Canon Legria HV40 camcorder

[Ian Woodward]

Thanks, Ned and Tom, for your added valuable insights.

I ordered the HV40 today. It will be used in tandem with my Canon XL2.

Re the HV40's x10 zoom. I'm slightly unhappy with this. Are there converters available to increase it to, say, around x20?

And is a dedicated HV40 wide-angle lens available?

Ian

[tom hardwick]

Unless you have a camcorder with an interchangeable lens it's impossible to increase the zoom ratio, although it's quite possible to reduce this zoom ratio to about half (to a 5x zoom) by using a wide-angle adapter or a telephoto converter. Note use of terminology here.

If you buy a wide-angle converter this will keep the 10x zoom ratio but move it all towards wide angle, so a 0.5x converter will take a 10 to 100 mm zoom and make it into a 5 to 50 mm zoom with the same maximum apertures.

If you buy a typical 2x converter it will take the 10 to 100mm zoom and change it into something like a 50 to 200 mm zoom.

I'm pretty sure Canon make a dedicated wide angle converter for the HV range, and of course you can use any of those made by RedEye, Century, Raynox, Kenko and others. Thing to beware of is barrel distortion though, as generally the more powerful the converter lens, the worse the distortion gets.

tom.

[Dave Watterson]

Tom is being pedantic about language ... but perhaps necessarily so.

Usually we assume that zoom means telephoto. It as if all zoom lenses started at an agreed wide-angle setting and moved from that towards the telephoto end. But it ain't so.

As long-term readers of this forum may recall I am dubious about the use of long lenses except for very specialised subjects and situations where you can have a rock-solid camera support. For most film makers, the closer the camera is to the subject the better. (OK not to extremes! I am not thinking of shooting the pores on someone's skin.)

- Dave

[billyfromConsett]

I had a look on ebay the other night to look for something like a x0.7 wideangle lens for a HV30 our club has. The lenses available tended to be the x0.45 kind, which I think might be a bit extreme. I'll keep an eye out for the Canon WD-H43.

[Ian Woodward]

Thanks Billy, Tom and Dave.

I must admit that, as enthusiastic as I am about videography, I am not the most technically minded or mentally adept of people when it comes to all these figures and calculations and ratios associated with zoom lenses and wide-angle lenses and lenses in general.

My old Canon MV750i has a wonderful x22 zoom and a tremendous, separate wide-angle lenses as standard. I was always happy with both features; it was just a shame about the 4:3-only screen aspect, otherwise I'd still be using it.

With my XL2, I simply attach Canon's awesome wide-angle lens and away we go!

I'd just hoped it might be that simple if I needed a better telephoto range or some sort of wide-angle facility for the HV40.

I suspect I'll make discoveries in this area as I go along, which is the usually the way with me, rather than take everything on board from day one!

Ian

[tom hardwick]

It is that simple Ian. If you have a look around the very comprehensive Raynox site:

http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/dcr/egindex.htm

you'll find they've made little demo films to show you what each of their converter lenses will typically do for you. This page has been specifically set up for the Canon you have:

http://raynox.co.jp/english/video/hv20/index.htm

Do you still have the wide lens from your old MV750i? It's certainly worth trying it on the new HV40 as such lenses are never camera-specific.

tom.

[Ian Woodward]

The link you've given me, Tom, for Raynox is a boon and I'll certainly be referring to it again when my new MV40 arrives early next week.

(The samples given on the site are for HV30; there is no sample for HV40.)

What sort of prices are we talking about for these telephoto and w/a lenses? (Or is that like asking what is the length of a piece of string?)

I do still have the MV750i's 30.5 wide-angle lens. The HV40 lens size is 43, so I'll presumably need an adapter ring...

Thanks again.

Ian

[tom hardwick]

The HV20, 30 and 40 are one and the same camera Ian, just minor facelifts along the way. Raynox shows the 30 to cover all the bases.

Prices vary hugely. The cheapest Raynox w/angle adapter is less than £20, and I gave it a good writeup in FVM. If you see a lens that looks like it might suit you, tap it into google to find availability and prices.

The 30.5 mm attachment thread may be somewhat small for the Canon's 43 mm. Before you buy an adapter hold the lens up in front of the Canon and see if it vignettes when viewing the complete frame in your NLE preview screen (which doesn't overscan).

tom.

[Ian Woodward]

As ever, Tom, I am very grateful for your insights and information.

Once my new HV40 arrives next week, I'll be trying all things you - and others - have suggested over the past week.

Roll on next week!

Ian