I’m really excited to play with these new toys! The Sony 16mm Lens I have already tested and reviewed, but I was not able to get the two converter lenses and the 16mm lens together until now 🙂 Not only that, but I got both the Nex-C3 and the Nex-5N to play with using these lenses.
I read somewhere I while back that the converter lenses for the 16mm wide angle E-mount lens, didn’t cause any light loss and I was admittedly a bit perplexed by this. However, it makes perfect sense now as you will see below. Basically the converter lenses are just large chunks of glass that transform the pancake into a more standard sized lens, but because the glass is so large no light is lost in the process even though the lens is physically longer.
Normally, lengthening a lens would result in some light loss, similar to how a zoom lens steps down through the aperture as it grows longer. Sony figured out a way to get around this, and for a pretty good price I might ad.
The conversions lenses go for approx $110 US each, and it basically gives you another fast f/2.8 lens to use on your Nex Camera Body of choice.
The 16mm Wide Angle E-mount Lens which is equivalent to 24mm in 35mm format. Therefore, the Fisheye Converter ( VCL-ECF1) takes the 24mm equivalent lens and transforms it into a 15mm Ultra Wide Angle Fisheye lens, and the 18mm Wide angle (VLC-ECU1) turns the 24mm equivalent lens into an 18mm Ultra Wide Angle lens!!
So for a $220 dollars you can get two high quality wide angle Nex E-Mount lenses assuming you have the 16mm E-mount lens already of course.
A few Product Photos:
Check these guys out!! The Fisheye is on the left and 18mm wide-angle is on the right. Also, be sure to Click the pics for a nice large 1200px Version!!
The conversion lenses both came in a nice Hardened Case that looks like a little burger on a bun to me 😉
Here is the Fisheye converter Lens with the protective caps on both sides. The bottom cap is rubbery and the top cap is hard plastic.
Here’s just the Fisheye Converter Lens by itself.
Here’s what the 18mm wide angle converter lens looks like mounted on the Sony Nex-C3. The Fisheye is to the left.
Closing Remarks
I’ll have some sample images shortly, but for now I must say these look like very nice quality lens converters to me. The build quality is as expected from Sony and they match the 16mm lens perfectly. The converter lenses screw on to the 16mm lens similar to the E-Mount itself, and there is a little orange line to show where to mount on both the 16mm lens and the converter lens.
