, 2013 2:25 pm

So I took the chance and purchased the 16x9 Inc. EXii 0.6x wide adapter lens http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html

When it arrives I'll do some tests. If it holds up well I may just end up selling my 14mm and 8 mm. In which case it will pay for itself. :) Well see how it does.
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Simon McLean

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSat Apr 06, 2013 11:13 pm

Thanks for the link Marco.

Brad Ballew wrote:So I took the chance and purchased the 16x9 Inc. EXii 0.6x wide adapter lens http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html

When it arrives I'll do some tests. If it holds up well I may just end up selling my 14mm and 8 mm. In which case it will pay for itself. :) Well see how it does.


Brad: would love to see a comparison test. Would you be into posting before/after pics?
This could be a little breakthrough.
Also, if the physics are basically the same as the Metabones Speedbooster, then you may very
well be gaining the equivalent of an extra stop of light using this adapter.
Please let us know if that's the case.

Cheers
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Marco Solorio

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSat Apr 06, 2013 11:21 pm

Simon M wrote:Also, if the physics are basically the same as the Metabones Speedbooster, then you may very
well be gaining the equivalent of an extra stop of light using this adapter.

It wouldn't be the same as the Metabones Speedbooster in that the Speedbooster is using all of the FF glass, where a wide angle converter is simply widening the front of the glass from the 2.3x crop.
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John Richard

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSat Apr 06, 2013 11:50 pm

Benton wrote:Century Optics makes pro converters which are very good, but they may not hold up to the demands of 2.5K fillmaking. These were probably meant for ENG type capture.


Because of this thread, I pulled out an old Century/Schneider .8 wide angle converter that was bought for use with our XLH1 and it was labeled as "HD" FWIW ...

Popped it on a Canon 35mm 1.4 prime and it looked good to go. Widened it up somewhat. Looked pretty sharp but did not throw it up on the projector.
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Brad Ballew

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSun Apr 07, 2013 6:31 am

Simon M wrote:Thanks for the link Marco.

Brad Ballew wrote:So I took the chance and purchased the 16x9 Inc. EXii 0.6x wide adapter lens http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html

When it arrives I'll do some tests. If it holds up well I may just end up selling my 14mm and 8 mm. In which case it will pay for itself. :) Well see how it does.


Brad: would love to see a comparison test. Would you be into posting before/after pics?
This could be a little breakthrough.
Also, if the physics are basically the same as the Metabones Speedbooster, then you may very
well be gaining the equivalent of an extra stop of light using this adapter.
Please let us know if that's the case.

Cheers


I will be doing a comparison. I'll try to shoot a few different things to get a good feel of how it looks in different situations. I don't have test charts but I thought a brick wall would be one good shot. Could help identify softness and distortion better maybe? Open to suggestions as to what you would like to see.

I am actually going to sell my 8mm fisheye and 14mm and get the Canon is 17-55 2.8. I keep hearing people rave about this lens and apparently it's pretty sharp wide open. Since neither of the aforementioned wide lenses get sharp until at least 5.6.. I will be effectively covering those ranges while having the benefits of a faster lens. That's the plan anyway... we'll see how it all pans out.
Brad Ballew
Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Motion Graphics
http://www.bradballew.com/
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Simon McLean

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostSun Apr 07, 2013 3:11 pm

Brad Ballew wrote:
Simon M wrote:Thanks for the link Marco.

Brad Ballew wrote:So I took the chance and purchased the 16x9 Inc. EXii 0.6x wide adapter lens http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html

When it arrives I'll do some tests. If it holds up well I may just end up selling my 14mm and 8 mm. In which case it will pay for itself. :) Well see how it does.


Brad: would love to see a comparison test. Would you be into posting before/after pics?
This could be a little breakthrough.
Also, if the physics are basically the same as the Metabones Speedbooster, then you may very
well be gaining the equivalent of an extra stop of light using this adapter.
Please let us know if that's the case.

Cheers


I will be doing a comparison. I'll try to shoot a few different things to get a good feel of how it looks in different situations. I don't have test charts but I thought a brick wall would be one good shot. Could help identify softness and distortion better maybe? Open to suggestions as to what you would like to see.

