Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

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Archive 2011 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

pharmasian
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p.3 #1 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Aite! Thanks for the replies

Feb 14, 2012 at 08:57 AM

millsart
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p.3 #2 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Attached is a few images of different mounting options

By using the factory style hood, along with the outer housing of the FE removed, you can effectively make it a bayonet mount (which works well since its actually rather light) although, the spacing isn't quite perfect. If the Fuji style adapter ring could be milled down thinner by 1-2mm it would work a little better I think. Looks good though and quite easy to take on/off

Best solution I've found so far is the 52-49mm step down ring, which is exactly the size of part of the inner FE housing and also perfectly spaced. Just glue them together, or even wrap with gaffers tape which I did while testing. Doesn't look quite as finished so I'm thinking of putting the metal FE housing back over it then for a more polished look.

One thing you will notice when using the second method is that since your screwing the step down ring right onto the camera, there is a raised ridge on the FE which can hit the front element and produce a camera message.

I was going to dremel this down, however, as testing has shown, you really want to manually focus the FE at about 5', and at that distance the lens doesn't hit so really there is no need to do so.

Flip the camera to manual focus, set it to past 5' and screw the FE on and your in business

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Feb 15, 2012 at 02:28 AM

millsart
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p.3 #3 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Panasonic has announced some conversion lenses for the 14mm and 14-42 which are 46mm thread size I believe. There is a teleconversion lens listed that I'm really curious to try out, as I would have to guess if its designed to fit those lenses it could work on the 23mm X100 lens as well.

Most TC's seem designed for p&s camera using them zoomed in 100% as they otherwise vignette badly .

If Panasonic could design something for a m4/3 camera I think adapting it to the X100 would be feasible. Don't know if its a 2x or just 1.5x etc TC yet though.

I'd love a 2x option though to turn my X100 into a 16/24/35/70mm kit

Feb 15, 2012 at 02:37 AM

FB12
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p.3 #4 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Thanks for taking the time to post more photos and info. I was assuming you might be attaching the ring via gluing, but I wasn't sure. Now it makes more sense. It looks to me that the sharpness of the Sony Fisheye, is just as good a the Nikon WC86, would you say that is true.
If you are interested in seeing what the x100 can do with the stock lens and a VR panoramas I will put a link below. I haven't posted a link to these anywhere before as I was hoping add a gallery of stills from the X100 first.
The x100 VR panos are in the first set labeled "Lawson's Landing" They are only cylinder shaped Pano, where as all the other panos are Spherical.
http://www.frankbobbio.com/photogallery/Vr%20Pano/virtual_reality.htm

Feb 15, 2012 at 02:49 AM

millsart
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p.3 #5 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Some really nice VR pano's, were you using a head or just freehanding them ?

Overall its a tough call between the Sony FE and the Nikon WC as they are a bit different. I think the Sony does have a little better edge to edge sharpness, but it also has some fisheye type distortion which I'm not sure how the stitching software would handle. The Nikon is pretty well corrected overall (at least as far as conversion lenses go). The Nikon also has an edge in that you can focus close with it, while the Sony is sharper for subjects 5' or further (which I imagine you'd mostly use for pano's)

I think it would work reasonably well though for your needs. Its not an ideal solution by any means, but if you have an otherwise enjoy the X100, and don't want to carry another rig just for shooting some VR pano's, I think it could work well for you for a modest investment.

You can actually try the FE lens just by holding it against the camera or taping it and don't actually have to damage it by cutting anything down, gluing things etc. so if you find it doesn't suit your needs, you could return or sell it.

Feb 15, 2012 at 09:19 PM

FB12
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p.3 #6 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

All of the VR panos were done with a Nodal Ninja 3 tripod head. The cylinder shaped panos from the x100 took around 16 photos. With a Nikon d7000 and a 10.5 fisheye lens I can do a full spherical pano with 6 shots in a circle and 1 shot up. I haven't done very many of the VR panos in the last year as they can be very time consuming taking anywhere from 1 to 3 hours per pano. Since I like the x100 so much it was the only camera I took on a long vacation last year and it would have been nice to maybe have had the option to do some full panos with it. So thanks to you posting info about using the Sony FE lens, I just might get one and give it a try.

Feb 16, 2012 at 06:41 AM

FB12
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p.3 #7 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

