¿Funcionan los convertidores de lente gran angular?

Lo primero que cualquier fotógrafo quiere saber sobre un equipo es qué tan bien funciona. El equipo de cámara es costoso, por lo que los fotógrafos dedican tanto tiempo a revisar reseñas antes de tomar decisiones de compra. Para algunos de los lentes más especiales, los fotógrafos prueban las aguas con accesorios como convertidores de lentes de gran angular. Estos son mucho más baratos que comprar la lente en sí.

Pero, ¿funcionan los convertidores de lentes de gran angular?

En la situación adecuada, pueden ser un excelente accesorio. Si eres un fotógrafo aficionado o simplemente quieres jugar con diferentes estilos, son una forma económica de mojarte los pies. Sin embargo, si planea fotografiar bienes raíces o paisajes de manera profesional, sería mejor invertir en una lente gran angular de calidad.

¿Aún interesado? Aprendamos todo sobre los convertidores de lentes.

¿Qué son los convertidores de lentes?

Puede conectar un convertidor de lentes a su lente para ampliar la funcionalidad de la lente. La diferencia técnica entre un convertidor de lente y un adaptador de lente es que mientras un convertidor aumenta sus capacidades con su lente actual, un adaptador le permite usar una lente en su cámara que tiene una montura diferente a la de su cuerpo. Por ejemplo, puede usar una lente Canon en su cuerpo Nikon. Sin embargo, se vuelve confuso porque es posible que escuche los términos usados ​​indistintamente.

Los cuatro tipos principales de convertidores de lentes son macro, teleobjetivo, ojo de pez y gran angular.

Un convertidor macro está diseñado para permitirle acercarse a su sujeto a través de una ampliación adicional. Comprará su convertidor en función de cuánto desee aumentar su aumento, como 2x, que duplica el aumento. En general, los convertidores macro son muy populares, ya que permiten a los fotógrafos comenzar a jugar con las maravillas de la fotografía macro sin desembolsar varios cientos de dólares por un objetivo macro.

Otro convertidor popular es un convertidor de teleobjetivo, que aumenta la distancia focal efectiva de su lente. Estos son particularmente útiles para los fotógrafos interesados ​​en explorar la fotografía de la naturaleza.

Al igual que el convertidor de macros, estos convertidores se describen en un estilo 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. Esto significa que si tiene una lente de zoom de 6x en su cámara de apuntar y disparar actual, una de 2x la convertirá en un zoom de 12x. Si está disparando con una configuración DSLR, es la misma idea:una lente de 100 mm con un duplicador le brindará las capacidades de una lente de 200 mm.

Habrá diferencias adicionales si disparas con una cámara con sensor de recorte en lugar de con un sensor completo, pero eso se complica . Before you get too excited about what a telephoto converter can do for you, you should know that there’s a long list of cons associated with them.

Another set of common converters are wide angle and fisheye converters. Unlike the macro and telephoto converters, these converters are designed to get you further away from the subject matter. This makes them perfect for landscape or real estate photography. If you have a 50mm lens on your camera, a .50x wide-angle converter gives you the same capabilities as a 24mm lens.

Why Use Lens Converters?

Given that lens converters are so much cheaper than new lenses or upgrading from your point-and-shoot to a DSLR setup, you might be wondering why you wouldn’t rely on a lens converter in all situations. There are reasons — good reasons not to use a lens converter.

But first, take a look at the upside.

The primary reason anyone buys and uses a lens converter is that they are the cheapest solution to a problem. That problem is often wanting to shoot subject matter that would be enhanced by being further away or closer to your camera. In reality, price is the one and only reason to use a lens converter.

The downside of lens converters ranges by the type of converter you’re using. For wide-angle lens converters, this can include making your point-and-shoot bulkier, as the converter won’t retract back into the body of the camera.

The primary issue many photographers have with lens converters, including wide-angle converters, is their negative impact on image quality. Nearly all wide-angle converters will cause vignetting, soft corners, chromatic aberrations, loss of sharpness, and heavy barrel distortion.

