I have been looking around ebay, but before I commit to anything, does anyone have any input on being a used (cheap) fisheye lens that can be adapted to m43? Looking to spend less than $75 If that's unlikely, please let me know Thank you! -seb
Any full frame or APSC fisheye will no longer give a fisheye look if adapted to µ4/3 (You crop out the edges of the image). I suspect prices will be over $75 for them too. There are numerous wide angle or Fisheye adapters on e-bay (from ~$25) these screw on the front of your lens and can give a usable fisheye look to a kit lens. Many will vignette beyond the typical circular fisheye at the 14mm yet give full coverage before 40mm. Acheivable FOV will vary considerably on the actual adapter. IIRC the bodycap fisheye is typically ~$100, and gives great images if you can live with the constant f8 aperture.
Most legacy fish-eye lenses won't work that well on MFT, and will cost more than $75. There are a bunch of cheap adapters that screw on to the filter threads of a lens, by companies like Vivitar and Opteka. I wouldn't expect a very good image quality though -- more of a novelty type thing. For $99 you could get the Olympus 9mm fisheye bodycap lens. I've heard good things about it, but it will still have less than idea image quality and is a fixed f/8 making it less useful indoors. If you have a compatible Panasonic lens, their fisheye converter is a better quality than the cheap ones on Ebay, and you can get it under $100: http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMW-GFC1-Fisheye-Conversion-Aspherical/dp/B007OS1YW4 The Olympus version is too expensive, at about $160. I'd avoid it because for a bit more you could get the far superior Rokinon/Samyang/Bower 7.5mm. Personally, I ended up just saving my money and getting the 7.5mm. It is a wonderful lens. http://www.amazon.com/Bower-Ultra-W...&ie=UTF8&qid=1395320290&sr=1-3&keywords=7.5mm
Screw on examples The screw on adapters are very variable in quality, but can work if your budgets tight. I'm not sure which one it was with but I've got a few images on-line using one of my older ones. (I think it was ~0.4x) On this one a lot of the image gets cramped into the edge rather than an even spread. Blue moon by Analyst 1, on Flickr Stour fish by Analyst 1, on Flickr
Thanks for the help! How do you like that bower lens? Maybe I'll just be patient and save up for that one if it's one you can vouch for. Would you happen to have any images to share? Thanks again! And thanks to everyone for all the info! The help I get in this forum is amazing.
The Bower 7.5 mm also goes by Samyang and Rokinon - identical lens, just different branding. There is a sample image galley here: https://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=16458
