How do i know what size lens to get for my camcorder?

Question

i have a jvc

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11186133/JVC_Camcorder_Digital.jpg

and it says 55mm around the lens and i want to get a fisheye lens

but wasnt sure if 55 was the right size to get

please help me out

Answer 1

Filter size is usually indicated like this near the front of the lens:

∅37mm

(I hope that symbol "ø" shows up correctly, its a O with a slash through it, like a no smoking sign).

From the looks of it, it's probably not a 55mm filter (those are for much larger cameras)... ∅37mm and ∅30mm are common on camcorders, but there are smaller sizes too.  It will probably tell you the filter size in the manual and on the back of the lens cap as well.

Answer 2

The lens does not look like it's 55mm - that's probably the focal length.  You can try to find the filter size in the users manual - you can download it for free from the JVC support website (just search by your camcorder's model number):

http://books.jvcservice.com/

Or, you can probably take your camcorder to a photo/video store such as Ritz Cameras and ask for assistance.