Some High Quality Wide Angle Converter Lenses

This page briefly discusses some high quality wide angle converter lenses: Minolta ACW-100 0.8X, Olympus WCON07 0.7X and Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X.

Minolta ACW-100 0.8X

This Minolta ACW-100 is a 0.8X wide angle converter lens and is the smallest of the three discussed on this page. It widens FZ-10's minimum focal length to 28mm. Since this lens has a 49mm rear thread and a 86mm front thread, it is very likely that a step-down ring is needed. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. When purchasing step-down rings for wide angle converters, always buy a thin one. Otherwise, slight vignetting may occur in the corner areas. The left image below shows the lens, and the right one has this lens on a FZ-10 with the help of a PD62 adapter and a 62-49mm step-down ring.

Olympus WCON-08B

The Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X is a large and heavy wide angle converter lens. It brings FZ-10's focal length down to 28mm. This WCON-08B has a rear thread size of 62mm and a front thread size of 105mm. Therefore, it can be mounted on to a 62mm adapter tube directly. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. When purchasing step-down rings for wide angle converters, always buy a thin one. Otherwise, slight vignetting may occur in the corner areas. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a WCON-08B on a PD62 adapter. As you can see from the right image below, the WCON-08B is a massive piece of glass.

Olympus WCON-07

The Olympus WCON-07 is a light 0.7X wide angle converter lens with a plastic barrel. It widens FZ-10's focal length to 24.5mm = 0.7×35. The WCON-07 has a 55mm rear thread and has no front thread. Therefore, you might need a step ring if your adapter tube does not have a 55mm thread. See the Adapter Tubes page for the details. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a WCON-07 on a FZ-10 with the help of a PD62 adapter and a 62-55mm step-down ring.

If you use the internal flash, please continue...

A massive wide angle converter will block a portion of the internal flash's illumination, causing a semi-circular shadow in the lower portion of the captured image. The following images are examples. Since the Minolta (resp., Olympus WCON-08B) is the smallest (resp., largest) of the three, the semi-circular shadow is the smallest (resp., largest). The angle of view of each image below is wider than that of the 35mm of the on-camera. Consequently, the internal flash will not be able to provide a complete coverage of these wide angle converters, and dark corners are not avoidable unless you use an external flash. Note that these dark corners are not due to vignetting. Instead, it is because the internal flash coverage is smaller than the angle of view of the lens.

Minolta ACW-100	Olympus WCON-08B	Olympus WCON07

Barrel Distortion

Virtually all wide angle converters have barrel distortion to some degree. To see how bad or good these three wide angle converters are, the following shots were taken by putting the lens against a CRT screen (yes, these three converters can be used that close). From these images, we see that the Olympus WCON-08B has slightly less barrel distortion than the Minolta ACW-100; however, the Olympus WCON07 0.7X has very noticeable barrel. Whether this is acceptable is your call.

Minolta ACW-100	Olympus WCON-08B	Olympus WCON07

Technical Data

The following technical information are taken from Olympus and Minolta user manuals. This information is for the FZ-10 only, and should be different for other cameras. The Minimum Focusing Distance is measured from the lens front to the subject in non-macro mode.