On 29 Jun 2001 08:38:55 -0700, tmanning@theglobal.net (Tom Manning) wrote:

>Well, I finally scraped together the bucks and made a decision to buy
>the new TRV 730 replacing my trusty Sony TR400 Hi8. After a lot of
>research and help from this group and elsewhere, it seems like the
>best bang for my buck. The only thing that concerns me is its wide
>angle short-comings. Sony offers a wide angle adapter for about
>$50.00. I've also run across various lens' on ebay with even wider
>angles than the Sony. The only "brand name" among these that I
>recognized is Tiffen. I remember them mainly as a filter
>manufacturer. Anyway, does anyone have any experience with these wide
>angle adapters for camcorders and for that matter telephoto adapters
>as well? Any recommendations, things to avoid? Thanks. Looking
>forward to playing with my new 730.

Unfortunately, ou can rarely buy a "good"
WA converter and expect it to work optimally on all
camcorder lenses. Matching is an issue. The most
general-purpose converters I've seen (good on a range
of cameras) are: Sony VCL-ES06 (non-zoom-through, cheap,
but sharp and wide when optimized with spacers [empty
filter rings] between the lens and converter); Raynox
Pro 50 or 5050 (zoom-through .5X - works well on
small camcorders, less well on larger), and the Canon
WD-58 .7X (zoom-through, heavy, expensive, and not
very wide, but sharp).
Try the Sony ES06 + 37->52mm step-up ring + 3 cheap used
52mm filters without the glass, to start - or the
Raynox, if you can find one...
I would avoid the Tiffen - I tried the WA, and it was
sharp on nothing. The Sony 37mm zoom-through WA was
not bad, but appeared worst at the short end, where
you want it to be best...