Canon WC-DC52 Wide Converter for the Canon A10, A20, A60, A40, A70, A75, A80, A85, A95, A510, A520, A540 & A570IS Cameras

I Like the wide angle...BUT...DON'T USE THE FLASH WITH THE WIDE AGLE! Otherwise it is a Great Product and the Price is Good!

Thaks,

C.A.

I purchased this wide angle lens for my digital camera. When I was experimenting with it taking photos inside my house, there was a dark shadow in the lower right hand portion of the photo. When I took a photo outside, there was no shadow. I went to my local camera shop to ask for help in this matter and he said I would need to adjust the white balance according to the light in the room, but he said, in reality, 'these digital cameras are really not meant for attachments'. I did experiment with the light balance, but still had no luck in getting that dark area to disappear.The flash on the camera is not strong enough to compensate for the area the lens blocks. I returned the product.

I wanted a wider view for the camera and this converter took care of it beutifully. I'm very happy with it.

I got this lens mainly for confined settings where you frequently end up backing into a wall or corner and still can't fit everybody into the shot. You can squeeze a lot more in the frame with this lens. Unfortunately, the lens and adapter block my A80's built-in flash. Unless you want a big shadow cast across a large part of the shot, the lens has to be taken off every time you need the flash. Which is more often than not at indoor social gatherings! So I end up rarely using the lens at all. It just stays at home because it's not worth hauling around just for those few cases when I could have used it.

I will say that it otherwise works well. You can still zoom all the way in or out. (This in contrast to the corresponding Tele lens, with which you reportedly must keep the camera zoomed all the way.) And the entire field seems to focus fairly well. (This in contrast to a similar though older Kodak product I own, which blurs all but the center of the shot.)

The lens is very quick and easy to attach or detach. (Also a contrast to the Kokak product, though at least the flash works with it so you don't have to take it off so often!) Easy, that is, provided you leave the lens screwed onto the (required, purchased separately) adapter and handle the lens/adapter as a unit.

A minor "issue" with this technique (keeping the lens attached to the adapter): The adapter is 1.5 inches long, so it does provide a bit of a shield around the circumference of the back of the lens (while they're screwed together), but that end of the lens is still somewhat vulnerable. The cover for the camera end of the lens is too large for the camera end of the adapter. It would be nice if Canon provided a cover for the camera end of the adapter too. And maybe if the covers had a spot for attaching a string to keep track of them.

One last tip: it's not convenient, but you can get acceptable results using the flash with this lens if you hold a flash diffuser in front of the flash. I suppose you could even jury-rig some kind of mount for that...

A related note: I highly recommend the waterproof case(s) for shooting underwater and in other wet (or sandy or dusty etc.) conditions with these cameras.

Product works well only when used without flash unit on. If flash operates it creates a shadow in the finished photo. When used with sufficient light and without the flash unit on this lens delivers quality photos.