3rd party fisheye lens

BMW_Stu

Im writing this because this is a fairly new lens, not many people have it, and theres very little info im not going to do a full lens review with 100% crops and i have nothing to compare it against but i will try to give a decent feel for what this lens can do. SO! I stumbled upon this little thing on overstock.com, they didnt used to sell camera stuff, i just happened to come across it. They sell it from btw $280 and $350 depending on what camera brand you have, theres one for every brand. This lens also goes by a bunch of different brand names, the ones i know of so far are Rokunar, Samyang, Bower, Falcon, and the Vivitar branded id advertised as a 7mm. Strange to me but whatever...
I searched around for info and sample images from it, what i found was very limited but the few images i found were good, and reviews from folks that bought it said it was a solid built lens. the FOV provides 180* diagonal i think 163* or 160* horizontal and 90* vertical. Its also a full manual lens, no AF, no metering unless you have a d200 or better.
When i got the lens in hand, it definatly felt solid, theres no looseness at all anywhere, the focus ring slides smooth and easy, the aperture ring is also easy to turn and moves in half stop increments from f3.5 to f22 it has a metal mount and mounts right to the camera tightly with ease.
I havnt done too much shooting to really get a good feel for the lens because its cold and windy outside and not very pleasant to walk around. I have never had to use full manual before so i dont know if i am getting the best possible photos from this lens, but to far i am satisfied and impressed, no buyers remorse. The only drawbacks i see in this lens is that it is fully manual, and because of the hemispherical front, it wont be getting a polarizer lol, but that comes with the territory of a fisheye.
the full manual isnt such a bad thing, this lens can be bought for under 300 bux new, af and metering would significantly increase the pricetag, the nikon fisheye is close to 700 bux, so i think this is a pretty good bargain.
Here are a couple of pictures i took of the lens, and below that pictures i took with the lens last night. Stay tuned for better photos with this lens, i should have something b4 the week is over.


next to the 18-55mm kit lens

and...

ziggy53

Congratulations. It looks like a lot of fun.

robscomputer

Nice review!

I bought a Peleng 8mm a few years ago and didn't like it much. This appears to be much better quality and about the same price.

catspaw

Just to chime in for any others reading this thread for education -- I've the Sigma 8mm and it is AWESOME. For a third party lens, I could not be happier. Have gotten a lot of fun and amazing shots off of it. I just wish I had it ages ago so I could play with it more at some of the places I've traveled. (not much traveling right now....)

Red Bull

I too have the Peleng and I don't use it much. I don't like the large amount of vignetting and it feels so vulnerable with the glass bulging out with not type of hood whatsoever. I may sell it since I rarely use it, this lens looks like a good alternative.