NikonGear'23

Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: Akira on May 01, 2022, 10:44:20

Title: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Akira on May 01, 2022, 10:44:20
Becky and Konstantin of Grays of Westminster review the rarity.

I think this is the worst example of the handling of this rarest, invaluable lens, even though the humongous front element is scratched!  Ouch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s6wl7jwC4w
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Birna Rørslett on May 01, 2022, 11:27:48
Horribly scratched front dome and it certainly shows up in the footage as well. Plus a tiny tripod for that massive glass monster and hopeless ways of using a fisheye lens. Real amateurs :(

A lens such as this should be handled with care and used intelligently, by a true professional. Like our own Erik Lund [aka 'Dr. Lens'] on the one of the last NG trips to Scotland (May, 2016).

Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Akira on May 01, 2022, 11:44:54
Oh, yes, he's the man!
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: John Geerts on May 01, 2022, 12:23:29
Horribly scratched front dome and it certainly shows up in the footage as well. Plus a tiny tripod for that massive glass monster and hopeless ways of using a fisheye lens. Real amateurs :(
Very painful to see.
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Fons Baerken on May 01, 2022, 12:49:19
Would have chosen a sunny day for shooting  ;)
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: John Geerts on May 01, 2022, 13:22:05
Would have chosen a sunny day for shooting  ;)
haha  that's just a minor drawback :)
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Birna Rørslett on May 01, 2022, 13:47:09
The venue was London, with all what that entails:)

At least it wasn't raining so they could test how the Fish stands up being brought in contact with its natural habitat :)
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: golunvolo on May 01, 2022, 15:42:58
 
The venue was London, with all what that entails:)

At least it wasn't raining so they could test how the Fish stands up being brought in contact with its natural habitat :)

 ;D

  It is hard to watch.. On the other hand, I remember the video footage, the custom minitripod and the spectacular images that came off from your meeting with this lens.

Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Jack Dahlgren on May 01, 2022, 19:21:04
Watching her pat the glass with her hand made me cringe. They don’t seem all that good at using wide angle lenses.
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Birna Rørslett on May 01, 2022, 20:34:52
At the very least they didn't use a chisel on the front, like an earlier user must have done :(

Usually small imperfections on the front of a "normal" lens, in particular with longer focal lengths, do little harm and mostly are invisible in the photos.  For shorter focal lengths, scratches on the rear element are the worst offenders.  Yet for such a lens as the 6mm Fish, where depth of field nearly extends to the surface of the front dome, virtually anything up front will show up. As evidenced by the video.
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: fish_shooter on May 02, 2022, 00:05:55
The venue was London, with all what that entails:)

At least it wasn't raining so they could test how the Fish stands up being brought in contact with its natural habitat :)

I have wondered how one of the 220 degree fisheyes would in fact work under water! A couple of technical issues. Dome ports for underwater housings are typically hemispherical when designed for fisheyes so match a 180 dgr fisheye well. So an unknown is how a 220 would work looking through one of these ports. The other issue is fitting the lens. Only very old housings have large port fittings (about 20 cm in diameter). My Seacam housings require the lens diameter to be less than 98mm in diameter. A special version of the superdome port as well as port extension tube was made for the 14-24 AFS lens due its just slightly too large diameter.
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Akira on May 02, 2022, 00:06:37
Also, it is not good to talk or speak with the naked lens element, front or rear, directed to the mouth.  The inadvertent spitting (acid) can damage the coating (essentially metal).
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Birna Rørslett on May 02, 2022, 00:51:35
Snell's window is around 180 degrees so you wouldn't get anything more of the above-water scene, perhaps some extra areas of internal reflections. I have a Meike 3.5mm Fisheye in m4/3 mount that is 220 degrees at least and it wasn't that useful in my Olympus housing with a port made for Olympus own 180 degree (non-circular) Fisheye. The tiny Meike does better out of water though.

Apart from its rarity (although the Fisheye 6/2.8 isn't among the very rarest of Nikkors, despite the widely seen claims to the contrary), the size and sheer bulk of this lens makes it hardly feasible to put in any underwater housing I'm aware of. It certainly would not go into the big dome of my old Awuatica housing, for example.

Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Akira on May 02, 2022, 00:54:59
Apart from its rarity (although the Fisheye 6/2.8 isn't among the very rarest of Nikkors, despite the widely seen claims to the contrary), the size and sheer bulk of this lens makes it hardly feasible to put in any underwater housing I'm aware of. It certainly would not go into the big dome of my old Awuatica housing, for example.

It would only fit into the dedicated dome of a submarine or a deep submergence vessel?
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Birna Rørslett on May 02, 2022, 09:11:07
Now all that remains is finding that [Nikon-]Yellow Submarine :)

Looking through the inventory of Grays, I found -- and ordered -- the new Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 for my Z fc. Price point wasn't bad either.  I wonder whether it'll arrive before I depart for Scotland last week of May?
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: MFloyd on May 02, 2022, 12:24:30
6mm f/2.8 is spectacular (I remember for having seen it at Photokina 1972 ?), and it is also a technical masterpiece. I have no exact recollection why this lens have been build for (calculate cloud coverage ?), but certainly not for creative photography. Personally, I have never been thrilled by fisheye pictures. This is only my personal opinion, which nobody is obliged to share of course  :)
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Wally on May 05, 2022, 20:31:56
Definitely a new low for the GoW channel! GoW has always been a professional source, but this??? Interesting that Gray Levett doesn't step in....
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: MFloyd on May 05, 2022, 23:16:03
Definitely a new low for the GoW channel! GoW has always been a professional source, but this??? Interesting that Gray Levett doesn't step in....

Why new low ?
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Wally on May 06, 2022, 02:43:48
Since you marked "new" in bold I can assume it was always low for you? ;)
Some of the videos were ok to be fair but many details were/are wrong or incomplete.
I admit I am a different generation  ;D
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: Erik Lund on May 06, 2022, 15:29:26
6mm f/2.8 is spectacular (I remember for having seen it at Photokina 1972 ?), and it is also a technical masterpiece. I have no exact recollection why this lens have been build for (calculate cloud coverage ?),....
Truly a lens you newer forget seeing, even more so shooting!

Yes cloud coverage was one application they mention in early Nikon literature I recall.

Yes, quite a pointless video I agree. The lens requires so much of the photographer.

Here Carlsberg Glyptotek - Currently celebrating 125 Years anniversary... !
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1562/26425541990_71fec707b1_3k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Gg8NYW)_EGL1989 (https://flic.kr/p/Gg8NYW) by Erik Gunst Lund (https://www.flickr.com/photos/erik_lund/), on Flickr
Title: Re: 6mm/f2.8 fisheye Nikkor review
Post by: golunvolo on May 07, 2022, 00:02:58
Now we are talking...