Teleconverters for Sony HDRFX1 – Advice needed

[Anonymous]

I am interested in pursuing a career in wildlife cinematography, but I am currently unable to purchase my own equipment. I have access to a Sony HDRFX1, but for filming wildlife, I really need larger than a 12x zoom. Since I don’t really have any other choice, I am considering shelling out some money for a teleconverter lens that screws on to the front of the FX1. I know that these converter lenses are not ideal, but I don’t have interchangeable lenses and I think I might still benefit from one of these.

I am wondering if anyone has had experience using teleconverters, especially on HD cameras. If there are downsides, especially to cheap conversion lenses, what are they and how will I see these disadvantages in my footage? Here are links to the two I have been considering. Obviously there is a big price difference. I can probably only afford the cheaper one myself, but may be able to get some money from elsewhere to purchase something more expensive.

http://stores.channeladvisor.com/47stphoto/items/item.aspx?itemid=4398667

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/from-froogle.asp?id=964730502&rf=froogle&dfdate=5_22_2009

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

[birdcat]

There are lots of cheap converters out there (especially on eBay) but you do get what you pay for. Along with a couple of these cheapies, I have a branded “Sony” wide angle adapter and it gives very good results. It’s a bit more $$$ than the cheap ones (I think I paid something like $40 for it – on eBay – it goes for about $70 at Best Buy).

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely check ebay. I am wondering if anyone has experience using telephoto converters specifically, ideally on an HD camera. Any good results from cheap teleconverters?

[Anonymous]

I am thinking about buying this for my FX1:

http://cgi.ebay.com/72mm-2-0X-Teleconverter-Telephoto-Pro-tele-Lens-2x-AF_W0QQitemZ110389380924QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCamera_Lenses?hash=item19b3b8473c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

I would still like to hear about others’ experiences with teleconverters.

[NormanWillis]

JBetz,

I apologize. I have no experience with teleconverters. However, I also have an FX1, and the pre-amps are supposed to be relatively noisy.

I do not know what your plans are for capturing sound, but if you are planning Foley sound or a shotgun microphone of any kind, juicedLink makes a screw-on/plug-in XLR adapter that might be helpful to you. If you need phantom power, be sure to select a model with phantom power.

BeachTek also makes these adapters, but the juicedLink is less expensive for similar quality.

I hope that will help.

Norman

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. For now I am recording sound separately using a minidisc recorder and shotgun mic, but I may look into these XLR adapters in the future. At the moment (since I am just trying to break into the industry) I am simply trying to improve my reel with better close-ups of wildlife. So for now I really just need to know about teleconverters with specifics on quality.

[Author]

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