8mm Fish-eye on an M9

[billib]

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I obtained an 8mm Fish-eye Nikkor some

years ago and have used it sparingly. I

tested it on the M9 and didn't destroy the

shutter. You must lock the mirror up on an

SLR. I misplaced its viewfinder btw.

The Chinese made lens adapter that I'm using

was inexpensive and it shows. I finally ordered

the Novoflex, thank you for recommending it!

I'd show some images but I'm disabled and

sometimes its very hard to get about. When

and if I get a chance to take some shots that

aren't total crap, I'll post a few. You must

admit, its a rather specialized lens. Don't

think I have to worry about color shifts in

the corners though. Their aren't any, corners,

that is. It produces a Circular image, thats why

its called, everybody now, a Fish-eye.

 

Any advice? Please! Thank you!

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[ho_co]

... Don't

think I have to worry about color shifts in

the corners though. Their aren't any, corners,

that is....

 

Congratulations on the fisheye Nikkor! I hope you can find something that photographs well with it. I'm seldom happy with what I get even full-frame fisheyes.

[billib]

Congratulations on the fisheye Nikkor! I hope you can find something that

photographs well with it. I'm seldom happy with what I get even full-frame

fisheyes.

Yah, I also had a 15mm Rectilinear and a

16mm Fish-eye that wasn't a true Fish-eye

because the images were full frame. Sold

both due to limited use. This 8mm was a gift

so I'll probably never sell it though I'm open

to offers. I think this 8mm shoots 220ᵒ. Yes,

its extremely easy to get your feet in the shot.

I'm not much of a super wide shooter but have

seen some images lately that were inspiring.

Be that as it may, its still a highly specialized

lens.

[StephenPatterson]

You ARE a mad man. Come on, SHOW US SOMETHING!!! I'm very curious to see what sort of images the M9 will produce with your 2001: A Space Odyssey HAL9000 lens.

[billib]

You ARE a mad man. Come on, SHOW US SOMETHING!!! I'm very curious to see what sort of images the M9 will produce with your 2001: A Space Odyssey HAL9000 lens.

HA, HA, HA......

I just put it together tonight. I'll do something soon.

The problem is..........what do you shoot? I read

somewhere, a long time ago that the this type of

lens was used to shoot the inside of boilers. You

would stick the optics of the lens but not the lens

inside of the boiler inspection window and use fine

grain film. Then you'd inspect the prints for.........I'm

not quite sure. I guess some type of boiler imperfections.

 

The story behind this lens is, a very good (professional

photographer) friend of mine went to Japan shortly after

WWII ended and purchased this lens with a battery of

other Nikkor lenses and Nikon bodies.

 

About 15 or so years ago he began to lose his eyesight

so he gave me some of his gear. This lens was included.

He passed away shortly after. I treasure this lens because

its so weird, like him. He wouldn't leave his house on Friday

the 13th. Stuff like that.

 

Any way, I don't have any boilers to shoot. I'm looking

for suggestions. I suspect some of you are rather creative.

Why don't you help me out with a few.....photo suggestions!

 

I think Manuel said the lens cost under $250.00 back then.

Another funny / weird thing. When Manuel brought the photo

equipment back into the USA from Japan, when he passed

through customs, they defaced most of the serial numbers.

Customs told Manuel he wasn't the LEGAL IMPORTER so

thats what they had to do to allow him back into the USA

with the photo equipment. Weird?

[Alberti]

I see you missed the red dot on the front

Interested in the results.

albert

[Bill Allsopp]

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Fascinating, I look forward to more including pictures when you can

[pico]

One application is to use it as a sky camera. Point it straight up on a clear night, hopefully where there is little light pollution. With 220 degrees you should also get the skyline. Tripod and level is important. 10 minutes / ISO 800 / f/5.6 is a start.

 

If you lived nearby I'd be happy to facilitate access.

[Peter H]

Billib - how about a simple self-portrait, outside, with a wide (inevitably) background.

 

Really, I'd love to see anything you take with this lens.

 

[billib]

You ARE a mad man. Come on, SHOW US SOMETHING!!! I'm very curious to see what sort of images the M9 will produce with your 2001: A Space Odyssey HAL9000 lens.

Heres a couple. I shot a few others, but......el stinko. What do ya'll think?

 

First shot is Street Car on top with Wedding Cake House on bottom.

 

Second shot is, well, House on top, etc. Do ya'll have a preference?

 

They'er not the same shot. I lied on the ground under the camera on

 

its tripod as the Street Car passed. Thats why I'm not in the shot.

 

 

No PP of any kind with first two shots. The house is emphasized in the

 

top shot and the Street Car is emphasized in the bottom one. I prefer

 

the top shot with the house as the main interest and the Street Car

 

is a nice surprise.

 

 

The last shot is the first that has a little PP lightening. Looks like

 

HAL doesn't suck to bad.

 

.

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[tdtaylor]

Thanks for posting the pictures. It might be more interesting if you could make out the buildings around the perimeter.

 

Thanks again,

[billib]

Thanks for posting the pictures. It might be more interesting if you could make out the buildings around the perimeter.

 

Thanks again,

Hi, thanks for commenting. I was trying to emphasize the

Street Car as it passed by. I was lying on the ground two

feet (two thirds of a meter) from it. That was interesting!

Anything around the perimeter isn't going to contribute

much to the shot, like the house. The problem as I see

it is lightening the Street Car so you can recognize it while

not blowing out the sky. I just bought Lightroom so I may

use this image as practice.

