hiro
New Member
I finally got my DW-6 19mm wide-angle supplementary lens today after waiting a month during which three promised delivery dates slid by. Since there wasn't already a DW-6 discussion thread I thought I'd post my initial observations on this gizmo, which gives approximately a 90° horizontal field of view.
Let's dispose of the most obvious questions first: Is it any good? Yes indeed it is! A quick examination of my first shots shows excellent corner to corner sharpness with no aberrations or any issues at all. Indeed I expected no less, as I had previously read a GX100 review which raved about this attachment, and the shots I saw then were also pin-sharp right to the corners.
Next obvious question: Can you still zoom? Yes you can, and indeed in step zoom mode you will find it now reads 19–22–28–40–57 instead of 24–28–35–50–72! I'm not sure the performance at the longer settings equals the performance of the lens at the same focal lengths without the DW-6 fitted, but it looks pretty good to me. (Has anyone tested this?) In real money, your 5.1–15.3mm lens is now a 4–12mm lens.
Final obvious question: is the extra field of view of 19mm v. 24mm really noticeable? Yes again! It's a bigger difference than 24 v. 28mm and well worth it if you're into wideangle work. (Note that in 3:2 mode, the focal length is effectively 20mm due to the crop factor.)
On to some practical observations.
Protection & storage The lens comes with front and rear caps, and a little nice black nylon stuff bag with a drawstring which is big enough to hold the DW-6 with the HA-2 adaptor still attached. Sadly the rear cap doesn't fit the rear of the HA-2, so if you store the combo ready assembled (which of course you will, since it enables you to fit or remove it in seconds) you will have to leave the rear end open. However this isn't too much of a problem as the 30mm depth of the tube easily protects the rear glass, and the bag should keep the dust out. Actually, the stuff bag is big enough to hold not only the DW-6 & HA-2 but also the EVF and a couple of 43mm filters. It's only a pity it's not a bit deeper or I could have used it for the GX100 itself! Having said all that I don't think the bag is waterproof, as holding it up to the light I can see a few pinpricks of light between the weave.
Fitting The DW-6 screws into the 43mm filter thread of the HA-2.
Tip: As with all filter threads, you can spend ages trying to find the start of the thread, so once I'd found the exact point of engagement I put a little dab of tippex on the DW-6 at top dead centre so I'd be able to fit it more quickly in future without turning it round and round until the thread catches on. Now I just have to hold the DW-6 so its white spot is at the top, and I know it will immediately engage with the filter thread, which is not only quicker but avoids the risk of dropping it whilst turning it round and round trying to engage the thread. I did the same with my polarising filter so I can fit that quickly too without fumbling about. But as noted above, unless you are going to be using the HA-2 mainly for filters it's better to leave the DW-6 & HA-2 assembled by default so the combo can be fitted and removed instantly.
Tip 2: What to do with the little bayonet ring you have to take off in order to fit the HA-2 to the camera: I've simply taped the ring and lens cap together (with some of that invisible type sticky tape that doesn't go sticky with age) to make a combined bayonet-mount lens cap. Now I can remove them together in one step, and they will both be safely tethered to the camera as a single unit. There seems to be no downside to removing the bayonet ring even when not using the HA-2, since it doesn't actually protect anything — the lens is no more exposed with the ring removed, which makes me wonder what the point of it was anyhow.
Linkages Fitting the DW-6 depresses a metal linkage in the HA-2 which in turn depresses a little tab in the camera's bayonet mount. This causes the camera's step zoom to show a revised scale of 19–58mm. I don't know if it alters other aspects of the cameras behaviour or not, such as how the zoom moves or processing of the images created. The tab is depressed correctly regardless of whether you screw in the DW-6 when the HA-2 is already on the camera, or fit the HA-2 to the camera with DW-6 already attached. (Note: the front end of the linkage is positioned such that screwing a filter into the HA-2 does not depress it, although conceivably there may be filters whose thread is thick enough to do that. My chunky polarising filter was ok though.)
Adding filters to the DW-6 The front of the DW-6 is not threaded for filters. However it is trivial work to adapt a Cokin filter holder so it fits the DW-6 (I will make a separate thread with pictures of this).
Pocketability The GX100 loses a lot of its pocketability with the DW-6 attached. Comparing it to my old 35mm SLRs with a 20mm lens attached, the GX100 is now actually deeper than either SLR I possess! It is however still quite a bit narrower and a lot lighter: at 380g it's half the weight of a Ricoh XR-X with 20mm lens and batteries (750g), and 2/3 the weight of a Pentax ME Super with 20mm lens (600g). In practice the GX100 with DW-6 & EVF will still fit in my inside coat pocket, but now I can feel it prodding me, whereas with just the EVF fitted I find myself tapping the front of my coat now and again to reassure myself it's still there! But with the EVF sticking out the back and the DW-6 out of the front, the GX100 is a very awkward shape to stow.
Edit: Below is a comparison shot of cameras with a 20mm lens or equivalent fitted: left to right, Ricoh XR-X* (a 35mm SLR which is about the same size as a typical DSLR I think), Pentax ME Super with 20mm/f4, GX100 with and without the DW-6 fitted. As you can see, the GX100 is indeed the deepest of the lot! (Of course the comparison isn't totally fair since the GX100 has a zoom reaching to 72mm, but I think it's an interesting comparison anyhow.)
