Wide Angle conversion math

[scottbre 0]

Ok, so I've recently purchased a camera and am trying to figure out what sort of wide angle lense is going to be the most useful to me for the longest amount of time. I know that the wider the angle, the closer you need to be for the video to look good. But I also read somewhere that you can take a wide angle lense and zoom in, to create less of a wide angle effect.

Does all of that sound right so far?

Ok so if the little number on the wide angle lense is the conversion factor (.3 .43 .5 etc), then that can be multiplied by the 35mm zoom equivalent for the camera to get the 35mm equivalent of what the lense will do:

My camera's 35mm equivalent capabilities are 50mm - 400mm I believe.

.3 conv                .42 conv                 .5 conv

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

50mm         15mm                   21mm                      25mm

75mm         22.5mm                 31.5mm                    37.5mm

110mm        33mm                   46.2mm                    55mm

180mm        54mm                   75.6mm                    90mm

So obviously there is some overlap between the different conversion lenses, depending on where it is zoomed to (I only went up to where it would be zoomed in halfway, as some conversion lenses won't allow the camera to zoom any further).

So assuming that all my above assumptions about my understanding of this are accurate, what would be the benefit of having say a .5 lense when you could essentially zoom a .3 lense in to around 80mm or a .42 lense to around 60 mm and have the same effect, along with having the ability to make your picture wider if you wanted to?

I have a feeling I'm missing some elementary truth in all this that I just don't yet know about. Someone enlighten me.

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[quade 4]

Quote

I have a feeling I'm missing some elementary truth in all this that I just don't yet know about.

And that is that the wide angle lens manufacturers aren't always accurate in how they label their lenses.

I have a Sony 0.6 that is MUCH wider than a 0.42 made by another manufacturer.

Also, it depends upon which camera you put the wide angle lens on.

Video cameras aren't all built with the same size imagers or focal lengths on their front ends, so you can't really just take the magnification factor of the wide angle and apply it realiably.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[scottbre 0]

Ok, well then my next question is this. I will shortly be in possession of a Sony DCR-PC105. I am an intermediate level free flyer and RWer and would like to be able to use my camera on either. What would be a good lense for me to learn my camera flying skills on?

Any suggestions on what would be good and why?

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[quade 4]

Really wide is nice for close up freefly.

Really wide makes shooting RW a bit more difficult than it needs to be.

My advise would be to see if you can borrow a lens or two from folks around the drop zone and see what you like for your style of flying.

When all else fails, buy a cheap Sony 0.6. It's not that great of a lens (none of them are really), but it'll give you a reference point from which to judge others.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BETO74 0]

I agree a 100% with Quade, I have a PC 101 witha Diamond .3 and I use it for FF mostly but I have done RW with it too, If you use it for RW you have to fly very close, I tried zoom in 1/4 and 1/8 intending to get a less wider view and my experiment result on a very shaky image seemed to me that the more I zoomed in the more shaky the video gets, so my solution was getting a .5 lens for RW.
I'm waiting for that .25 from Way cool Ind. and see what I can do with it.

It all depends on what you're planning to do with it.

http://web.mac.com/ac057a/iWeb/AC057A/H0M3.html