This might be long winded, but hopfully might be of help to someone who is going to buy the Sony FE lens.
Well I got my Sony Fisheye in and I did a bunch of testing and photo taking to see what would produce the best results. The results were very good, but maybe not as sharp as the photo Millsart posted. I am guessing it could be a few things from I didn't get the spacing right, my copy of the x100 or FE lens are not quite as good, or I just need to take some more photos with different / better lighting and subject to compare.
When I got the FE lens I inserted the 52 to 49mm step-down ring into the back of the FE and taped it together and took a few photo on the tripod to get a baseline. Which looked good.
I then removed the screws, then the plastic insert, metal spring tensioner and the alum barrel.
I screwed the plastic insert back onto the FE body as that is what holds in alignment the step-down ring and then taped them together.
I then manually focused to 5ft as MIllsart suggested and starting with the ring tightened all the way down I took a photo. Each time I rotated the lens a half of turn I would take another photo. It took almost 3 turns to run out of threads. I tried to measure the max distance of travel and it was maybe .120 close to 3mm. The interesting thing is I noticed very little change in the sharpness of the photo from one extreme to the other. Millsart said his results were showing a big difference in sharpness on how it was spaced. At least within in these parameters I did not see much difference, with the closer / tighter setting, being a bit better.
So I screwed / tightened down the ring, and then took photos at different focusing points. 3', 5', 7' 9' 11' 30' Millsart was right on when he said 5', as 4 to 6' were the best and everything else was blurred. Not sure why 5' was the best even when taking photos at something a few hundred feet away.
Then with the camera manually focused to 5' and the ring tightened , I took photos at different F stops. This made a big difference...... F2 to F4 very soft / bad. F5.6 maybe 85%, and workable if you need the extra light. F8 was the best with F11 almost as good.
After all this I set the camera to F8, focused to 5ft, and with the ring tightened down and as close as I think you can even get the FE to the Camera, I took some photos. I then took everything apart and reinstalled the alum barrel on the FE and screwed the plastic insert to it and then the step-down ring a taped it together. The only difference should be the thickness of the flange on the alum barrel which is around .055. about 1.5 turns of the treads. Taking some more photos with this setup I did not see any difference In the end I only took the metal spring tensioner plate ( maybe .015 thick) out of the lens and used the thinnest step - down ring I had which was a Sonia brand.
I think I have exhausted all of the options in trying to get my FE lens setup to give as good of results as what Millsart got, so unless he replies with something I overlooked..... I will probable glue the step-down ring into the FE lens and go with that.

Feb 24, 2012 at 04:44 PM

Bifurcator
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p.3 #8 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

I went through a whole bunch of testing with wide and tele adapter-filters like this on another camera. In general of the 10 or so I tried Canon's were the best, Nikon's were a close second, and nothing else were worth mentioning. The 2 or 3 sony ones I looked at were just fricking terrible - like OMG-Terrible!

Feb 24, 2012 at 05:23 PM

millsart
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p.3 #9 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Bifurcator wrote:
I went through a whole bunch of testing with wide and tele adapter-filters like this on another camera. In general of the 10 or so I tried Canon's were the best, Nikon's were a close second, and nothing else were worth mentioning. The 2 or 3 sony ones I looked at were just fricking terrible - like OMG-Terrible!

Its very specific to each type of camera. Raynox for example, which typically make a really good quality product are just plain horrible on the X100.

I don't know about Sony's line of VL series conversion lenses which seem designed for video cameras but the NEX adapters are quite good on the X100

Feb 25, 2012 at 01:17 AM

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p.3 #10 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

I spent some more time today retesting and attaching the FE lens with different spacing options. And I think I got a little better result without the extra thickness of the factory alum barrel inserted. However ever it looks better with it attached. So while there are a few way to make up for the aprox .050 thickness of the alum flange on the barrel. It just so happens that there was almost the same distance of a gap underneath of the of the step-down ring when it was seated. I decided the cleanest and tightest fitting would be to sand down the outside of the 52-49 step-down ring so it would fit inside of the factory plastic spacer and seat on the bottom rather the on the top lip. A wide notched area must also be factored in when grinding, as shown
At this point the step-down ring is a tight snap in fit, so it should hold for a while I test it this weekend to make sure its right, then I will glue it in place.
I'm glad Millsart started this research and thread, as I probably would of not of gone down this path otherwise.

Feb 25, 2012 at 06:19 AM

millsart
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p.3 #11 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Nicely done Frank, I agree the Sony casing looks really nice. I think if your results are still a little soft though you might want to try taking it and the plastic parts off and test just putting the step down ring flush to the main plastic part of the conversion lens, as shown in the image I posted. Given the outer edge of this part is exactly the same outside diameter as the stepdown ring, you can easily just wrap a piece of tape around it.

I find that doing it that way is the perfect spacing and the front element of the lens just touches the little raised vertical ring on the FE. (I was going to mill it down but as it seems to pose no issues figured wasn't worth the trouble right now)

Make sure your manually focusing the lens as well, right about 5 feet seems to be the sweet spot.

Its weird because the AF system will work, but focuses further away and gives a bit softer results. There is so much DOF that everything will be in focus anyways, so really I treat it just like a hyperfocal ultra wide point and shoot with the converter on.

Feb 25, 2012 at 08:22 PM

goatsby
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p.3 #12 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

This is a great thread and wanted to thank millsart for posting it. My favorite focal lengths are 21 and 35, so this option is great for the way I want to shoot.

My question is that it seems like the Sony needs to be modified more in order to get good results, whereas the Nikon is more plug and play. Is my thinking correct or does the Nikon require slight modification as well?

Thanks again!

