Customer Reviews

Sony VCLHG0737Y HG Wide Conversion Lens x0.7 for 37mm for some Sony Camcorders

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Strongly consider this if you have one of the Sony HDV camcorders this is made for. I rate this as second to extra batteries in your "must have" accessory kit. Used to expand the field of view in most indoor applications. Of course it works great outdoors too. Not as aggressive as some of the others, such as Century Optics, but not nearly as expensive. Far higher quality than the other lower priced ones.

Pros:
Excellent glass quality
No noticable distortion, color tinging or other undesirable traits. I had this issue with a knockoff wide angle lens.

Cons (reasons for 4-stars:
Heavy! (But it's a big piece of glass)
No way to use a filter, no threads on objective lens.
No easy way to use a sunshade - sunshade is hard to find (expensive too).

Tips:
Consider buying the Sony "Y" series telephoto conversion lens too. If you do, it has an included sunshade that can be used on this one. It's a little big, but I use a small piece of black gaffers tape to hold it in place. Works fine.
Take a small piece of self-stick velcro and put it on the lens cover. Take the other piece and put it on the leg of your tripod. This Gives you a good place to put the lens cover while shooting.

I ordered this lens from Amazon to fit onto my new HV10 1080i camcorder. I used them first for a trip across the US last October. When I returned home the quality of high def movies I made with the Canon camcorder was jaw dropping ! --and the same quality for parts with and w/o the Sony lens. However the HV10 main - only - problem is that is shooting angle is a bit narrow, hence the need for a wide angle lens.

If you have a HD camcorder you can't use something cheaper than the Sony HG lens. I can tell you since I made the mistake of using also another cheap ("Digital Vision" bought in San Francisco tourist trap--i mean a "discount" shop ) wide angle lens, that someone offered me as a gift, the result was a complete crap, the picture was almost completely ruined, big loss of light and detail, completely fuzzy in the corners. So you should stay away of anything cheaper than the Sony HG lens, even if you have a standard def camcorder.

To my eyes it is very difficult to tell the difference between shootage used with and w/o the HG0737Y lens, except the wider angle of course ! There is no loss of definition and almost no loss of light either. Almost no barrel effect -- its'only a 0.7 conversion.I checked this on my Sanyo Z3 projector which is only 720p, so I will have to check again on a 1080p projector -- when the price will have dropped enough.

This lens is a bit large and heavy but that goes with its quality (all glass and aluminium body) and it was still very usable for vacations.

Also I would like to find the same quality and price for a 0.5 conversion. I removed one star because it is only a 0.7 lens.

One last word about Amazon service : the fast shipping option breaks speed records and Amazon was 100% reliable about shipping date. So Amazon also deserves my recommendation.

I bought this for indoor shots and an extremely happy with the build and the very low distortion this lens provides. It gets a little soft at the edges, but even on HD you'd be hard pressed to tell. It even works all the way into the telephoto range of my camera. I know most people think this isn't very important. But filming a two year old means you don't have time to unscrew the lens to get the shot sometimes.

Have used this for many years. Easy to screw on, and makes it usable in tight, or even just interior areas where the regular lens won't show it all. I have it on almost all the time.

I got this wide angle lens along with a larger battery and light for my hdr-hc7. I got the camera to shoot mostly home movies and such and am not an expert on video equiptemnt, but I'd say this is the accesory I'm most happy I purchased so far. I tend to shoot in small
spaces so it's really nice to be able to get much more into the shot. The quality of the image is amazing with or without the lens with no fuzzyness around the edges as I've seen others worried about. The lens itself is pretty heavy for it's size and you can tell it's a great quality lens. No wories on it being too heavy, even with my small camera I don't think it makes it akward at all. I really like the little bag it comes with too, very padded, great protection. Also comes with front and back lens covers.

Good addition to the hdr-hc1 HD camcorder; especially for indoors where you would want to get more people in the shot. A bit pricey and hard to find since Sony discontinued the hdr-hc1 but amazon pricing was the best around.