I am actually going to sell my 8mm fisheye and 14mm and get the Canon is 17-55 2.8. I keep hearing people rave about this lens and apparently it's pretty sharp wide open. Since neither of the aforementioned wide lenses get sharp until at least 5.6.. I will be effectively covering those ranges while having the benefits of a faster lens. That's the plan anyway... we'll see how it all pans out.


Brad: excellent. I like the brick wall idea. Maybe throw in a landscape shot for perspective. Thanks for doing this. Can't wait to see your results. I actually don't have the BMCC yet, so this super helpful.
Pretty much what I was thinking lens -wise. With the 17-55 you're covered from a respectable wide to 125mm FF equivalent. Great range with just one lens.

cheers.
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Brad Ballew

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostThu Apr 11, 2013 2:30 pm

OK I just got my wide angle adapter http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html and did a couple of quick comparison shots. I'll do some more thorough comparisons this weekend when I have some more time. I did three shots with my Rokinon 24mm T1.5 Cine lens. One in a Hallway, one in my Living Room, and one facing some window blinds. Those files are labeled as such in the download below.

I also happen to get my Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS lens in yesterday, so I did a little testing on that too.

Here is where things get interesting. For some reason my Canon Zoom is way wider at the equivalent focal length of my Rokinons. The two pics from the Canon were at 28mm and it's wider than my Rokinon 24mm. I wonder why that is?

I haven't had time to really examine the video I shot but my first impression is this:

First the wide angle adapter is built very nice and comes in a nice leather bag.
It does a pretty good job, but perhaps a little soft on the edges.
It changes the focus on my Rokinon 24mm big time! I hit infinity waay before the mark but it doesn't seem to effect how close I can focus.

The Canon 17-55 is another story though. With the adapter on it makes it impossible to focus on anything close until you change the focal length to around 30. At 17mm the closest it can focus is about 10 feet. At 24mm is can focus about 5-6 feet. At 30 it can focus around maybe 2-3 feet.

However, if you move the adapter lens away from the front glass a little it effectively focuses closer and makes the fov a little wider. So if I could find some kind of spacer that would let me move the wide angle adapter about an inch from the front of the lens then I could have something for usable in tighter spaces where I need to focus closer.

I'll do some playing around this weekend. One thing that did come to mind since it seems to change the infinity focus point is I wonder what kind of effect it would have on the Tokina 11-16mm... I never had my camera's flange distance "fixed".

I might rent one this weekend and test it out.

Here are the files so you can see for yourselves:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5DMuQh5UpXMcjBCNF9nVmJaU00&usp=sharing
Brad Ballew
Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Motion Graphics
http://www.bradballew.com/
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Simon McLean

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostThu Apr 11, 2013 4:40 pm

Brad Ballew wrote:OK I just got my wide angle adapter http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html and did a couple of quick comparison shots. I'll do some more thorough comparisons this weekend when I have some more time. I did three shots with my Rokinon 24mm T1.5 Cine lens. One in a Hallway, one in my Living Room, and one facing some window blinds. Those files are labeled as such in the download below.

I also happen to get my Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS lens in yesterday, so I did a little testing on that too.

Here is where things get interesting. For some reason my Canon Zoom is way wider at the equivalent focal length of my Rokinons. The two pics from the Canon were at 28mm and it's wider than my Rokinon 24mm. I wonder why that is?

I haven't had time to really examine the video I shot but my first impression is this:

First the wide angle adapter is built very nice and comes in a nice leather bag.
It does a pretty good job, but perhaps a little soft on the edges.
It changes the focus on my Rokinon 24mm big time! I hit infinity waay before the mark but it doesn't seem to effect how close I can focus.

The Canon 17-55 is another story though. With the adapter on it makes it impossible to focus on anything close until you change the focal length to around 30. At 17mm the closest it can focus is about 10 feet. At 24mm is can focus about 5-6 feet. At 30 it can focus around maybe 2-3 feet.

