Wide Converter WD-H58

I have been trying wide converter lenses for my VIXIA HF S21 camcorder, and I finally tried this one (which is recommended by Canon for the camera). I had avoided it because of its high price at first.

I knew it would not be light, but I was shocked that it was as heavy as it was--it seems to weigh at least as much as the camera itself! So just imagine how trying to hold the camera with this lens attached will wear you out, or imagine how unbalanced it will be on a tripod mount. When mounted in a moving vehicle the weight imbalance magnifies the vibration you have to deal with anyway in that situation.

I'm going to send this one back; I am just going to go by a local camera store to see if they have anything that I can look at and try out first before buying. This lens was my third attempt online.

As others have mentioned, this changed the balance of the camcorder. It's hard to complain about any aspect of this thing, when the optics are this good -- but the device has its annoyances. The lens cap is horribly difficult to get on and off. Canon should have put front mounted threads and had a clip-in cap. The glass is *right up front* ready for every fingerprint accident.

Massive, beautiful glass that does its job, in a slightly annoying form.

Here's what you get in the package:
* WD-H58 lens
* 2 plastic caps:
- 77.5mm front cap
- 58mm rear cap
* Synthetic leather, drawstring pouch

Fit & Finish:
The all metal body is substantial and heavy. The finish is a black, lightly brushed, non-glossy, metal finish. The threads are machined to fit the HF-S100 exactly, mounting the lens flush against the camera with no gap. The front of the lens is NOT threaded! You won't be able to attach any filters to the front! The 2 provided caps fit very tightly to the lens. The outside diameter of the front lens is 77.5mm - according to the imprinting on the inside of the front cap.

Form & Function:
Mounting the lens is simple, although because of the weight and size of the lens, I recommend supporting your camera on something sturdy! Once mounted, the fit is exact and flush - with no filters, no stacking (more on this later.) The HF-S100 definitely get's a facelift with this lens... it dominates the front view of the camera. Even with the LCD open and your hand in the strap, there's no mistaking that you have a wide angle lens attached. With it mounted, the HF-S100 tends to tip forward with your hand in the strap. Even with the big BP-827 battery on the back, the whole rig feels front biased now.

Performance:
It does what it was designed to do - give you a wide angle view! It executes its function perfectly. However, there is a little bit of "barrel distortion" (I think that's what they call it) on the far left & right of the shot. For example, when shooting a scene through a doorway you'll notice that the door frame on either side is not straight, but rather has an ever-so-slight bend/curve to it. From what I've read, this is expected for a wide angle lens and, for photos, can be corrected in post. Honestly, I didn't notice it in any other footage, nor does it distract from the subject of your shot. If I had not read about it for my DSLR lens research then I would have never picked up on it... But just the same, it is there if you look for it.


Zooming through the full range is flawless as viewed through the camera's LCD screen. I did not get a chance to view the footage on the big TV screen, but playback on the camera did NOT show any degradation of picture quality or color. There's no lens vignette effect on the image through he entire range of the zoom.

[UPDATE: I've shot a lot more footage with the lens. It is flawless... and on a big screen, WOW! You really get a better POV type prespective with this lens - really taking advantage of HD TVs 16:9 aspect ratio, the footage looks more "natural" in frame. The zoom works perfectly through the entire range. Focus is clear throught out as well. I leave the lens on 100% of the time now.]

Using a filter - I tried it with a Hoya HMC UV(c) 58mm filter mounted first to the camera then stacking the lens on. This filter is thin. I was afraid that there wouldn't be enough thread to hold this big lens. Surprisingly, the lens mounts to the filter quite well. There is a gap though due to the shallow/thin size of the Hoya filter, but there's enough to secure the lens & filter combination to the HF-S100. The image quality is still clear and distortion free (other than the barrel distortion mentioned earlier). I'm not sure what, if any, added benefit there is to having the filter *and* the lens attached. I read some opinions about not stacking too much glass onto a camera because of possible added reflections, but in this specific case I did not see any negative impact. (I'm probably going to leave it that way so when I take the wide angle off, there's at least a filter on the camera to provide some protection to the internal lens... this was my original mode of operation anyway.)

Using the provided front lens cap is... well... difficult. The cap fits so tightly to the lens that it is actually very tedious to remove. Forget popping the cap on and off to take quick shots of something, no way! I had to shimmy the thing several times to get it off while bracing the camera & lens for fear of ripping the lens way. The cap is great for packing & travel.. very, very secure, but not very practical when shooting. And, because this lens is not threaded on the front, you cannot add a filter to protect it! So, you'll need to find an alternative for protection while shooting. (I use a lens hood from Cavision, the LH-80 w/ an 80mm OD, which I bought through Amazon but is no longer available. Works great and the cap now fits inside the inner receiving circle of the hood and is secure enough to stay in place but easy enough to take off for shooting!)

Summary
This is definitely a worth-while purchase. There is no doubting whether or not it will work, fit, be high quality, compatible, etc. It's the perfect wide angle lens for the HF-S100. Pricey, yes, but worth it for worry free filming! Besides, it looks awesome on the camera!

This is high-quality one. It was a bit expensive, but it makes very nice shots and was exactly what we expect out of it. We use it for Canon HF S10

I got this for my new Canon HF S100 and just be aware that it is big and heavy and really adds to the overall size.

Besides that the quality is top notch and you can still use the zoom all the way.