*Note: I cheated slightly - the XR-X actually has the fractionally deeper 35mm/f2.8 fitted as I don't have two 20mm lenses!
Let's dispose of the most obvious questions first: Is it any good? Yes indeed it is! A quick examination of my first shots shows excellent corner to corner sharpness with no aberrations or any issues at all. Indeed I expected no less, as I had previously read a GX100 review which raved about this attachment, and the shots I saw then were also pin-sharp right to the corners.
Next obvious question: Can you still zoom? Yes you can, and indeed in step zoom mode you will find it now reads 19–22–28–40–57 instead of 24–28–35–50–72! I'm not sure the performance at the longer settings equals the performance of the lens at the same focal lengths without the DW-6 fitted, but it looks pretty good to me. (Has anyone tested this?) In real money, your 5.1–15.3mm lens is now a 4–12mm lens.
Final obvious question: is the extra field of view of 19mm v. 24mm really noticeable? Yes again! It's a bigger difference than 24 v. 28mm and well worth it if you're into wideangle work. (Note that in 3:2 mode, the focal length is effectively 20mm due to the crop factor.)
On to some practical observations.
Protection & storage The lens comes with front and rear caps, and a little nice black nylon stuff bag with a drawstring which is big enough to hold the DW-6 with the HA-2 adaptor still attached. Sadly the rear cap doesn't fit the rear of the HA-2, so if you store the combo ready assembled (which of course you will, since it enables you to fit or remove it in seconds) you will have to leave the rear end open. However this isn't too much of a problem as the 30mm depth of the tube easily protects the rear glass, and the bag should keep the dust out. Actually, the stuff bag is big enough to hold not only the DW-6 & HA-2 but also the EVF and a couple of 43mm filters. It's only a pity it's not a bit deeper or I could have used it for the GX100 itself! Having said all that I don't think the bag is waterproof, as holding it up to the light I can see a few pinpricks of light between the weave.
Fitting The DW-6 screws into the 43mm filter thread of the HA-2.
Tip: As with all filter threads, you can spend ages trying to find the start of the thread, so once I'd found the exact point of engagement I put a little dab of tippex on the DW-6 at top dead centre so I'd be able to fit it more quickly in future without turning it round and round until the thread catches on. Now I just have to hold the DW-6 so its white spot is at the top, and I know it will immediately engage with the filter thread, which is not only quicker but avoids the risk of dropping it whilst turning it round and round trying to engage the thread. I did the same with my polarising filter so I can fit that quickly too without fumbling about. But as noted above, unless you are going to be using the HA-2 mainly for filters it's better to leave the DW-6 & HA-2 assembled by default so the combo can be fitted and removed instantly.
Tip 2: What to do with the little bayonet ring you have to take off in order to fit the HA-2 to the camera: I've simply taped the ring and lens cap together (with some of that invisible type sticky tape that doesn't go sticky with age) to make a combined bayonet-mount lens cap. Now I can remove them together in one step, and they will both be safely tethered to the camera as a single unit. There seems to be no downside to removing the bayonet ring even when not using the HA-2, since it doesn't actually protect anything — the lens is no more exposed with the ring removed, which makes me wonder what the point of it was anyhow.
Linkages Fitting the DW-6 depresses a metal linkage in the HA-2 which in turn depresses a little tab in the camera's bayonet mount. This causes the camera's step zoom to show a revised scale of 19–58mm. I don't know if it alters other aspects of the cameras behaviour or not, such as how the zoom moves or processing of the images created. The tab is depressed correctly regardless of whether you screw in the DW-6 when the HA-2 is already on the camera, or fit the HA-2 to the camera with DW-6 already attached. (Note: the front end of the linkage is positioned such that screwing a filter into the HA-2 does not depress it, although conceivably there may be filters whose thread is thick enough to do that. My chunky polarising filter was ok though.)
Adding filters to the DW-6 The front of the DW-6 is not threaded for filters. However it is trivial work to adapt a Cokin filter holder so it fits the DW-6 (I will make a separate thread with pictures of this).
Pocketability The GX100 loses a lot of its pocketability with the DW-6 attached. Comparing it to my old 35mm SLRs with a 20mm lens attached, the GX100 is now actually deeper than either SLR I possess! It is however still quite a bit narrower and a lot lighter: at 380g it's half the weight of a Ricoh XR-X with 20mm lens and batteries (750g), and 2/3 the weight of a Pentax ME Super with 20mm lens (600g). In practice the GX100 with DW-6 & EVF will still fit in my inside coat pocket, but now I can feel it prodding me, whereas with just the EVF fitted I find myself tapping the front of my coat now and again to reassure myself it's still there! But with the EVF sticking out the back and the DW-6 out of the front, the GX100 is a very awkward shape to stow.
Edit: Below is a comparison shot of cameras with a 20mm lens or equivalent fitted: left to right, Ricoh XR-X* (a 35mm SLR which is about the same size as a typical DSLR I think), Pentax ME Super with 20mm/f4, GX100 with and without the DW-6 fitted. As you can see, the GX100 is indeed the deepest of the lot! (Of course the comparison isn't totally fair since the GX100 has a zoom reaching to 72mm, but I think it's an interesting comparison anyhow.)
*Note: I cheated slightly - the XR-X actually has the fractionally deeper 35mm/f2.8 fitted as I don't have two 20mm lenses!
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