However, if you move the adapter lens away from the front glass a little it effectively focuses closer and makes the fov a little wider. So if I could find some kind of spacer that would let me move the wide angle adapter about an inch from the front of the lens then I could have something for usable in tighter spaces where I need to focus closer.

I'll do some playing around this weekend. One thing that did come to mind since it seems to change the infinity focus point is I wonder what kind of effect it would have on the Tokina 11-16mm... I never had my camera's flange distance "fixed".

I might rent one this weekend and test it out.

Here are the files so you can see for yourselves:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5DMuQh5UpXMcjBCNF9nVmJaU00&usp=sharing


Hey Brad - thanks for posting those. I look forward to seeing what you get this weekend. I liked your brick wall idea.
Maybe the focal distance issue with the Canon is due to it being a zoom, and how the light moves through the different lens elements. On the prime lens anyway - seems like a winner.
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ChrisBarcellos

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostThu Apr 11, 2013 8:34 pm

Learning some things with the .43 wide adapter.

First, works nice with vintage Nikon 28mm f2.8

Second, take care with the ND placement. I was putting an ND between the adapter and the lens, because I had adapter rings to make it fit that way. However, with the 100mm Series E F 2.8 Nikon prime, I had a lot of color fringing (chromatic aberation ??) in the reds. I posted a frame grab. I then tried same lens and adapter combo without any ND, and noted no fringing. It did of course mean F stop went max since it was bright sun. Finally, I "jury-rigged" a variable ND over the front just to see if the ND would cause fringing. Its seemed not to, or at least was a lot less.

Moral of that story is to me, keep the ND's out front. Vegas frame grab examples here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/914 ... se28mm.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/914 ... ithND8.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/914 ... eddown.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/914 ... ableND.jpg
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Simon McLean

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostThu May 02, 2013 10:58 pm

Brad Ballew wrote:OK I just got my wide angle adapter http://www.adorama.com/ZOX26XWA82.html and did a couple of quick comparison shots. I'll do some more thorough comparisons this weekend when I have some more time. I did three shots with my Rokinon 24mm T1.5 Cine lens. One in a Hallway, one in my Living Room, and one facing some window blinds. Those files are labeled as such in the download below.

I also happen to get my Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS lens in yesterday, so I did a little testing on that too.

Here is where things get interesting. For some reason my Canon Zoom is way wider at the equivalent focal length of my Rokinons. The two pics from the Canon were at 28mm and it's wider than my Rokinon 24mm. I wonder why that is?

I haven't had time to really examine the video I shot but my first impression is this:

First the wide angle adapter is built very nice and comes in a nice leather bag.
It does a pretty good job, but perhaps a little soft on the edges.
It changes the focus on my Rokinon 24mm big time! I hit infinity waay before the mark but it doesn't seem to effect how close I can focus.

The Canon 17-55 is another story though. With the adapter on it makes it impossible to focus on anything close until you change the focal length to around 30. At 17mm the closest it can focus is about 10 feet. At 24mm is can focus about 5-6 feet. At 30 it can focus around maybe 2-3 feet.

However, if you move the adapter lens away from the front glass a little it effectively focuses closer and makes the fov a little wider. So if I could find some kind of spacer that would let me move the wide angle adapter about an inch from the front of the lens then I could have something for usable in tighter spaces where I need to focus closer.

I'll do some playing around this weekend. One thing that did come to mind since it seems to change the infinity focus point is I wonder what kind of effect it would have on the Tokina 11-16mm... I never had my camera's flange distance "fixed".

I might rent one this weekend and test it out.

Here are the files so you can see for yourselves:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5DMuQh5UpXMcjBCNF9nVmJaU00&usp=sharing


Hey Brad - did you ever get a chance to do further testing with that 16x9 wide angle adapter lens?
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ChrisBarcellos

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostTue May 21, 2013 8:40 pm

I just did a slider test with my cheapy wide adapter, and I am pleased with the simplicity and the resulting clip.

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Rudy Satria

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Re: Wider Angles with EF Lens Mount- Is this an Answer ?

PostWed May 22, 2013 5:33 pm

Rudy Iskandar

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