Adam

Mar 01, 2012 at 10:12 PM

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p.3 #13 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

I did a little more testing before gluing the ring on the FE lens. And on my copy it would get a little softer if the FE lens ( with all spacing took out) was held right against the camera lens. Its now glued together looking like the photo above.
I stopped and took some quick photos looking over the Nimbus Dam. Here are one with the stock lens and one with the Sony FE. The color is a little different, but they are both have the same amount of sharpening and are cropped to 1680 which is the size of my monitor. I would never use the FE lens for anything serious, but I wanted to see how it compared to the stock lens just for making desktop photos from vacation pics.

Mar 03, 2012 at 05:00 PM

millsart
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p.3 #14 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

goatsby wrote:
This is a great thread and wanted to thank millsart for posting it. My favorite focal lengths are 21 and 35, so this option is great for the way I want to shoot.

My question is that it seems like the Sony needs to be modified more in order to get good results, whereas the Nikon is more plug and play. Is my thinking correct or does the Nikon require slight modification as well?

Thanks again!

Adam

Thats correct Adam, you just screw the Nikon (and a couple of other rings/spacers) together and thats all there is to it.

The Sony though is actually rather simple too though. You just need to take the outer decorative housing off the conversion lens. Its just4 screws holding it on, then your left with the inner plastic housing which holds the elements and such.

All it takes then is a 52-49mm ring, which exactly matches the diameter of the conversion lens so theres no trick is lining it up. You really don't even have to glue it, just wrap some tape around it and it will be good to go. That way you don't even have to do anything permanent to the FE, in the event you didn't like the results or wanted to sell it it later.

Between the two, I find I prefer the FE just because its wider than the Nikon, actually sharper across the frame, and much smaller/lighter when mounted.

Given how well these two options both work, I'm surprised Fuji can't come out with a dedicated conversion lens for it. I think it would be a big seller

Mar 08, 2012 at 03:35 PM

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p.3 #15 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

This is the thread that brought me to FM. Lots of good information handy here in case I ever run into a cheap X100!

Mar 10, 2012 at 03:08 AM

lebeda
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p.3 #16 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Just got the VCL-ECF1 for my X100. Overall impression is positive. In the center: good sharpness, but some loss of contrast and color - the image looks a bit duller, but not a huge effect. Very high chromatic aberation in the corners. Obviously this can't be corrected in LR4 (why the heck did they take away the sliders??), but I got good results with manual correction in DxO Optics Pro. Have not tried LR3.

Focus: As others have found - f/5.6 or wider is unusable, but since I want to use this for landscapes I don't care. f/11-f/16 look good, I could tell no difference in that range, so I am going to stick with f/16 for the depth of field. On that note, depth of field is good, but I think the f/16 is still bit limiting. To get sharp focus at infinity I set manual focus to 7ft. Closer than that and infinity was starting to get soft. Focused at 7ft I got a sharp image down to about 2ft. Closer than that is starting to get soft.

Regarding the mounting of the convertor: I tried a Fotodiox 52-49mm step down with the convertor as in the box. Decent in the center but soft in the corners. Then I tried the same Fotodiox with the aluminum Sony beauty ring removed, and the thin bayonet plate removed. Slightly better in the center, but MUCH better in the corners - huge difference.

So in light of this, I am still a bit unsure on how to best mount this convertor. Without the alu ring and release slider it's too loose inside the 49mm ring. Clearly keeping the beauty ring on is a non-starter. Any ideas?

Mar 21, 2012 at 01:23 AM

lebeda
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p.3 #17 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Left is mounted without alu beauty ring and baoynet plate, right is mounted as it comes out of the box.
This image is copyrighted by the owner

Mar 21, 2012 at 01:35 AM

goatsby
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p.3 #18 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

Has anyone tried the new X100 firmware that has the setting for the wide angle adapter on these alternative lenses? Would be interesting to see if it gives any improvement....

May 23, 2012 at 03:39 PM

millsart
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p.3 #19 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

goatsby wrote:
Has anyone tried the new X100 firmware that has the setting for the wide angle adapter on these alternative lenses? Would be interesting to see if it gives any improvement....

I believe the only thing it adds is some new framelines which represent an 80% coverage of a 28mm frame, so not really all that useful, but still nice Fuji at least attempted to make their own conversion lens work with the OVF instead of just the EVF, better than nothing.

Corner smearing, vignetting etc are attributes of the optical pathway and can't be changed via firmware.

May 23, 2012 at 07:18 PM

lebeda
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p.3 #20 · Finally a Fuji X100 wide angle solution that works

I can report that with the new 1.30 firmware the X100 can now auto focus with the Sony FE convertor!
This works with both WE mode on and off. I see no improvement in IQ or CA with WE mode on.

millsart wrote:
goatsby wrote:
Has anyone tried the new X100 firmware that has the setting for the wide angle adapter on these alternative lenses? Would be interesting to see if it gives any improvement....

I believe the only thing it adds is some new framelines which represent an 80% coverage of a 28mm frame, so not really all that useful, but still nice Fuji at least attempted to make their own conversion lens work with the OVF instead of just the EVF, better than nothing.

Corner smearing, vignetting etc are attributes of the optical pathway and can't be changed via firmware.

May 24, 2012 at 06:59 PM

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