You could get a used Canon HV20 maybe - I beleive the canon 43 mm wide lens is 0.7.

/Ulf

The Sanyo VPC-FH1 with one of the accessory wide angle lenses. It record full 1920x1080 at 60p and uses 37mm screw-in filters and lenses, Sanyo has several wide angle lenses available in their store or you can find other lenses at the usual places.

http://us.sanyo.com/Dual-Cameras/VPC-FH1BK-Full-1080p-HD-Video-and-8MP-Digital-Photos

I agree - Sanyo. I bought the HD2000 for a cruise to Alaska and liked it so much that I also bought the less-expensive VH1 - which also is smaller. The latter has a 37 mm thread, which allows me to use the Sony .7 wide-angle adapter that I had purchased for my pair of HC1s (the HD2000 has a 41.5 mm thread, precluding use of my 37mm adapter lenses without a size reducer). If I needed a wider view, I'd get the Sanyo .5 adapter, which gets good reviews (some say it's sharper than the Sony). The camera is really small - just a bit too large for shirt pocket but OK for pants pocket, so - yes - the lens more-or-less doubles the weight and size. The HD2000 is a bit larger, but does have mic in & headphone out.

Just to clarify, the less-expensive version of the HD2000 is the FH1, not the VH1.

Thanks for the links and the cool ideas.
I use my 'wide angle' lens so much, I don't take it off anymore. I sort of forgot all about having it on and needing it for the stuff I'm always doing and wasn't even considering the lens aspect. I almost went for the Aiptek, but luckily I took my regular camera out of its case and noticed the lens. The FH1 may be the way I have to go. I'll study some more, to be sure.
Any other knowledge .... anybody?

If you don't need a lot of pixels then the Hero from GoPro might be worth a look.

http://www.goprocamera.com/

One things for sure, it is WIDE.

Bob.

I have two comments on the use of wide angle adapters:

1. Make sure that the lens is of high quality, else it may negate your HD advantage. This may mean going for a 0.7X rather than 0.5X unit to get the best quality.

2. This is just speculation at this stage since I haven't carried out the tests yet, but I suspect the wide angle adapter may affect the focus and/or stabilization with HD, at least with some cameras.

My reasons for thinking this are as follows. We normally shoot using a wide adapter and only take it off for telephoto shots. We have used it on a SD Sony DCR-TRV80E for several years with no issue, but when it came to grief while overseas, we hastily bought a Sony HDR-HC7E, and also began shooting in HD. With this camera, in low light particularly, the picture is inclined to jitter while panning unless the pan is very slow. Also, auto focus can also be problematic at times, perhaps focusing on dust particles or reflections in the lens. We just thought it was the nature of the beast and it may well be.

We have recently bought a Sony HDR-XR520VE, but have yet to use it. While reading through the manual, I noticed that the setup menu allows you to specify when you are using a wide angle or telephoto adapter. It says, "Use this function to record using the optimum compensation for camera shake and focus for each lens." Presumably if the function is not set then misbehaviour such as the HC7 gives might be expected.

Another take might be to mount an Anamorphic lens, squeeze it down then bring it back with Vegas.
JJK