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18 of 18 found the following review helpful:
Not more than O.K.Jul 29, 2008
By FrontPage
I've had this gear for almost a year or more, using it quite often with daily use over weeks straight, and it's getting a 3' rating because the lens quality isn't up to snuff. I'd love to give it 4''s since it's terrific... I mean, terrific... to quick-snap the lens on or off, instead of having to unscrew it, like most of the lens adapters out here. In a snap (pun-intended) you can switch from the wide lens to a telephoto adapter (if you have it) or just use the camera's lens naked. But there's a bit too much purple fringing, and the edge softness is too much to warrant anything more. I'd be almost willing for knocking another star off because, after all - it's about image quality - but these Sony cameras need wide angle vision, more than the manufacturers provided.
One other thing to warn you wonderful reviewers and end-users is that this lens does *not* allow for complete zoom-through recording. In other words, after zooming to about 4X, the camera loses focus and can't focus on far distances. It drops off a cliff by the time you reach 6X, and you're shooting the middle of a cloud any point beyond that. So if you want that option, look for a zoom-through wide angle lens. There are some out here that deliver good quality. Raynox and others, for instance, have a bunch of lenses (and even ultra wide and true fish-eye). Some are better and yet there ore others that just don't cut the roast like other lenses.
Buyer, beware. Any time that any manufacturer - even the original camera manufacturer - designs any optics for mounting in front or behind a wide-range zoom lens, there is a good chance that image quality will have been deteriorated significantly from the original lens. All those zoom optics moving in the camera means there's a good chance that you'll have vignetting, chromatic aberrations, color fringing, edge softness or worse.
It's hard to find a pattern of reviews for all the lens manufacturers out there, so quite often, you may take a gamble by purchasing without trying, since generic lenses are sold for all cameras they'll fit (and, imagine the tons of cameras out here!), so they usually aren't made for any camera at all, but more for making a profit. Look here in Amazon, and in camcorder and digital camera forum sites, to help you with your search, and please, post as much information in reviews here and elsewhere, to help all of us.
Again, this is from a shooter who's worked in one company for 25 years plus. I'm being as fair and forthright as possible.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 More fisheye than wide angleJun 27, 2008
By E. Aquino
Purchased this converter as I wanted something more compact than other wide angle converters. If you want the fisheye look, then get this lens, otherwise it's unusable for regular shots as it distorts perspective too much.
I have always put a wide angle converter on my miniDV and HD cams. I have a couple of Sony and Canon wide angles that cost anywhere from $100-$180. Those have little to no fisheye distortion and most of the time you can just leave them permanently on your camera for close range shooting.
I wanted to like this lens solely because it's compact and can easily be removed, but the image is just unacceptable.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Almost perfectMar 31, 2008
By H. Lee
I already own the VCL-0637H lens which is about twice as deep and is also about twice as heavy. I found this lens on clearance at a Walmart for $21 so I thought I would give it a shot. It was SO much lighter and looked much nicer because it didn't protrude from the camcorder as much. The carrying case for it is really cute too. I was so happy until I tried to zoom.
For some reason my camera can't zoom at all with it on, but I had no problems zooming in with the other wide angle lens. I only get about 1/3 of the way into the zoom and everything goes blurry. Maybe it was because the other lens was a 2-lens system and this is only 1? I tried slowly going into the zoom but it still didn't help. I get to that magic point in the zoom and everything went blurry. I know most folks probably won't be zooming in with the wide angle lens on. So, this lens may work just fine for them. But this meant that I would have to take it on/off more often. So, I'm giving it 4/5 because it was almost perfect.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Not what I expectedApr 21, 2008
By M. ramirez
"Myrco73"
I bought this lense for a DCR-HC28 MiniDV Handycam® Camcorder, it does bring the adaptor for the camcorder, but the lense is so wide that it covers the focus sensor so it is impossible to use it this way.
It is a shame because the seller wouldn't take it back since the package has to be "broken" to take the lense out, so I'm stock with it for good. Even Sony Style has it advertised as compatible to my camcorder, WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!
Don't waste your moneyJul 25, 2011
By Alford
Bought it for C$69.99 (Canadian), went for vacation and regretted not have returned in time. 3 issues with this lens compared to my other cheap conversion wide lens. A) The adaptor that screws into the camcorder is made of plastic, hence durability is not good. B) The image is distorted to the point near fish-eye. C) Image will be blurred when you try to zoom in. I can't believe Sony sells this item.
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