Is the wide angle lens screwed on directly to the camera, or do you have a skylight filter in between? On my camera, I have to remove the filter to avoid this vignetting effect with the wide angle converter.

Richard Hunter

Quote from an unhappy customer:

"When they have something out of stock they never let you know, instead they pretend they are verifying your credit card. Customer Service on the phone is even worse, there is no system, everyone who answers simply transfers to someone else and they are RUDE.
It is 3 weeks now and I just discovered they shipped my camera with the wrong name on it and it's been three days I have been trying to get them to send a fax to fedex to clear up the mistake and it is just the same as with placing the order, they are transfering me from one person to another and nothing is ever done. And, of course I can't bother to write an email because I know one of two things will happen, either get the "we will do it ASAP" answer (and it is never done) or no one answers at all. Even complaints they don't answer.
I am thinking of calling my bank and cancelling that $2000 order I placed with them, IT LOOKS LIKE FRAUD TO ME. "

Try returning the lens and see what happens. Next time stay away from New York City vendors if you might want to return something later or don't want things which are supposed to be included stripped from the box and sold as extra cost accessories. I have lived in New York all my life and have been dealing with these types in electronics and cameras for as many years as I can remember. I buy occasionally in B&H, but I can see what I am getting. The others won't even let you look at it first and they lie through their teeth. Some like Tri-State will charge you a restocking fee if you buy it, open it IN THE STORE, find something wrong, and want to return it while they are standing there. If I order from a vendor in Colorado I will get it faster than from a New York vendor even though I may live 20 miles from the store.
New York City camera and electronics vendors have always gotten the suckers the same way. Through low ball pricing which in the end costs the victim more. They used to do it through camera and electronics magazine ads with phony prices and now enjoy the luxury of the internet and low price search engines which people stupidly use that serve only to lure the unsuspecting out-of-towner into the dragon's lair.
Do yourself a favor and at least try to return the lens to "Adorama". If you get the usual "shtick" you will have to eat it and stay within a narrow zoom range. Maybe you'll get lucky with them and get treated like a human being. You never know, they may have hired someone from North Caroliina recently.

John

Auggy,

I take it this is your wideangle attachment: Raynox Video HD-5000

It has 37mm threads. Is that the filter thread size of your camcorder lens, or was a "converter" involved? Also, the question about a possible intermediate filter is very relevant. Looks like a pretty good lens.

A few camcorder designers realize the importance of wideangle, and make their built-in lens wideangle. It's safer to attach a telephoto converter than a wideangle converter, as you have discovered. If your camcorder has 37mm threads and you don't have any intervening filter, this lens should work and if it doesn't, Raynox has inaccurately described their product.

-- Seeker --

Just my not so humble two cents worth but if I got the thing at a 50% discount, I'd check in with the maker before rasing hell with the vendor.

(NO, I do NOT support NYC hawkers)

If the lens on the camera is unusually wide to start with, then this vignetting is to be expected, particularly from a low end device such as the Raynox.

If you really need a quality wide-angle auxiliary lens, then you have to go to a professional grade device, such as available from Century Optic. Yes, they are pricey, but they do the job
http://www.centuryoptics.com/

I ran into this problem years ago mounting an Angenuix 17 x 64mm
"C" mount lens behind an anamorphic adapter lens and wound up with three anamorphic lenses before I got rid of the Vignetting. The wide angle lens has to be physically bigger to eliminate the vignetting, of course this being a very simplistic view. Forgot to mention that I had to Chuck up the 17 x 64 lens in a lathe and cut off the front shade and the same with the rear end of the anamorphic lens to get them as close together as possible and then design a coupling bearing to fasten both of them together.

JJK

Yeah, I fine tune all my video gear in the machine shop, too...

I use a Canon WD58 on my Sony VX2000. No visible vignetting. Around $170.
The reason I suggested he try to return it (a fruitless proposition with most NYC vendors) is that I too believe that the lens itself is his problem.
John

Just received my WD-58 for my VX-2000. Wow.

I got lucky and got it on eBay for $100 shipped.

What an impressive hunk of glass. It fits a 58mm thread, which is mostly the VX-2000 and the Canon GL-2 (its primary target, presumably).

I also have a Sony VCL-0637H .7 wide-angle for my little camcorder. It comes with a 37mm thread, though I use a step-down ring to get 30mm. It's also zoom-through with no vignetting in the corners when fully wide. On the internet it's about $40, I think.

Yes the lens has a adapter ring to make it fit the diameter of the orignal lens.
it think its a 37mm lens on the dv953. I think the wida angle is something like 42 or something like that. So first you screw in the adapter like a filter then screw in the wide angle.

DANGIT why dont they tell us this would be a problem.

Auggy

yes i saw it uses an adapter ring but it does not say that if you use an adapter ring on a camera it you will have a problem at the widest zoom.
they should notify of this problem.

Thanks also I will email them

Auggy

auggybendoggy
The Panny DV953 has a 43mm attachment. The Raynox lens you bought is a 37mm. You will get vignetting with this lens. You should have bought the Raynox 6600 which is a 43mm lens.

guys i made a huge mistake!!!

When you first take the lens out of the box it has an adapter ring on it already. I did not know this so I threw on another ring on top of that one.
In looking at it I thought ....perhaps i need to check that so I went back to the manual and bingo I was using 2 adapter rings. I took off one and now it works flawlessly...nice lens.

Thanks for the help all

guys i made a huge mistake!!!

When you first take the lens out of the box it has an adapter ring on it already. I did not know this so I threw on another ring on top of that one.
In looking at it I thought ....perhaps i need to check that so I went back to the manual and bingo I was using 2 adapter rings. I took off one and now it works flawlessly...nice lens.

Thanks for the help all