Sony F717 and Wide Angle (New Owner)

Hi All,

I came back to digital photography after Sony's F717 restored my faith
in it. I love the camera and it's manual controls, but I would like a
wider lens. So....

I don't want to pay $200+ for Sony Wide Angle, I was shopping around
and saw that Digital Optics .5x Pro Wide lens for a very good deal.
Does anyone use this on their 707/717/828? Specifically:

1.) There's a lot of threads on how AF doesn't work with the wide
angle? Is it true? The advertisement states that this lens is "AF
Compatible"

2.) Does the hologram focus work with these? (The infrared grid)


TIA,

Igor.

On 10 Sep 2004 11:53:34 -0700, (Igor) wrote:

Hi All,

I came back to digital photography after Sony's F717 restored my faith
in it. I love the camera and it's manual controls, but I would like a
wider lens. So....

I don't want to pay $200+ for Sony Wide Angle, I was shopping around
and saw that Digital Optics .5x Pro Wide lens for a very good deal.
Does anyone use this on their 707/717/828? Specifically:

1.) There's a lot of threads on how AF doesn't work with the wide
angle? Is it true? The advertisement states that this lens is "AF
Compatible"

2.) Does the hologram focus work with these? (The infrared grid)


TIA,

Igor.

I don't know anything about that particular lens so I can't help
with a direct answer, sorry.

But if you want more wide-angle range with a 0.33x lens you might
want to look at the test results of the "Pro-Optic 0.25x Super
Fish-eye" on this page http://koyaanis.tripod.com/misc/index.html
the first link on that page.

It's advertised as a 0.25x lens but if you read that test you'll
find out it performs as a 0.33x lens on the F717 giving very nice
photos in the 22-36mm (35mm equivalent) focal length range. If you
want to use it as intended as a fish-eye lens just zoom out wider
for the usual fish-eye effects.

I use one of these so I know it works fine with auto-focus. You
can't use the hologram focus-assist because of internal reflections
and because the angle of the laser is greatly altered through it.
You don't need to set anything special in the menus to tell the
camera it is there, just attach and shoot. I used it extensively on
a vacation through some mountains that afforded many spectacular
wide-angle vistas. Nearly half of my photos were taken with this
lens. Some of them turned out so nice that with just a little bit of
sharpening they have been printed at 11"x14" and look just fine. If
you keep in mind to avoid either end of your camera's f/stops range
(as suggested by and shown in that review) you'll be very satisfied
with its performance, especially with the low cost involved. For
sharpest results I try to keep my camera between f/4.0 and f/6.3
when using it.

I just checked and www.adorama.com still sells it for $79.95.

Here's the link to the page for that lens:

http://www.adorama.com/LNF58.html?se...eye&item_no=12

But do read that lens review first. There's an important warning
about what kinds of lens adapter-rings to get for it. If you attach
it as it is sold without the right adapter-rings you could damage
the lens on your F717 because it screws into your F717 lens so
deeply.

I can tell you that you will have a great amount of vignetting with anything
less than a x.5 or so. I have a x.42 that has vignetting and a x.7 that has
none. Just something for you to add into the equation.

Seymore...
www.SonyCams.com
Owner of an F717... and luvin' it!
remove "REMOVE" to reply directly


"Igor" wrote in message
om...
Hi All,

I came back to digital photography after Sony's F717 restored my faith
in it. I love the camera and it's manual controls, but I would like a
wider lens. So....

I don't want to pay $200+ for Sony Wide Angle, I was shopping around
and saw that Digital Optics .5x Pro Wide lens for a very good deal.
Does anyone use this on their 707/717/828? Specifically:

1.) There's a lot of threads on how AF doesn't work with the wide
angle? Is it true? The advertisement states that this lens is "AF
Compatible"

2.) Does the hologram focus work with these? (The infrared grid)


TIA,

Igor.

I can tell you that you will have a great amount of vignetting with anything
less than a x.5 or so. I have a x.42 that has vignetting and a x.7 that has
none. Just something for you to add into the equation.

Seymore...

Thanks,

I'm not very concerned about that, since F717 provides enough
resolution to crop out the vignetted parts.

Does your AF work OK through this lens though?

Thanks,

Igor.

I can tell you that you will have a great amount of vignetting with anything
less than a x.5 or so. I have a x.42 that has vignetting and a x.7 that has
none. Just something for you to add into the equation.

Seymore...

Thanks,

I'm not very concerned about that, since F717 provides enough
resolution to crop out the vignetted parts.

Does your AF work OK through this lens though?

Thanks,

Igor.

I can tell you that you will have a great amount of vignetting with anything
less than a x.5 or so. I have a x.42 that has vignetting and a x.7 that has
none. Just something for you to add into the equation.

Seymore...

Thanks,

I'm not very concerned about that, since F717 provides enough
resolution to crop out the vignetted parts.

Does your AF work OK through this lens though?

Thanks,

Igor.

Here's the link to the page for that lens:

http://www.adorama.com/LNF58.html?se...eye&item_no=12


Thanks, I'll check it out!

On 10 Sep 2004 11:53:34 -0700, (Igor) wrote:

Hi All,

I came back to digital photography after Sony's F717 restored my faith
in it. I love the camera and it's manual controls, but I would like a
wider lens. So....

I don't want to pay $200+ for Sony Wide Angle, I was shopping around
and saw that Digital Optics .5x Pro Wide lens for a very good deal.
Does anyone use this on their 707/717/828? Specifically:

1.) There's a lot of threads on how AF doesn't work with the wide
angle? Is it true? The advertisement states that this lens is "AF
Compatible"

2.) Does the hologram focus work with these? (The infrared grid)


TIA,

Igor.

That's this lens:
http://www2.sakar.com/modules.php?na...w_id=4&start=0

Note it's described as a "digital" lens. No such thing.
Note it's also described as a "Camera/Video" lens; personal
observation: these types of lenses are designed for video cameras, and
the digital camera moniker is added simply because the lens will fit
the digital cameras. The quality is the pits. Video cameras simply
don't need the optical quality that digital cameras need, and the
lenses are designed and built to the video needs.
Save up for the better lens.

Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

Yea... The AF works fine. I have yet to find any real active use for the
x.42, as the vignetting is quite bold!

BTW, here's the Sony x.7 WA in action...
http://www.macmurph.com/photodb/albu...27&showowner=1

Also, I concur with the statements of Big Bill. Save your money and get some
good glass. You can buy the "cheap" stuff, but you get the quality you are
willing to pay for.

Seymore...
www.SonyCams.com
Owner of an F717... and luvin' it!
remove "REMOVE" to reply directly


"Igor" wrote in message
om...
I can tell you that you will have a great amount of vignetting with
anything
less than a x.5 or so. I have a x.42 that has vignetting and a x.7 that
has
none. Just something for you to add into the equation.

Seymore...

Thanks,

I'm not very concerned about that, since F717 provides enough
resolution to crop out the vignetted parts.

Does your AF work OK through this lens though?

Thanks,

Igor.