Fisheye Recommendations

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pockets

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Hi,

I'm toying with the idea of buying a fisheye lens, I'm not after full frame nor am I after anything expensive since its really just for experimental photos, been looking on ebay and seen the Russian Zenitar 16mm at a fair price, anyone have any recommendations or experience with this lens? I imagine I'd have to stop it down a few stops to get the best out of it being a cheapo.

Equipment-wise I'm using a selection of MF Nikons and Olympus OMs.

Thanks.
 
have you read Ken Rockwell's review of it?? - "...sharp in the center at f/4, but isn't sharp in the corners until f/16" and "This 16mm fisheye is intended for full-frame cameras. It's a waste of time on DX Nikons or the Canon 1.6x cameraslike the Rebels and 40D." pretty much sum it up, I'd say


Edit: I'm a little confused - you say you don't want full frame, yet you're shooting with OM's and MF Nikons.... they are full frame cameras - or do you mean you don't mind if the full frame isn't filled - i.e. the circular picture with black borders...:thinking:
 
Sorry, I should have been clearer I meant I didn't want the full-on fish-eye lens where it cuts off the corners or just leaves a small circular image, it was late when I typed it! Just one where I can get the extreme sort of wideangle fisheye type images but filling the frame still.
I fancy something a bit mad for my film cameras, I have a Canon 20D with a 10-22 which is pretty wide but I find oddly that I don't use wide much on digital whereas I do using film.
Thanks for the link.
 
I don't have any personal experience with the Zenitar, but if you are buying a second-hand fisheye lens which has rear mounted filters, make sure that these filters are included with your lens.

The Nikon 16mm fisheye for example - the version I have is the old 'ai' lens which has them built-in so in this case it doesn't require extra filters, but the 'ais' and the current auto-focus version does need them. They form part of the optical construction of the lens, so without them the lens will not focus on infinity. I can only assume other manufacturers of fisheye's will be similar, so just be aware of this.

They are great lenses to use for certain situations, so good luck with it. :)
 
May be great on crop but I don't see it available in Pen F or Auto 110 fitment!:p
 
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