When you first try the relatively cheap optics to enhance the lens wide angle, you will think its great - but then later when you examine your footage you are going to think to yourself " This is really like taking dug-store $10.00 glasses home in place of having your prescription filled." Think about it.

Thanks for your advice. Food for thought...

Would something like the following be of any use or would I be wasting my money?

In the USA Sony has a different wide angle adaptor:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/671742-REG/Sony_VCLHGA07B_VCL_HGA07B_Full_Range_Conversion.html

Looks to have more glass ... better quality? .. than the one you linked to. Also is a .75 instead of a .8 .. so that gives you a slightly wider angle.

I have no experience with this particular adaptor ... but I own multiple camcorders and a wide angle adaptor is one of my "must have"accessories. Everything from a pair of Sony SD miniDV camcorders to my Canon GL2 to my Canon XH-A1s ... they ALL have (Sony or Canon) wide angle adaptors.

Also, would I benefit from better footage if I invested in a lens hood?

Yes, but ... you need a lens hood to match your lens. IF you get a wide angle adaptor you'll need a wide angle lens hood. If you put a 'normal' lens hood on to a wide angle lens (or adaptor) it will vignette and you'll see the lens hood in your images. BUT if you don't have/use a wide angle adaptor you should get one for your 'normal' setup.

FWIW, I invested in a .66x Wide Angle lens from Raynox and like brighterside, I now use it a lot, specially indoors, tight groups and in panoramic scenes. Cameras are HV20 and M41, though.

I have the previous Sony wide angle lens shown on B&H. .75 view is wider then you think. a wide lens distorts on the edges some what but nothing bad. I use it quite a bit. It's got three sets of optics, the one linked has 4, so it's a better lens.

Not sure what would be the ideal lens hood.

Which of the following types should I look to get?

Jessops

ONLY the butterfly cutout hoods are suitable for wide angle - they have to be matched exactly to the focal length you are creating (if you are doing attachments - then it has to be calculated by a guess). You also have to match in lens thread mount - (if you are adding attachment - not all have mounting lens thread). Beware -NONE is guaranteed to give you the correct results despite the hype and marketing jargon for your purchase.

So ideally, I'd need to have two hoods; one for when using the wide angle and one for use with the standard lens.

The mounting lens thread is 37mm.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers.

Good grief, those lens hoods at those prices should be solid gold.
Check eBay, heaps of 37mm lens hoods at 10% of Sony's prices. The collapsable rubber ones have served us very well. They lock at 3 different positions which means they cover most focal lengths plus being rubber they provide some protection for the camera in a fall.

Bob.

I've been looking at eBay. Just wanted to show some sort of list to give an idea of what I've been looking at.

Are these types suitable?
Rubber 37mm Collapsible Lens Hood

DC1 New Black Lens Hood 37mm For Canon VIXIA HF M300 VIXIA HF21 HF M31 HF M36

I'd start by buying one of the rubber ones (I have quite a collection), I mean at those prices you cannot go wrong.

Bob.

a wide angle lens increases the chance of lens flare so always use a hood with it.
Wide angle will also make unwanted motion less noticeable for instance filming from a boat etc.
If possible try it first before you buy , you want to get a rectilinear wide-angle lenses or close as possible.

Twelve years back when I first got involved with videography I bought a simple clip-on WA lens for my Sony camcorder. For occasional use, it worked great, but you couldn't use the full zoom range of the camera. Still, for those times when I wanted a wider view, it was indispensable.

For later cameras I bought "zoom-through" lenses which were much larger and heavier but which could be kept on the camera during the day.

For my HD Sony FX1 camera I bought the big and heavy Sony .8x lens. You could really hurt someone if you threw it at them, but it was/is a great lens. The "HG" in the part number means "High Grade," suitable for HD work. The only time I leave it off is when it's clear I won't be needing any wide shots.

Incidentally, there is a slight amount of non-linearity in the corners with this lens, which could be something common to all WA lenses--I just don't know. I would never notice this non-linearity except for one effect--if I use DeShaker on a hand-held shot, one can notice a bit of a wobble effect in the corners. Not significant, but it's there once you know what to look for.

"Incidentally, there is a slight amount of non-linearity in the corners with this lens, which could be something common to all WA lenses--I just don't know."

It is common to all WA lenses, the ones that us mortals can afford. Rory mentioned "rectilinear' WA lenses and such things do exist but they are very seriously expensive apparently because they're very difficult to manufacture. In part the added cost is because they use glass with a low refractive index and such glass is very soft and anything soft is way harder to machine, kind of like trying to machine butter. Even when a good lens is ground it then needs a lot of protection from flourite coatings.


Back in the land of us mortals.

Maverick, I got a couple of the el chepo rubber hoods yesterday in 52mm to suit out NEX30. Out wide and with the rubber hood fully extended you will get serious portholing. With the rubber pulled right back I think you're clear howeve with a WA adaptor you still might have an issue because not only is the FOV wider but you're moving the hood further forward.

Don't dispair, the el cheapo rubber hood is still great value because it contains a threaded ring and that you can use to roll your own lens hood using black cardboard and gaffer tape.
When shoooting indoors you probably don't need a hood anyway however for outdoor lanscape shots it's very likely the sun will directly hit the fron element of the lens and flare or loss of contrast is inevitable. You can wrangle that with a lens flag or a matte box you can easily make yourself.

ps: For all manner of light wrangling, Rosco's Cinefoil is fantastic stuff to have on hand.

Bob.

We use the Sony VCL-HG0737C lens (0.7X, 37mm), which is fairly tolerant to pointing towards the sun without a hood and can be used with the full zoom range of the HDR-XR520 camera. It has slight barrel distortion, but that can be beneficial in many cases (the walls at the base of tall buildings are more or less vertical rather than sloping).

It seems to be a discontinued model.