Canon WD-43 a Good Choice for Wide Angle Video

The Canon WD-43 (0.7x) wide-angle converter lens was designed for their Optura 100MC camcorder, but works fine with any (in my case Panasonic) camcorder with a 43mm lens mounting thread.

In my search for a wide angle converter lens I had been comparing the 43mm Tiffen MegaPlus and Raynox HD-PRO wide-angle converters, when I came across the Canon WD-43 on the BHPhoto web-site, and read that it had "Zoom through" capability. The big advantage of zoom through is that you don't have to remove the converter lens if you want to zoom in on a shot.

When I had tried the Tiffen MegaPlus lens on my camera I noticed significant blurring (soft focus) as quickly as 3x zooming on my Panasonic PV-DV101 (20x optical zoom capable) camcorder. I could visualize myself with the converter lens on, and then wanting to quickly get it off to capture a medium-zoom shot...and missing the action while I fumble with the lens and camera case.

When I tried the Canon WD-43 on my camcorder I discovered that I could zoom in to 17x before focus started to degrade, and even 20x still had fair image quality. As always, your mileage may vary, so try before you buy.

I could not locate a Raynox lens to try out. One local salesperson mentioned that it had zoom through capability, but their web site (www.raynox.com) listing for the HD-6600PRO 43 does not explicitly mention this. Oddly enough, I noticed that the description for the HD-6600Pro 52 (52mm mounting) does say "With Full Zoom Capabilities". In any case you would need to confirm this for yourself.

The Tiffen wide-angle converter lens does allow a protective 67mm UV filter to be attached. And the Raynox web site mentions a 72mm front filter size, so it appears that both of these lens allow a protective UV filter to be mounted (confirm before ordering if this important to you). The Canon WD-43 does not have a front thread, so your only protection for the delicate front lens is the lens cap. Use it when not shooting!

The Raynox has the widest angle of view at 0.66x, the Canon sits in the middle at 0.7x, and the Tiffen least with .75x. Again, you'll need to weight this as one factor in your decision.

When I was shopping the Tiffen was the least expensive lens ($189 CDN), with the Raynox next ($210 CDN), and the Canon most expensive ($230 CDN).