On Wed, 4 Apr 2001 21:29:53 -0400, "Ira Wilner" wrote:

>Another issue besides the cost of the lens to accommodate a wide angle
>without vinyetting, is that you really have to be close to your subject
>when going wide if you want any detail to show up unless you are shooting in
>an HD format.

Generally true (and one of the advantages of WA - you
are "in-the-action" instead of "observing-from-afar"),
but I have some rather nice fisheye video footage of
landscapes shot on Mini-DV, with satisfyingly sharp
fine detail - it can be done...;-) The best Mini-DV
cameras can deliver a level of sharpness sufficient
to shoot infinity-subjects in WA quite satisfactorily
(though, of course, I would prefer to shoot this
[and everything else] in HDTV, if it were cheap/
light/small enough to use...;-).