There seems to be a lot of talk of late about fisheye lenses so I thought that some of you might be interested in some of the history behind the fisheye Nikkors.
Below is the result of some research I've been doing, most of it from a document in Japanese.
In short; it explains how the Japanese used a German design, that had been around since the mid to late 1930s, as the basis for the prototyping.
The photo of the Zeiss 1.6cm f/6.8 is quite likely the one that is mentioned in the article.
The Nikon SKY CAMERA.
In the 1960s, Nikon sold a special camera called the Fisheye Camera or Sky Camera. It was the first of its type and was built to enable meteorologists to take images of the full 180deg sky dome in one shot. The images were captured using the medium 6x6 format on 120 roll film. Other than the X-RAY Camera, it was to be Nippon Kogaku's only 120 format camera.
The device was sold as an 'all in one' package which included the camera/lens body, in built filters and winder, lens cap and a storage case.
Early sets were supplied with a wooden storage case, which on later sets, was replaced with an all metal case.
The lens in the package was a 16.3mm f8 fisheye with initial development by Nippon Kogaku going as far back as 1938.
Reports into the production period suggest June 1960 - April 1961.
Customers included the Japan Meteorological Agency, Defense Agencies and the NHK.
Tatsuo Shirai says that around 30 were produced with only 13 being sold.
Initially, the advertised price of the full kit was 120,000 Yen.
A contact from the Japan Meteorological Agency, who himself had used the camera, claimed that a total of 8 had been sold to the organization with 7 having been delivered to several weather stations around the country. The cameras were used to record cloud cover and were found to be very useful, however the high price was found to be a major drawback.
The camera's initial design dates back to a requirement by the Japanese Navy.
The Navy needed a device for recording cloud activity so Nippon Kogaku came up with a solution that was based on a Zeiss lens patent that was for a device used for the recording of thunder storm activity.
Tatsuhiko Arakawa (author of Nikon Story) says that, around the start of WWII, the Japanese Navy submitted a request to Nippon Kogaku to design and supply a camera of this type. Apparently it took Nippon Kogaku quite some time to come up with a solution with the final design and production drawings having been completed around Aril 1938.
This was to be Nippon Kogaku's first attempt at designing and manufacturing a fish-eye lens.
Tatsuhiko has seen the drawings of this early camera from 1938 and confirms that the early design is very similar to the 1960 design in specifications such as F value and the number of elements. He suggests that the early design was carried over into the 1960 Sky Camera.
Due to a high amount of chromatic aberration, only B&W film could be used with the Sky Camera.
On a side note; it's thought that design of the Fisheye-NIKKOR 8mm f/8 was based on the 16.3mm f/8. Major improvements in lens design and manufacture over the years leading up to the 8mm saw a significant amount of chromatic aberration being removed which would now allow the use of colour film.
From a discussion that he had with Mr. Masahiko Fukeda (designer of Nikon F, later vice president of Nippon Kogaku); Tatsuhiko says that the design of the body of the Sky Camera was based on the 19FB X-RAY camera (sometimes called the Regno Camera).
Specifications -
Film format: 120
Picture size: 50 mm dia. circular image in 6 x 6 cm format
Dimensions: (W x H x D approx.) 132.5 x 107 x 130.5mm
Weight: (approx.) 1,500 g (Body only 580 g)
Lens: Fish-eye-NIKKOR 16.3mm f/8
Filters: In built turret, three filters Y52, O56, and R60.
Construction: 5 elements in 4 groups
Picture Angle: 180 degree
Mount: Fixed
Minimum stop: f/16
Closest focus distance: Fixed focus
Finder: None
Focusing: Fixed focus
Shutter type: Seikosha SLV #0 lens shutter. Shutter speed from B(bulb), 1sec to 1/500sec.
Shutter speed settings: B, 1~1/500 sec
Flash sync. Contact: M, X contacts
WSelf-timer: Available
Film advance: Crank
Frame counter: Additive type
Film winding: By reciprocating stroke, approx. 335 degrees
Film rewind: None
Exposure meter: None
Accessories Wooden carrying case (later kits came with all metal cases) Filters (O56, R60 and Y52 in built-in turret)
Information was derived from various internet sources as well as from an article in Japanese text by Tatsuo Shirai 'Tracking Down a Dream Camera' that was sourced from the 'nikonfan' site.
Japanese to English translation by: Keiichi Kato & Ron Volmershausen.