Negatives of Lens Converters

Vignetting

When the corners of your photos are darker than the center, you’ve got vignetting . Basically, the amount of light hitting the sensor on these outside edges is a little less than what is coming through from the center of the lens.

If you’re shooting with a DSLR, you’ll be able to go into the shooting menu and adjust the vignetting. If you don’t make the fix in your camera, it’s something you can also resolve during post-processing.

Soft Corners

Soft corners refer to the result of less definition in the extremities of your image. The bright side with regards to your photos having soft corners when shooting with a wide-angle converter is that all lens tends to cause soft corners to one degree or another so it’s not a huge problem. The key will be if the lack of definition you get when shooting with the wide-angle converter bothers you or not.

Chromatic Aberrations

If you notice color fringing or purple fringing in your photos, you’re looking at chromatic aberrations . These aberrations usually occur when your lens is unable to bring all the different wavelengths of color to the same focal plane. Chromatic aberrations are caused by lens dispersion , which results in an image looking blurred or with oddly colored edges. This is especially true in high-contrast images.

Loss of Sharpness

Loss of sharpness is the chief complaint people have about wide-angle converters. The loss of sharpness is often due to the converter limiting the amount of light coming into the camera, resulting in the need for longer shutter speeds.

Barrel Distortion

Barrel distortion is a type of optical distortion that causes straight lines in your image to curve inward as if you’re looking at the bottom of a bowl or barrel. This type of distortion happens when your image sensor is narrower than your field of focus, which often occurs when using a wide-angle converter. To compensate for the difference, the camera tries to squeeze everything in to fit, resulting in the distortion.

Is It All That Bad?

The truth is, all of those “downsides” to a wide-angle converter can be a lot of fun to play with — assuming you’re wanting to be a bit more artistic with your photography. However, they can be difficult to control for, so you might be stuck with whatever your results are, unless you’re very adept with Lightroom or Photoshop.

Advantages of Wide Angle Shooting

The main advantage of wide angle lens converters is that they, by definition, have a wider field of vision than the human eye. Because of this, they are most often used when you want to capture as much of a scene as possible, such as when you’re shooting landscapes, interior, architecture or cityscapes.

The key thing to remember when you decide to start shooting with a wide angle lens or use a wide angle lens converter is that they will distort the image and enhance perspective. The object closest to the lens appears significantly larger than objects farther away — even if they look about the same size with your naked eye.

You will want to take advantage of this particular type of distortion caused by wide-angle shooting. However, doing so can be intimidating because it often means getting within inches of your subject matter to force the viewer to focus on that object while still taking in everything else captured in the image.

Another reason to get super close to your subject is that it’s easier to have objects in the midground and background as well. This creates more depth and perspective.

Wide angle shooting is also very popular for interior or real estate photographers. This isn’t because there is a desire to be artistic with the type of distortion a wide-angle lens offers, but because it allows you to capture more of the room when your back is against the wall — literally.

How to Choose a Wide Angle Lens Converter

Now let’s take a look at choosing the right wide angle lens converter for your needs.

Fitting Your Converter

When buying lenses, you’re probably used to considering the type of mount the camera has. For example, an EF or EF-S mount for Canon DSLR cameras.

However, a converter fits on the front of your existing lens and uses a completely different measure.

Take a look at the front of the lens that you want to use with your converter. You’ll see that there are threads that you can screw something onto. If you’ve ever used a filter with your lens, this is the same connection point.

Sizes come in millimeters. For example, 55mm or 62 mm. To find out your lens’ size, look for the ⌀ (diameter) symbol on your lens. The thread size will be written ⌀55, ⌀62, etc.

What if the converter you find doesn’t fit the lens you want to use? You can get step-down or step-up rings to make the conversion. These rings are also helpful if you want to use your converter with a couple of different lenses that do not have the same size threads.

Wide Angle Plus Macro

Some wide angle converters do double duty. They convert your lens to both wide angle as well as macro.

These converters usually have two pieces. Use them together to have a wide angle converter or use the macro converter separately to magnify your subjects. This type of converter makes an already inexpensive substitution even more cost effective.

