any side effects of using a wide-angle convertor?

[andylawcc]

like, if using a teleconverter you lose a stop of aperture, will you gain one with a WA?

 

[SexyK]

I'm fairly certain you lose light either way, and therefore lose aperture. But someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[angry hampster]

You do not lose light. You will lose a LOT of image quality.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

yeah, you don't lose any light with wide angle adapters, but like people said, you will definitely lose quality.

 

[996GT2]

A wide angle converter will reduce image quality considerably and also may add distortion and other imperfections on top of what your lens already has. If you're using an expensive lens, then putting a wide angle converter on top of that will give it image quality worse than the kit lens that comes with many cameras.

Teleconverters, on the other hand, are often designed to be used specifically with a few lenses, and feature high quality optics that only reduce image quality a bit (and are quite expensive as a result). However, there is still a drop in quality.

For example, here are some resolution numbers for a very expensive Canon 300mm f/4L IS, as tested on a Rebel XT:

Without 1.4x Teleconverter, f/5.6

Center: 1996.5 lines of resolution
Border: 1928.5 lines of resolution

With Canon 1.4x Teleconverter, f/5.6

Center: 1796.5 lines of resolution
Border 1596.5 lines of resolution

 

[episodic]

The more glass the light passed through the lower the quality. . .