Some High Quality Wide Angle Converter Lenses

This page briefly discusses some high quality wide angle converter lenses: Minolta ACW-100 0.8X, Nikon WC-E80 0.8X, Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X, Olympus WCON07 0.7X, Sony VCL DH0758 0.7X and Raynox HD6600pro-55 0.66X.

Minolta ACW-100 0.8X

The 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-30's minimum focal length to 28mm = 35×0.8. Since this lens has a 49mm rear thread and a 86mm front thread, a 55-49mm step-down ring is needed. When purchasing step 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-30 with the help of a 55-49mm step-down ring.

Nikon WC-E80 0.8X

The Nikon WC-E80 is a 0.8X wide angle converter lens for Nikon Coolpix 5700 and is large. It is the heaviest (at 500g 17.5oz) and simplest (2 elements in 2 groups) of this group. It widens FZ-30's minimum focal length to 28mm = 35×0.8. The WC-E80 has a 50mm rear thread. Since 50mm is not a popular thread size, a special step-down ring is needed to bring the 50mm size to a popular one (e.g., 62mm). Fortunately, Nextphoto made a 62-50mm step-down ring for the Nikon Coolpix 8800 to use the TC-E15ED. Thus, a 55-62mm step-up ring is also required. Note that WC-E80 has no front thread. When purchasing step 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 a Nextphoto 62-50mm step-down ring, and the right one has this lens on a FZ-30 with the help of a 55-62mm step-up and a Nextphoto 62-50mm step-down ring. Note that even with two step rings and a deeply recessed rear glass just like that of the Nikon TC-E15ED, WC-E80 does not cause vignetting on a FZ-30.

Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X

The Olympus WCON-08B 0.8X is a large and heavy wide angle converter lens. It brings FZ-30's focal length down to 28mm = 35×0.8. Since WCON-08B has a rear thread size of 62mm and a front thread size of 105mm, a 55-62mm step-up ring is needed. When purchasing step 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 FZ-30 with the help of a 55-62mm step-up ring. As you can see from the right image below, the WCON-08B is a massive piece of glass. While Olympus has a number of different versions of WCON-08 (e.g., 08C, 08D and 08E), this WCON-08B is the one for the FZ-30. Olympus also has a WCON 08 with 55mm thread. However, I believe it is an older version and not easily available. Additionally, it could be more expensive than the WCON-08B mentioned here.

Some claimed the WCON 08 and WCON-08B being the same lens in different packaging. I personally have some doubt about this because the rear glass element diameter of the WCON-08B is already 55mm. Consequently, the WCON 08 with a 55mm thread must have a smaller diameter rear glass element.

Olympus WCON-07 0.7X

The Olympus WCON-07 is a light 0.7X wide angle converter lens with a plastic barrel. It widens FZ-30's focal length to 24.5mm = 0.7×35. The WCON-07 has a 55mm rear thread and has no front thread. Therefore, it can be mounted directly on a FZ-30. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a WCON-07 on a FZ-30.

Sony VCL DH0758 0.7X

This Sony VCL-DH0758 (for Sony H1) is a 0.7X wide angle converter lens with a plastic barrel, and is light. It widens FZ-30's focal length to 24.5mm = 0.7×35. The Sony VCL DH0758 has a 58mm rear thread and has no front thread. Therefore, a 55-58mm step-up ring is required. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a Sony VCL DH0758 on a FZ-30 with a help of a 55-58mm step-up ring.

Raynox HD6600pro-55 0.66X

This Raynox HD6600pro-55 is a 0.66X wide angle converter lens with a plastic barrel and is light and small. In fact, it is identical to the popular Raynox DCR 6600pro 0.66X; however, the DCR version does not have a 55mm thread and could cause a slight vignetting with a conventional step ring. This Raynox HD6600pro-55 widens FZ-30's focal length to 23.1mm = 0.6×35, which is slightly (actually 1.4mm) wider than what one can get from a 0.7X wide angle converter lens. In most practical shooting, one may not be able to see much difference between 0.7X and 0.66X lenses. Since the Raynox HD6600pro-55 has a 55mm rear thread, no step ring is needed if used with the FZ-30. The front thread is 72mm; however, one has to use a filter of at least 82mm without step-ring (e.g., hand holding) to eliminate vignetting. The left image below shows the lens and the right one has a Raynox HD6600pro-55 on a FZ-30.

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 Raynox HD6600pro-55 is the smallest, its shadow is also the smallest. The big ones (i.e., Nikon WC-E80, Olympus WCON-08B and Olympus WCON07) all cast very large shadows, The angle of view of each image below is wider than that of the 35mm of the on-camera lens. Consequently, the internal flash will not be able to illuminate the area covered by 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	Nikon WC-E80	Olympus WCON-08B
Olympus WCON07	Sony VCL DH0758	Raynox HD6600pro-55

Barrel Distortion

Virtually all wide angle converters have barrel distortion to some degree. To see how bad or good these wide angle converters are, the following shots were taken by putting the lens close to a monitor screen. From these images, we see that the Olympus WCON-08B and Raynox HD6600pro-55 have slightly less barrel distortion than the others, and the Olympus WCON07 0.7X and Sony VCL DH0758 have very noticeable barrel distortion. Whether this is acceptable is your call.

Minolta ACW-100	Nikon WC-E80	Olympus WCON-08B
Olympus WCON07	Sony VCL DH0758	Raynox HD6600pro-55

Minimum Working Distance

After some tests, I found that the minimum working distance of these wide angle lenses with a FZ-30 is slightly longer than those reported in my FZ-10 user guide. My best results show that the minimum working distance is about 3cm to 3.5cm. More accurate measurements will be reported here in the future.

Vignetting and Light Fall-Off

All three converters do not have visible vignetting. However, all three lenses exhibit some degree of light fall-off as shown in the images below. The Minolta ACW-100 and the Olympus WCON-08B have the same level of light fall-off; but, the light fall-off level of Olympus WCON-07 is slightly more noticeable. However, this light fall-off becomes visible only if shooting a uniform background. It would not be noticeable if general shooting.

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-30 only, and should be different for other cameras.