On Fri, 11 Apr 2003 18:20:53 +0000 (UTC), jhong@morgan.ucs.mun.ca (John Hong) wrote:

> What I'm looking for is a wide angle lens that has the least

>amount of barreling and has a filter thread. What are the best values,

>bang for buck?

The two requirements narrow the field considerably...! ;-)

Pretty much leaves the Raynox .66X (HD-6600Pro58), at around

$140US from www.bhphotovideo.com. I recommend this one over

the similar ones that fit smaller than 58mm-thread size

(with a step-up ring added for smaller sizes), since the

others are the same but for mount size - and the largest

will fit the widest range of camera lenses. This WA

converter adds no distortion of its own, but can be not

ideally sharp near the long end of the zoom range on some

cameras. It is also fairly light. It does have more than

average flare, so those front threads are needed (unlike

for the Sony HG converters...) - I recommend a 72->77mm

step-up ring, and the "GB" or Bower wide-angle rubber shade,

from the same source... You can find more on this converter

at www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/WA-converters.htm and

www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/VX2000_odds.htm (plus at the

Raynox web-site).