Wide Angle Lens Help

[DunkTankDiver]

I recently got a Wide Angle Lens for my DC600, was really hyped about getting it, but was very disappointed with its results. Distorts images to the point I can basically see the curvature of the lens, giving me still a narrow windoe to take the picture with.

Heard about square wide angle lens that reduce the distortation. Can anybody give me some feed back on some good solutions or good lens to try out?

[justleesa]

Hope this helps.....I don't have the camera you have but I have noticed curvature when I've zommed in.

[gert7to3]

What kind of lens do you have?

There will usually be some amount of distortion from wide angle lenses, especially apparent on man made structures. This can be decreased by choosing your view angle in such a way that the distortion blends with the natural distortion from perspective. In other words, you may want to frame a strong vertical or horizontal line pretty much through the center of the lens, not lined up with the edge of your image. The distortion on more natural subjects, especially underwater, isn't too noticeable.

[Warren_L]

I recently got a Wide Angle Lens for my DC600, was really hyped about getting it, but was very disappointed with its results. Distorts images to the point I can basically see the curvature of the lens, giving me still a narrow windoe to take the picture with.

Heard about square wide angle lens that reduce the distortation. Can anybody give me some feed back on some good solutions or good lens to try out?

Wide angle lenses are going to show some curvature of the image around the periphery (barrel distortion) - this is normal for wide angle lenses, especially fisheye lenses. When you see this curvature, is this for underwater shots? Underwater, this effect is lessened due to the magnification effect of the water. This is going to be noticeable if your shots has straight lines in them. I tend to avoid shooting anything that has straight lines through the entire frame. Often times, one side of the shot will have background water in it so that you won't notice any curvature, even though it's there.

[Footslogger]

I get as close as possible when I'm using my wide angle lens and then often crop out (whenever possible) the outside margins of the shot using Elements.

[deeper thoughts]

I asked this question previously but didn't get a response. I have the sea and sea 8000 and when I shoot wide angle I use the telephoto setting. Are there any pros/cons in using the wide or telephoto setting.
Thnx again

[gert7to3]

deeper.., are you using an accessory wide angle lens?

If you are, how much zoom are you using? Many wet mount wide angle lenses will cause slight vignetting at the corners of your image. Slightly zooming with your camera's lens will overcome this problem.

Now if you put an accessory W/A lens on, then zoom alot ,you will negate the wide angle effect. The net result is a picture taken through several extra layers of glass, which degrades the performance of your camera's lens.