best fisheye lens for Leica M9? (for photographing fast moving subjects)

[jaapv]

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just to ask those who use the R-fisheye, does anybody use a viewfinder adaptor to roughly frame the shot before shooting? I know the focusing will have to be done solely by distance focusing which I have no problem with, jut curiously wondering if there even is a viewfinder attachment available?

 

Any extreme-wideangle viewfinder ( for instance a Voigtlander 12 or 15 mm one) will give an adequate indication, which can easily be extrapolated.

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[luigi bertolotti]

If one plans to use its fisheye "time to time", there is the perennial "Russian way".. ... Zenitar 16mm 2,8 42x1 mount... 200 US$ or so (*) ; I'm vaguley thinking of it (never had a fisheye) , but must find another reason to buy a 42x1 adapter for my M...

 

(*) http://www.zenit-camera.com/lenses.htm

[snappert]

If one plans to use its fisheye "time to time", there is the perennial "Russian way".. ... Zenitar 16mm 2,8 42x1 mount... 200 US$ or so (*) ; I'm vaguley thinking of it (never had a fisheye) , but must find another reason to buy a 42x1 adapter for my M...

 

(*) Pentax screw mount M42 lenses

 

Thank you for your input. I shoot for skateboarding publications and companies so a fisheye is actually quite a paramount lens to add to my Leica arsenal, so I am happy to pay a little more to do it right the first time, and hopefully for the only time.

[snappert]

Any extreme-wideangle viewfinder ( for instance a Voigtlander 12 or 15 mm one) will give an adequate indication, which can easily be extrapolated.

 

ah, thats great! good to know thanks!

[snappert]

An antique The Leitz Leicina adapter of half a century old. #22228

 

do these come around the second hand market place often? Would it just be a case of asking around the Leica dealerships here in the UK?

 

As I said previously, I'd like to do it right as best I can the first time of trying when trying to piece together a usable fisheye for my M9, so my budget is fairly flexible.

[jaapv]

It will be a lot more practical and probably considerably cheaper to buy the Novoflex adapter.

[snappert]

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It will be a lot more practical and probably considerably cheaper to buy the Novoflex adapter.

 

Great! thank you for all your advice!

I think I am going to commit and head down the R 16mm fisheye and Novoflex lem/ler adapter route. Seems to be the best.

Cheers all

[IWC Doppel]

You will need good light to allow the right shutter speeds for most ultrawide lenses as their apertures are very small. I find the 18mm very nice but wish it was faster then 3.8....

[jaapv]

Both the Fisheye Elmarit-R and Elmarit-R 19 are f 2.8 lenses.

[menos I M6]

The best choice in handling with a Leica M is indeed the Olympus 16/3.5 fisheye.

It is a tiny lens, including adapter about the size of a 35 Summilux ASPH without lens hood.

It has nice fully mechanic controls and a useful distance scale for scale focussing.

It's aperture control dial is ahead of the distance control, just like with Leica lenses, which is really nice for using it quickly - no awkwardness here.

 

It does also come with very neatly fully integrated filters, if you plan to use this on a Monochrom sensor or with B&W film.

 

There are two slightly different versions produced only deviating in the choice of their internal filters.

Beware, this lens has no lens hood or filter threads ahead of its fully exposed convex front element - handle with care!

 

I use mine with a Frankenfinder, which works best and helps a lot with levelling.

 

I looked at other fisheye choices as well, when the chance came up to buy my OM 16/3.5 but none of the others came close in ease of use, size and handling (especially the Nikon 16mm just didn't feel right on a M, although it's a great lens, when used on a Nikon AF SLR).

 

first shots with 16 f3.5 Zuiko fisheye - cowboy hat by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

 

first shots with 16 f3.5 Zuiko fisheye - shopping carts by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

 

Beware - I do not have any idea how any of the fisheye lenses handle in regards of colour issues on the M9 sensor (in theory the ones, designed to be used for TTL viewing on a SLR should not pose issues, as of their large register, being designed to be used on a SLR).

[jaapv]

There are no colour issues to be expected with any of them.

[01af]

The best choice in handling with a Leica M is indeed the Olympus OM Zuiko Auto-Fisheye 16 mm 1:3.5.

That would be my recommendation as well. The second-best choice would be the Minolta MC or early MD Fisheye Rokkor 16 mm 1:2.8—same as the Leitz Fisheye-Elmarit-R 16 mm but much cheaper in the used market. It's bigger than the tiny Zuiko, though.

 

 

Its aperture control ring is ahead of the distance control, just like with Leica lenses, which is really nice for using it quickly—no awkwardness here.

... except the direction of rotation from widest to smallest aperture is reversed.

 

 

There are two slightly different versions produced only deviating in the choice of their internal filters.

The built-in filters haven't changed, only their designations. The name of the neutral filter changed from 'L39' in earlier versions to 'NEUTRAL' in later versions—but it's always the same filter actually. I figure that too many customers found the L39 name confusing.

 

 

I do not have any idea how any of the fisheye lenses handle in regards of colour issues on the M9 sensor (in theory, the ones designed to be used for TTL viewing on a SLR should not pose issues ...).

Not only in theory—also in practice there's no issues with the colour rendition on the M9 and the M (Typ 240) whatsoever. However some early circular fisheye lenses from Nikon were designed for use with a locked-up mirror—those will have issues on M cameras.

[Erik Gunst Lund]

Thanks for the heads up on the Olympus, seems like a nice little lens for a Leica M

 

Close focus distance is 25 cm on the Nikkor 16mm 2.8 AF-D

 

It has rear filters, Bay mount. Should always be used or you r focusdistance scale will be off

[menos I M6]

The built-in filters haven't changed, only their designations. The name of the neutral filter changed from 'L39' in earlier versions to 'NEUTRAL' in later versions—but it's always the same filter actually. I figure that too many customers found the L39 name confusing.

 

Thanks for that info!

[stevesurf]

Here is a great set of fisheye lens tests - worth a read before you purchase or for a better understanding how yours holds up to flare, direct sun and vignetting:

 

Lens Tests: Fisheye - Flare & Ghosting - Stefan Rohloff Photography

[RoySmith]

Here is a great set of fisheye lens tests - worth a read before you purchase or for a better understanding how yours holds up to flare, direct sun and vignetting:

 

Lens Tests: Fisheye - Flare & Ghosting - Stefan Rohloff Photography

 

I have the Contax Carl Zeiss T* 16mm F2.8 Distagon-F lens and use it with the Novoflex LEM/CONT adapter. It's a high quality fisheye and one to consider for the Leica M. There is a review here

 

Roy