Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 9:26 GMT
|
|
So, as I mentioned in another thread. I thought it might be worth testing out the Sony NEX VCL-ECF1 Fisheye Converter. This converter lens attaches to the front of the Sony 16mm f/2.8 Pancake lens. As I can never sit still and wonder I parted with some cash and waited for the converter to arrive from the USA.
This converter lens cost me $125.00 USD from an ebay store seller brand new + freight charges.
You will see them advertised as a 15mm (35mm equivalent) lens at 0.62x. This is simply not true. My tests show it to be 0.64x and 10.23mm (35mm equivalent).
With a HFOV of 89.56 degrees
To say I was surprised with the quality was an understatement. Yes, it is soft in the corners and it does suffer from vignetting and chromatic aberration. But these can be corrected with a quality RAW converter. It easily exceeds any converter lens I have ever used by a country mile and really should never be mentioned in the same breath as a Nikon FC-E8 or FC-E9. Chalk and Cheese!
The build quality and feel of the converter lens is of a high standard. It responds well as you would expect as the 16mm f/2.8 Pancake lens it attaches to is a quality piece of glass. It looks correct and stylish when fitted.
The shooting is the same as say the Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye
Being 6x rotational images at -10 degrees and 1x Zenith shot at +70 degrees.
A great lightweight travelers set up.
See my tester panorama
www.omnipix.net/temp/nex/converter
Worth the test? You tell me ...
Regards, Smooth 
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 10:12 GMT
|
|
Hmm, thinking about the multiplying factor again.
16mm Pancake x 1.538 = 24.608mm (35mm equivalent)
24.608mm 0.62x Converter = 15.25696mm (35mm equivalent)
16mm Pancake 0.62x Converter = 9.92mm x 1.538 = 15.25696mm
So I guess that is correct.
16mm Pancake 0.64x Converter = 10.24mm was my thinking.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
DemonDuck
Posts: 418
Location:
Registered: 10 Mar 2011
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 17:03 GMT
updated: 9 Apr 2011 at 17:13 GMT
|
|
That's impressive. I usually can see softness in the seams but not so much in your example. 8 around would not be much more trouble than 6 and that would eliminate any possible softness at the edges.
I wonder if you can post a link to a raw image that has been converted but not corrected for CA?
The NEX 3/5 looks like a real good choice for panos on the go.
What's the remote look like?
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Jarredja
Posts: 87
Location: Keller, TX, United States
Registered: 26 Oct 2009
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 17:09 GMT
|
|
Very nice! I love how you have an Omnipix trash can too. By the way, go ahead and right click. You have an extra "h" and a lack of a "g" in your context menu.
Jarred
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 17:48 GMT
updated: 9 Apr 2011 at 17:50 GMT
|
|
DemonDuck said: That's impressive. I usually can see softness in the seams but not so much in your example. 8 around would not be much more trouble than 6 and that would eliminate any possible softness at the edges.
Yes, you could shoot more but you can get away with 6.
DemonDuck said: I wonder if you can post a link to a raw image that has been converted but not corrected for CA?
Sure, here is a .dng because you will be too limited with a Sony .arw www.omnipix.net/temp/nex/converter/DSC00380.dng
DemonDuck said: The NEX 3/5 looks like a real good choice for panos on the go.
I haven't seen better for size and quality.
DemonDuck said: What's the remote look like?
Err, the Sony is Inferred only  But you can add a gentLED as Andrew recommended and trigger with any switch manual or RF with a 2.5mm stereo plug. I purchased one and it works fine. www.gentles.ltd.uk/gentled/trigger.htm
Jarredja said: Very nice! I love how you have an Omnipix trash can too. By the way, go ahead and right click. You have an extra "h" and a lack of a "g" in your context menu.
Jarred
Well, that's just embarrassing!  Fingers didn't do what the brain said (nothing new there!). All fixed now, thanks for spotting that and pointing it out.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
DemonDuck
Posts: 418
Location:
Registered: 10 Mar 2011
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 18:55 GMT
|
|
Sure, here is a .dng because you will be too limited with a Sony .arw www.omnipix.net/temp/nex/converter/DSC00380.dng
I used UFRaw to convert and view. Probably not the best raw converter. But still, the CA looks very mild. And the various color planes look sharp 
Way better than other converters I've seen -- you are right about that.
What's the thread size? Did you try it on your LX3?
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 9 Apr 2011 at 19:08 GMT
|
|
DemonDuck said: I used UFRaw to convert and view. Probably not the best raw converter. But still, the CA looks very mild. And the various color planes look sharp
Just check it's not "pre-reading" my ACR embedded settings. I forgot the .xmp is saved/embedded to the .dng file.
DemonDuck said: What's the thread size? Did you try it on your LX3?
It doesn't have a thread. It clips to the 16mm E Mount Pancake Lens (twist and click). No chance to fit it to the LX3.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Judy-A
Posts: 582
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Registered: 20 Jan 2010
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 1:25 GMT
|
|
Smooth,
Thanks so much for testing this lens. I’m very pleasantly surprised with the pano quality from such a small package.
