At some stage every camera operator finds themselves in a situation which will require a wider angle of view than the existing lens can provide. The simplest and most cost effective solution is to use a wide angle adapter.
A wide angle adapter screws onto the front element of the existing camcorder's lens and can provide anything from a 70% increase with massive barrel distortion to 20% wider without noticeable distortion.
Normal wide angle adapters are either 0.8x (20% wider), 0.7x (30% wider), 0.65x (35% wider), 0.5x (50% wider). They are mostly available in 37mm, 58mm, 62mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm sizes.
Full Zoom
You have a choice of Full or Partial Zoom through wide angle adapters available. A Full Zoom through adapter allows the camcorder's auto-focus to maintain focus throughout the camcorder's focal length, whereas a partial or non-zoom through adapter will lose auto-focus at approx 50-60% of the telephoto.
On professional camcorder lenses, wide angle adapters are focused with the existing lens' macro facility and allows virtually no zoom capability. Some wide-angle adapters allow the camcorder to be used with the hood or matte box attached, such as the Red Eye, which is virtually the size of a filter.