Wide angle lens question...cheap vs. expensive

[Catch22]

Hi everyone, I just received my new digicam, a Olympus 7070 wide zoom yesterday and I'm already shopping around for accessories to play with. I'm mostly interested in getting a wide angle lens but I'm not sure if I should only be considering the one made by Olympus that runs around $120 or if some of the cheaper off brand ones that can be found online and ebay for $30-50 might be worth a try. I've never really used a wide anle lens but like the effect it gives on some and like to be able to get more into landscape shots. Let me know what you think. The first link is for the Olumpus page with the wide lens, the next couple are some ebay lenses I was looking at.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...&acccategory=5

http://cgi.ebay.com/FOR-OLYMPUS-CAME...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/OLYMPUS-C-5060-C...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pro-Shooter-Wide...QQcmdZViewItem

[another view]

The main difference in quality you'll see will be at the corners and edges. The third item has an example shot of a bridge, showing how much wider the attachment is. Look at the bottom of the frame how the bridge comes up to the right, and see how it looks curved? Another item is a fisheye lens which is supposed to be very curved. It's a type of wide angle, but really more of a special effects lens. They're really wide too, moreso than you'd think based on the multiplication factor (0.7x, etc).

I'd stick with the Olympus lens. They're known for good optics and I have a similar Nikon lens for my Coolpix - it does a really good job. Another thing I noticed is that the Olympus is gives you 0.7x magnification which works out to the equivalent of about 19mm on a 35mm camera. One of the other lenses you have is a 0.45x - which might be almost too much of a good thing. 19mm is tricky enough to get a good composition with; it'll take practice.

[another view]

PS - here's what a fisheye lens does. It's only 0.8x, I believe. The lens in this lighthouse is so big that I almost couldn't stand sideways in there next to it. Also, that's a straight up and down doorframe on the edges of the shot. The balcony I was on was probably less than 2' wide. Wierd stuff, huh?

[Catch22]

The main difference in quality you'll see will be at the corners and edges. The third item has an example shot of a bridge, showing how much wider the attachment is. Look at the bottom of the frame how the bridge comes up to the right, and see how it looks curved? Another item is a fisheye lens which is supposed to be very curved. It's a type of wide angle, but really more of a special effects lens. They're really wide too, moreso than you'd think based on the multiplication factor (0.7x, etc).

I'd stick with the Olympus lens. They're known for good optics and I have a similar Nikon lens for my Coolpix - it does a really good job. Another thing I noticed is that the Olympus is gives you 0.7x magnification which works out to the equivalent of about 19mm on a 35mm camera. One of the other lenses you have is a 0.45x - which might be almost too much of a good thing. 19mm is tricky enough to get a good composition with; it'll take practice.

Thanks for the tips, that helps me out a lot. I'll probably save a little and go for the Olympus. Seems like that will be the better choice for using on landscapes but still give an interesting effect on other pics (I want to use it for action mountain biking photos). If that goes well and I want something more then maybe I'll pick up something like that .45 later. Thanks again!

[mtbbrian]

I don't know anything about this kind of stuff there Brian....
But!
Since you got a new fancy camera, we should go for a ride and you can take some pics of me!
;)
Brian
Ride On!
;)

[Catch22]

I don't know anything about this kind of stuff there Brian....
But!
Since you got a new fancy camera, we should go for a ride and you can take some pics of me!
;)
Brian
Ride On!
;)

Ha! Certainly, first I have to figure out how to use this fancy new camera, lots more buttons and features tahn I'm used to!