Wide angle adapters for Micro Four Thirds

[dunca]

Can anybody compare the wide angle adapters with low distortion that can be used with Micro Four Thirds, especially Panasonic 14-45mm kit lens ?

I found these options:

Olympus 0.8 A28 (needs convertor for Panasonic 14-45mm kit lens)
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1041&message=35270418

Nikon 0.75 NH-WM75 (does not need convertor)
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~komatsu/G1NikonWide75.html
http://tact.air-nifty.com/thp/2009/09/night-scenery-o.html

Raynox 0.66x DCR-6600PRO (does not need convertor)
http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/dcr/dcr6600pro/indexdcr6600eg.htm
http://www.lensmateonline.com/newsite/Raynox6600.html

Are there any other Wide Angle adapters with low distortion?

 

[William Ing]

Several MFT shooters, myself included, have written about this quite extensively in the past. For my money, the .8x Konica Minolta ACW 100 wide converter is far and away the best option if you're looking to put any kind of wide converter on the 14-45 Panny zoom. The idea was first suggested many months ago by Frank Jones. You can see what Frank's G1, w/ 14-45 and KM ACW rig, looks like, along with sample images here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/...ms/readflat.asp?forum=1041&message=31768490

I can personally attest to everything Jones says about the image quality of the combination. Keep in mind that the Minolta ACW is no longer in production, but it is still often available used online. And even brand new and boxed for $129:

http://igadgetnow.com/...terlensfordimagea1a2anda200digitalcamerasacw100.aspx

You will need a low-cost 52 to 49mm stepdown ring. You get an effective FOV of 22.4mm, f/3.5, and you can do limited zooming on the wide end so that you can easily shoot at an effective FOV of 24mm if desired.

DRAWBACKS: Like all wide converters, this is a substantial piece of glass. Together with the 14-45, it has a somewhat flared profile. It has no filter thread, so raindrops and fingerprints can be a bit more annoying, and polarizers are out unless you're willing to handhold a big polarizer over the front element. And use of any onboard flash (GF1, G1, GH1, EPL-1) will generate lens shadow.

 

[William Ing]

Sorry, everybody:

The two links I supplied in my previous post seem broken. Here's the correct one to see Frank Jones' original posting about his rig:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1041&message=31772122&q=frank+jones&qf=m

And here's the link if you're shopping for a new Konica Minolta ACW wide converter:

http://www.newworldvideodirect.com/productdetail.asp?productid=1291&refid=gorilenacw-100&gclid=CL6X5qPS3J0CFSUsawodJBf-Mw

 

[William Ing]

Sorry, everybody:

The two links I supplied in my previous post seem broken. Here's the correct one to see Frank Jones' original posting about his rig:

http://forums.dpreview.com/...amp ;message=31772122&q=frank+jones&qf=m

And here's the link if you're shopping for a new Konica Minolta ACW wide converter:
http://www.newworldvideodirect.com/...00&gclid=CL6X5qPS3J0CFSUsawodJBf-Mw

William Ing

 

[Gavin Stapleton]

Sorry, everybody:

The two links I supplied in my previous post seem broken. Here's the correct one to see Frank Jones' original posting about his rig:

http://forums.dpreview.com/...amp ;message=31772122&q=frank+jones&qf=m

And here's the link if you're shopping for a new Konica Minolta ACW wide converter:
http://www.newworldvideodirect.com/...00&gclid=CL6X5qPS3J0CFSUsawodJBf-Mw

William Ing

Your links are still broken. I did a review on 3 wide converters on the E-PL1, one of which was the Raynox DCR-6600PRO mentioned above. Note that you need the 14-42mm mkII lens on Olympus lenses to use wide converters.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1041&message=37701701

 

[William Ing]

Thanks Gavin:

Yeah, I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I tested the links separately and they work, but when I post them on dpreview they're busted. Oh well, if somebody really wants to read about this wide converter, I hope the search engine will help. Frank Jones' original post (from several years ago) with a shot of his Konica Minolta wide converter mounted on the Panny 14-45, along with sample photos, can be readily found.

Sorry about the busted links. But based on the lack of past interest in this particular wide converter option (I've posted on this subject a number of times), I doubt that many people are going to be upset...

Wm. Ing

 

[Gavin Stapleton]

Hi William,

Yes, it's a shame this area gets no interest as it did in the past with P&S cameras. No one seems to be willing to spend the money and give them a go. I am considering getting the Olympus WCON-P01 to try on my 14-42mm II lens. It only gives 0.8X multiplier, but it's nice and light, and if the corners don't get too soft it might be a good deal.

Gav.

 

[flikmy]

I'm interested in being able to use a wide angle converter for my 14mm/2.5. I wonder if anyone else has tried it.

Often, on posts about using a converter it gets knocked down because of really bad IQ (sometimes because they are using some cheap opteka). But I wonder if that is really the case. I guess the converters that you guys are looking at are relatively pricey ( > $100 ).

 

[Gavin Stapleton]

If the 14/2.5 has an internal focusing element, you might find a converter that works well on it. A converter might be champion on one lens, and then hopeless on another.

 

[StrangerTF]

I'm interested in being able to use a wide angle converter for my 14mm/2.5. I wonder if anyone else has tried it.

Often, on posts about using a converter it gets knocked down because of really bad IQ (sometimes because they are using some cheap opteka). But I wonder if that is really the case. I guess the converters that you guys are looking at are relatively pricey ( > $100 ).

For a low cost alternative, there is the Nikon WC-e68, which is originally intended for the Coolpix line. I haven't really used it much yet, so I can't attest to it's optical quality, but it seems to be well regarded for an inexpensive conversion lens. It is certainly solidly constructed as it is 46mm thread it attached to my 20mm 1.7 without any need for an adapter.

Used it can be had for a little as $42 http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Converter-Coolpix-Digital-25105/dp/B00006B7TY

 

[pbar]

Just my 2 cents ...

I followed Jones and Wiliams advise and am very satisfied with the Minolta ACW 100 converter.

Picture quality is very good. The barel distortion is so small that mostly I even do not attempt to correct in e.g. photoshop. If found no significant chromatic aberation issues.

The nice thing is that you can screw it on the lens without exposing the sensor to environmental contamination.

Nothing is perfect but after some testing, I even bought a second (spare) one on e-bay for around 65 € (the biggest risk is maybe dropping it during manipulation).