What do you think of this combination - WA converter and old WA lens

[milosh]

Hello guys,

Yesterday I bought a used video lens, I got it really cheap (6$). It's actually a Hama HR 0.5x wide angle converter for video cameras. This thing is very well built, very heavy, a lot of glass, it says it's high resolution series. It's actually heavier than my 18-105mm lens!

Hama HR 0.5x Wide Angle Lens 52mm Adapters 46mm, 49mm: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

The converter has 52mm thread to mount on lens and comes with three ring adapters (46, 49 and 55mm).

I tried using it with my Nikon's 35mm 1.8 G and it works great. I did not test it carefully to see the quality, but it seems to be good. It gives an almost same field of view as my other lens at 18mm. I'm going to do a more detailed test to check it's sharpness.

Now my idea is to get an old 24 or 28mm manual lens and use it with this converter as a wide angle lens. Currently my widest lens is 18mm and with this I could effectively go down to 12 or 14mm. I know you guys will tell me to forget it because of IQ issues with converters, but considering that it will take me more than a year to save for a Sigma 10-20, I find this to be a possibly quick and relatively cheap solution, because I really need something wider.

I have one Tamron Adaptall 2 lens and I love it very much, so I looked up Adaptall WA lenses and found a couple of good ones, particularly the 28mmF/2.5 here and here which sells for around 50$.

My question is, am I missing something here regarding the focal lengths and viewing angles? My calculation is, for example: 28mm x 0.5 = 14mm. That's 4 mm wider than my current lens. Tell me what do you think?

[milosh]

Anyone, anything?

One more question, what do you think what would be the best way to test its' sharpness? Shooting a landscape scene with a 35mm lens with and without the converter doesn't make sense, because the field of view is 50% wider, and all the details are further away. Should I compare 35mm+WA converter with my 18-105 at 18mm, that's approximately the same field of view?

Btw, yesterday I let go of a Tamron 28mm f2.5 for 9.5GBP at an auction, I was outbid in the last second. That sucks!