Show us you circular fish-eye images

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Will it work on a modern camera e.g. D810?

Yes, it most assuredly will. Nikon of course claims it is "impossible". I have taken hundreds of photos with my 7.5/5.6 and 10OP fisheyes on cameras that Nikon consider not possible.

First is 10 OP with my Df, second is 7.5 mm with my D800. Do note that at "wide" open setting f/5.6, it is entirely possible to have the foreground less sharp if you move in too close. The 10 OP is a fix focus lens and I think the lens is set to 1 m focus or so. Perhaps I should shim its mount a little to make it better for the near range.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

By the way, 7.5 fisheyes turn up quite frequently at much lower prices. I paid $200 for my sample that came in a special glass bubble to allow it to mount on a Nikonos camera.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Another with the 7.5 mm f/5.6 Fisheye-Nikkor, this time on a Nikon D3X.

[Roland Vink]

My sample is a very early non-AI, later AI-converted using the AI kit for the 6 mm f/2.8 !!

The 6mm 1:2.8 and 8mm 1:2.8 in fact share the same AI kits: nos 56, 57 and 58.
Why three kits? Lenses with extremely short focal lengths require very short movements to focus, even the slightest variation in the height of the lens mount would throw infinity focus way off. So shims are used to adjust the height so each lens focuses correctly. Nikon made different height AI kits to match, although in practice you can pretty well use any kit, only in very rare cases does the combination of lens and kit result in the AI ring being too long or short to engage the camera correctly.

[Erik Lund]

They certainly pay attention to detail

[Akira]

Slightly related to this topic, but I am sure some of you can give me advice.

I need an 8 mm fisheye lens for taking hemispherical pictures for determining leaf area index in a beech forest. I would like to use it on a Nikon full frame camera. What are my options (including other brands, e.g. Sigma), and what would be the best?

Just to add: I need 180 degrees field of view, not necessarily 8 mm.

If you are looking for a circular fisheye for the FX format, Sigma 8mm/f3.5 would be the only candidate for the realistic price.  It is of the equisolid angle projection type.

[Kim Pilegaard]

If you are looking for a circular fisheye for the FX format, Sigma 8mm/f3.5 would be the only candidate for the realistic price.  It is of the equisolid angle projection type.

Thanks, that seems to be a quite affordable option.

[Jørgen Ramskov]

Well, I couldn't resist. Paid around $333 for a basically brand new Sigma, it had been bought for a project that had then been cancelled and therefore only been used very few times. Unsurprisingly it looks completely new. No doubt it's going to take some time to learn to use it.

My first shot with it:

Untitled by Joergen Ramskov, on Flickr

Shot a few quick snaps with it since then, here's one:

Untitled by Joergen Ramskov, on Flickr

[Jakov Minić]

Jørgen, keep on snapping and show us the results. The first one look promising
It does need getting used to 
As Bjørn would say: "Get in closer!"

[Akira]

For reference, a second-hand shop in Shunjuku, Tokyo offers Ais 8mm/f2.8 fisheye in "A" (the best) condition for 334,800 JPY.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Hm. My $175 + 25 AI-kit ($200 total) for a straight-out-of-the-box 8/2.8 pre-AI seems better and better.

[Jørgen Ramskov]

Going full circle.


360 degrees by Joergen Ramskov, on Flickr

[Akira]

Jørgen, apparently the lens works great.  I like the clear separation between the border of the circular image and the surrounding black area.

[Kim Pilegaard]

Going full circle.

Looks great! Which Sigma is this?

[Jørgen Ramskov]

Jørgen, apparently the lens works great.  I like the clear separation between the border of the circular image and the surrounding black area.

That's done in PP.