.5 wide angle lens with macro

Camera = Digital Rebel XT

Ok, I realize that I may have the "low" quality .5 wide angle add on
lens with macro; however the following 2 problems are so bad that i'm
hoping its the operator.

1) With the wide angle on the kit lens; the picture is sharp and in
focus; however the whole edge of the picture is rounded. When I look
out on the web of: "this is without a wide angle lens & this picture is
with the wide angle lens"; I don't see any roundess in their pictures?

2) First problem is minor compared to this one..... I assume to use
the macro portion of the lens all I need to do is unscrew the wider
part of the lens off. When I do that (so all that is attached to my
kit lens is the skinny section labled "macro"); 100% out of focus no
matter what I do: point close, point far, go to 18mm, go to 55mm,
autozoom, manual zoom, change the setting to the "flower". Doesn't
matter it's so bad, that the camera won't even take a picture (can't
blame it, can't see anything through the viewfinder anyway). Any
ideas....what fun to be the newbee.

Thanks.

"dohc46" wrote in message
oups.com...
Camera = Digital Rebel XT

Ok, I realize that I may have the "low" quality .5 wide angle add on
lens with macro; however the following 2 problems are so bad that i'm
hoping its the operator.

1) With the wide angle on the kit lens; the picture is sharp and in
focus; however the whole edge of the picture is rounded. When I look
out on the web of: "this is without a wide angle lens & this picture is
with the wide angle lens"; I don't see any roundess in their pictures?

2) First problem is minor compared to this one..... I assume to use
the macro portion of the lens all I need to do is unscrew the wider
part of the lens off. When I do that (so all that is attached to my
kit lens is the skinny section labled "macro"); 100% out of focus no
matter what I do: point close, point far, go to 18mm, go to 55mm,
autozoom, manual zoom, change the setting to the "flower". Doesn't
matter it's so bad, that the camera won't even take a picture (can't
blame it, can't see anything through the viewfinder anyway). Any
ideas....what fun to be the newbee.

Thanks.

Hi.

Sorry, I don't know any specific answers to your questions, other than to
say that using "Add On" lenses rather defeats the whole purpose of SLR
Cameras.

You would get vastly better results using a Wide Angle lens, even if it was
the very cheapest on the market.

Roy G

"dohc46" writes:
Camera = Digital Rebel XT

Ok, I realize that I may have the "low" quality .5 wide angle add on
lens with macro; however the following 2 problems are so bad that i'm
hoping its the operator.

The basic problem is that screw-on wide angle attachements should not be
used on a DSLR - period.

Wide-angle attachment lenses are an optical compromise at best, and are
typically designed to do their job on video cameras that have low
resolution in the first place (so the adapter doesn't have to produce
very sharp images) and have a small entrance pupil because the lens
focal length is very short, which in turn is because the sensor is very
small.

Wide-angle attachments intended specifically for digital still cameras
might give sharper images, but they're still designed to be used with
short focal length main lenses.

Your DSLR has a longer focal length lens with larger entrance pupil, and
the add-on lens just isn't intended for use with it.

The way you *are* intended to get a wide field of view on a DSLR is to
change the lens completely to one with a shorter focal length. This
will give far better results.

Who sold you a wide angle add-on lens for a DSLR anyway? Don't go back
there.

Dave