[darylgo]

Shooting animals such as horses and dogs is quite fun with fish-eyes. A starting point is to put the lens near the eye, this will cause great exageration of the eye and head. At a Nikon Class back in the sixties the instructor made a bikini clad girls breasts appear much larger than normal with a fisheye lens...he placed the lens right next........not sure I can continue the thought without some forum repercussions. Did you notice a difference shooting the Novoflex vs. the previous adapter?

[billib]

Shooting animals such as horses and dogs is quite fun with fish-eyes. A starting point is to put the lens near the eye, this will cause great exageration of the eye and head. At a Nikon Class back in the sixties the instructor made a bikini clad girls breasts appear much larger than normal with a fisheye lens...he placed the lens right next........not sure I can continue the thought without some forum repercussions. Did you notice a difference shooting the Novoflex vs. the previous adapter?

I'm sorry, I missed your post.

I had a lot of fun shooting family and friends then

making photos for them of their distorted faces.

I haven't received the Novoflex adapter yet. Its

on back order. The lens fits rather loosely on

this China made adapter. I suspect the lens will

fit correctly on the Novoflex adapter. The shots

also are not as sharp as I expected them to be.

I suspect the cheap lens adapter is to blame.

 

Thanks for your suggestion.

[darylgo]

The shots

also are not as sharp as I expected them to be.

I suspect the cheap lens adapter is to blame.

 

The Nikkor 7.5mm and 8mm fisheyes, MLU versions were not sharp lenses, so it might be a combination lens/adapter. The later 8mm F2.8 was sharper but the fun factor with the earlier 8mm is much higher.

[billib]

I must say that I don't remember images made

with the 8mm being this unsharp. This lens

is also "fixed focus". The aperture doesn't

use blades as well. It uses a turret with several

different size perfectly round (aperture) holes.

Their is not a lot to go wrong or get banged

out of alignment. So, I'll suspect the cheap

lens adapter. I'll be disappointed if it turns

out to be the lens.

 

Thanks for your valuable input.

[01af]

I don't remember images made with the 8 mm being this unsharp. This lens is also "fixed focus". [...] So, I'll suspect the cheap lens adapter. I'll be disappointed if it turns out to be the lens.

I have a Minolta MD Fish-eye Rokkor 7.5 mm 1:4 (circular image 180°) which has the focus fixed at 1.2 m/4 ft. Which a Novoflex adapter on the M9, at full aperture it is perfectly sharp at medium distances (where the focus is), but near infinity it's terribly blurry at f/4 and f/5.6. At f/8 infinity sharpness becomes acceptable, at f/11 very good, and at f/16 and f/22 sharpness goes downhill due to diffraction. So for this lens, the best aperture to use is f/11.

 

With an extremely short focal length like 7.5 or 8 mm, even the slightest error in the flange distance will throw focus off by a wide margin. For example, if your lens is pre-focused at 4 ft and the adapter is too long by 5/100 of a millimeter then the actual focus will be at 2 ft. So a cheap adapter which is slightly out of spec might indeed affect your results.

 

And oh, by the way—are you sure the Nikon 8 mm 1:8's angle-of-view really is 220°? They used to make 6 mm fish-eye lenses (in 1:5.6 and 1:2.8 speeds) that are 220° ... but an 8 mm fish-eye lens for 35-mm format should be 180°.

[Erik Gunst Lund]

Yep the 8mm f/8 is 180 deg

The 6mm f/2.8 is 220 deg

Modifying the 10.5mm f2.8 will give approximately 220 deg...

 

I have shot a lot with the 8mm f/2.8 on fullframe, Nikon D3 and D3x; great fun indeed! Get close real close and look at the whole frame, it often takes a long time to frame a shot....

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[billib]

I have a Minolta MD Fish-eye Rokkor 7.5 mm 1:4 (circular image 180°) which has the focus fixed at 1.2 m/4 ft. Which a Novoflex adapter on the M9, at full aperture it is perfectly sharp at medium distances (where the focus is), but near infinity it's terribly blurry at f/4 and f/5.6. At f/8 infinity sharpness becomes acceptable, at f/11 very good, and at f/16 and f/22 sharpness goes downhill due to diffraction. So for this lens, the best aperture to use is f/11.

It was a sunny day and I had pointed the 8mm straight up into the sky. You can

see the sun in the shot. I had set f/16. This 8mm goes ff/8 - f/11 - f/16 - f/22. It doesn't

have any faster apertures. I'm guessing the sweet spot is f/11 & f/16. Testing will be necessary.

 

With an extremely short focal length like 7.5 or 8 mm, even the slightest error in the flange distance will throw focus off by a wide margin. For example, if your lens is pre-focused at 4 ft and the adapter is too long by 5/100 of a millimeter then the actual focus will be at 2 ft. So a cheap adapter which is slightly out of spec might indeed affect your results.

I thought it was the opposite. Wide lenses with tons of Depth of Field also had tons of Depth of Focus.

 

And oh, by the way—are you sure the Nikon 8 mm 1:8's angle-of-view really is 220°? They used to make 6 mm fish-eye lenses (in 1:5.6 and 1:2.8 speeds) that are 220° ... but an 8 mm fish-eye lens for 35-mm format should be 180°.

Now that you mention it, I think its more like 180ᵒ.

 

How sharp is your lens if the best f/stop is used? Just how sharp is "perfectly sharp"?

Could you quantify it a bit better? Thank you!!!

[01af]

I thought it was the opposite. Wide lenses with tons of Depth of Field also had tons of Depth of Focus.

No. Wide-angle (and fish-eye) lenses have wide depth-of-field but narrow depth-of-focus.

 

If the focus of your 8 mm lens is pre-set to 4 ft and the adapter is too short by 6/100 of a millimeter or more then actual focus will be beyond infinity.