Fish - Eye Lens advice please...

BertieUK

I own Konica Minolta Dynax 5D and normally use an AF DT 18-to 70 Lens along with a Sigma DL Zoom 75-300 mm


I would like to purchase a Fish-Eye lens to fit this camera but not being knowledgeable with cameras I would like some expert advice as to which Fish-Eye lenses are available.


Kind regards...

agrinnall

The first question then is if you're not knowledgeable with cameras what do you intend to do with a fish-eye lens? I've never used one myself but I'd guess they won't be the easiest things to get decent pictures with.

tonyh66

I bought one of those Russian ones with a Sony/Minolta adaptor can't remember the name though. Have a look at Dyxum.com its a specialist Sony/Minolta forum

gjchester

tonyh66 wrote: »

I bought one of those Russian ones with a Sony/Minolta adaptor can't remember the name though. Have a look at Dyxum.com its a specialist Sony/Minolta forum

Probably a Centon or Zenitar with a M42 thread and an adapter, or you can get the Samyang that has a direct Sony fit, Samyang are are also sold under the name Falcon, Rokinon Vivitar and a few others.

Mines the Falcon variant of the Samyang and it good fun, however while it can take sharp images almost every tome due to the depth of field its a skill in itself getting aesthetically pleasing shots due to how it bends straight lines.

Sony's not as common as Nikon or Canon, so expect to pay £150 or so used. £250 new for the Samyang type, M42 can be more common but these lens tend to be bought by people for a reason, so not many get resold. Only caveat is they are very manual they don't generally report the settings to the camera so the steady shot won't work unless you put a AF confirm (aka a dandelion ) chip onto the lens body, its on my list of "I might do that" but as the lens works beautifully I'm not sure want to risk damaging it or the camera...

BertieUK

agrinnall wrote: »

The first question then is if you're not knowledgeable with cameras what do you intend to do with a fish-eye lens? I've never used one myself but I'd guess they won't be the easiest things to get decent pictures with.

I am retired now and intend to take a more interest in photography and I have seen results from using the 'fish-eye' lenses and would like to hear about the experiences of members of this Forum. Camera shops seem to have vanished from many of our main streets so there are fewer people that I can ask, hence my question on this Forum.

Kind regards...

agrinnall

Is there no camera club near you that you could join to get first hand experience and advice? And possibly even the loan of equipment so you can decide if it's for you before splashing out what will be reasonably large sums for a decent lens.

Big_Graeme

agrinnall wrote: »

Is there no camera club near you that you could join to get first hand experience and advice? And possibly even the loan of equipment so you can decide if it's for you before splashing out what will be reasonably large sums for a decent lens.

Quite a lot of camera clubs are Nikon/Canon shops, mainly for the reasons you mention.

paddyrg

Not sure where you're based Bertie, but if you can get into Bath there are two proper camera shops here

Fish-eye is a very extreme effect, so something you may not use all that often in real life - how about looking at one of those fish-eye bits you put on the end of another lens - quality isn't as good but quality is not necessarily what you're after as much as price.

Another option - do you have a mobile phone with a camera? For a fiver or so you can get fish eye adapters for them. They'll give you the effect so you can explore it and decide if you want to splash a couple of hundred on a decent one for your proper camera!

tonyh66

gjchester wrote: »

Probably a Centon or Zenitar with a M42 thread and an adapter, or you can get the Samyang that has a direct Sony fit, Samyang are are also sold under the name Falcon, Rokinon Vivitar and a few others.

Mines the Falcon variant of the Samyang and it good fun, however while it can take sharp images almost every tome due to the depth of field its a skill in itself getting aesthetically pleasing shots due to how it bends straight lines.

Sony's not as common as Nikon or Canon, so expect to pay £150 or so used. £250 new for the Samyang type, M42 can be more common but these lens tend to be bought by people for a reason, so not many get resold. Only caveat is they are very manual they don't generally report the settings to the camera so the steady shot won't work unless you put a AF confirm (aka a dandelion ) chip onto the lens body, its on my list of "I might do that" but as the lens works beautifully I'm not sure want to risk damaging it or the camera...

yes it was a zenitar I had paid around £100 at the time used it about 4 times then sold it for roughly the same.

BertieUK

agrinnall wrote: »

Is there no camera club near you that you could join to get first hand experience and advice? And possibly even the loan of equipment so you can decide if it's for you before splashing out what will be reasonably large sums for a decent lens.

We have not long moved to this address and other issues are being addressed, but I have checked and there is most certainly a Camera Club in our area so many thanks for your suggestion which I will pursue.


Regards...

BertieUK

tonyh66 wrote: »

yes it was a zenitar I had paid around £100 at the time used it about 4 times then sold it for roughly the same.

It is always worth remembering that good equipment like top lenses are indeed an investment and can hold their value for future resale.


Regards...