The 8 Best Wide Angle Lens Converters on the Market

Ready to get started playing around with a wide angle lens converter? Check out one of these top-rated options to make sure you’re getting a good deal.

Altura Photo Professional 0.43x with Macro

This converter offers considerable bang for your buck. As a cool bonus, it also comes with a removable macro portion.

With a 0.43x conversion rate, a 50mm lens effectively becomes 21.5mm. Reviewers report that vignetting and optical blur when used with a 50mm is not too bad. On an 18-55mm kit lens, reviewers mention that it works best when used above 24mm. Anything lower than that has noticeable vignetting and blur.

The optics are covered with a special coating to help cut down on distortion and glare. The lens also keeps the ability to use AF, zoom, and auto exposure. Thread sizes include 52mm, 55mm, and 58mm.

Neewer 0.43x with Macro

This converter is similar to the Altura one we just mentioned. It is slightly less expensive, but also offers the detachable macro lens.

The conversion rate is the same, 0.43x. So you can expect a similar focal length conversion.

The lens uses HD optical glass, cutting down on lens flare and glare. Reviewers expressed surprise with the high image quality, considering how inexpensive the converter is.

This converter also comes in 52mm, 55mm, and 58mm thread sizes.

Kenko SGW-05 0.5x

For compact digital cameras or camcorders, this Kenko converter is a great choice. Again, inexpensive, this fits on the smaller 37mm thread size.

With 0.5x magnification it essentially doubles your field of view. Reviewers report that you can see significant vignetting when zooming all the way out, but that tightening it up a little takes care of it.

Raynox HD-6600 Pro 0.66x

If you’re willing to spend a little extra money, you can get this Raynox. The lens retails for over $100.  It’s more spendy than others on this list, but in return it cuts down on distortion significantly even when used with zoom.

Remember, it’s still much cheaper than buying a dedicated wide angle lens. So if you’re looking for something you can play with but will give you better results than the cheapest options, this lens is a great choice.

At 0.66x it nearly doubles the field of vision. It comes in a wide range of thread sizes including 37mm, 43mm, 46mm, 49mm, 52mm, 55mm, 58mm.

Raynox DCR-732 0.7x

If you want something a little more middle-of-the-road, try this other Raynox option for under $100. This converter offers about 37% more viewing area. It effectively makes a 50mm lens into 35mm.

High index coated glass with a steel barrel offers a sturdy construction. Reviewers report no noticeable distortion as well as the image stays sharp even when zoomed.

The only size is 52mm, but includes adapter rings for 37mm, 43mm, and 46mm.

Zeikos 0.18x Super Fisheye Lens

Want to play with some cool fisheye effects without dropping the cash on an expensive fisheye lens? This 0.18x from Zeikos will widen up your photos considerably. Consider that at this magnification 50 mm becomes 9mm.

The lens takes circular photos so you can use it to achieve some interesting and artistic effects.

The lens uses high quality, coated optical glass. A steel barrel construction makes sure that it’s sturdy.

Helder EW-4537 HD 0.45x

This lens will open up your view of view considerably, without adding too much of a fisheye effect to your photo. The 0.45x magnification will open up a 50mm to 22.5mm.

The lens is reasonably priced  and described as having high definition quality.

Opteka OPT45X58SWA 0.45x High Definition II

Another high definition option, this converter is a little bit cheaper than the last one we mentioned.

Reviewers mentioned that it doesn’t work well at long focal lengths above 180mm. The edges begin to show streaks and start to blur. Works well with any focal length shorter than that, however.

Explore the Wide World

Now we’ve learned all about wide angle lens converters and looked at a few that are worth trying. What do you think, will wide angle lens converters work for you?

Wide angle lens converters definitely have their place. Good ones can even be dirt cheap and are a great way for photographers to get their feet wet with wide angle and macro photography.

If you’re just playing around with different effects and techniques, the converter is well worth the money. However, if you’re planning to take professional real estate or landscape photos, you may want to invest in the real thing.

Here is the video:

Curious why those wide angle lenses are so expensive? Check out this post to learn all about them!