Have you had a chance to do any low light testing with it? Given the small diameter of the lens, I’m curious to how it compares with the D5000/Samyang 8mm combo.
What do you think would work as a ring-clamp type pano bracket for this camera and a monopod?
Judy
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
DemonDuck
Posts: 418
Location:
Registered: 10 Mar 2011
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 4:28 GMT
updated: 10 Apr 2011 at 4:30 GMT
|
|
Smooth said: DemonDuck said: I used UFRaw to convert and view. Probably not the best raw converter. But still, the CA looks very mild. And the various color planes look sharp
Just check it's not "pre-reading" my ACR embedded settings. I forgot the .xmp is saved/embedded to the .dng file.
Nope -- I think -- this is what UFRaw says:
Warning: XMP toolkit support not compiled in.
Warning: Failed to decode XMP metadata.
DemonDuck said: What's the thread size? Did you try it on your LX3?
It doesn't have a thread. It clips to the 16mm E Mount Pancake Lens (twist and click). No chance to fit it to the LX3.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
ummm.. would be interesting experiment but given how specialized each optic train is, probably the only place the fisheye converter would work is on the NEX.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 5:10 GMT
|
|
Judy-A said: Have you had a chance to do any low light testing with it? Given the small diameter of the lens, I’m curious to how it compares with the D5000/Samyang 8mm combo.
Hi Judy,
No, apart from my office at night. What exactly would you class as low light for the test. I'll see if I can meet your requirements. I assume you would want this at a higher ISO? Did you see the test DennisS did in his Kitchen at 12800 ISO?
Judy-A said: What do you think would work as a ring-clamp type pano bracket for this camera and a monopod?
Currently I have mine set up on a NN3 but I think a NN Ring Clamp or Agnos RingT for a Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye would fit. The actual size of these lenses is similar. Should it prove popular I'm sure Nick from Fanotec would make a Ring or Ring Insert to match.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 5:16 GMT
|
|
DemonDuck said: Nope -- I think -- this is what UFRaw says:
Warning: XMP toolkit support not compiled in.
Warning: Failed to decode XMP metadata.
OK, well that sounds correct. Remember the vignetting, corner softness and chromatic aberration I speak of is when comparing to DSLR purpose built Fisheye lenses. The "issues" are nothing like the converter lenses for point 'n' shoot style cameras.
DemonDuck said: ummm.. would be interesting experiment but given how specialized each optic train is, probably the only place the fisheye converter would work is on the NEX.
After many lenses and cameras I concur. It is an obvious match, made by Sony for Sony.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Judy-A
Posts: 582
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Registered: 20 Jan 2010
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 17:12 GMT
|
|
Smooth said: What exactly would you class as low light for the test. I'll see if I can meet your requirements.
Hi Smooth,
I was curious about how the light-gathering capability of the NEX fisheye converter compared with DSLR fisheye lenses. Are the front diameters of the Sony NEX VCL-ECF1 Fisheye and Samyang 8 mm similar?
I’m comparing your previously posted images.
I’d be interested to know how the lens performs outdoors at dusk for sunsets or evening street scenes.
Judy
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4014
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 17:43 GMT
updated: 10 Apr 2011 at 17:43 GMT
|
|
Hi Judy,
The Samyang is larger than the Sony VCL-ECF1 Converter Fisheye in the front element by about 10mm.
The images are clearer and cleaner from the Samyang and Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye lenses than from the Sony Converter Lens.
I will attempt to capture a dusk photograph for you using the Sony VCL-ECF1 Converter Fisheye in the next couple of days.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
DemonDuck
Posts: 418
Location:
Registered: 10 Mar 2011
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 10 Apr 2011 at 19:25 GMT
|
|
Smooth said: DemonDuck said: Nope -- I think -- this is what UFRaw says:
Warning: XMP toolkit support not compiled in.
Warning: Failed to decode XMP metadata.
OK, well that sounds correct. Remember the vignetting, corner softness and chromatic aberration I speak of is when comparing to DSLR purpose built Fisheye lenses. The "issues" are nothing like the converter lenses for point 'n' shoot style cameras.
Regards, Smooth
www.omnipix.com.au
I think that until I can afford Photoshop, RAW shooting is will only produce images of lesser quality than the JPEG I get out of the camera. Neither SilkyPix nor UFRaw gets the noise out of the sky like JPEG's right from the camera. Unfortunate. And using NoiseNinja is no different than using noise reduction on SilkyPix or UFRaw. Removing noise is removing detail.
Somehow the camera software keeps detail and removes noise. Must be magic...
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Pedro
Posts: 35
Location: European Union
Registered: 10 May 2010
|
Re: Sony NEX + Sony Fisheye Converter: Cost $125.00 USD
Posted: 11 Apr 2011 at 11:13 GMT
|
|
Hi Smooth:
Thanks for posting this example. It looks nice!. Will you have other samples to show under different lighting conditions?
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
back to threads list |
this thread is closed
Prev
