I have a couple of circular-image fisheyes (cheap ones,

that are not 180 degrees - but 180 full-circle causes

problems with having to shoot the sun OR your own

shadow...;-) that suffice for the VX2000 (see:

www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/WA-converters.htm), but was

looking for a good, affordable full-frame fisheye,

and the Raynox came along... (it is $400, quite sharp,

quite wide, sensitive to ghosting [I will need to

rig a "shade"...], and it also is sharp zoomed some

[at the limit of this, the linear "distortion" is

nearly gone, so the converter is versatile] - and

it makes the VX2000 VERY front-heavy [an "L" flash

bracket grip turned far forward for left-hand grip

solves this]).

On Sat, 15 Mar 2003 18:09:59 GMT, "Jim Harvey" <jharvey3@o3ptonline.net> wrote:

>Hey Dave:

>

>That 180 is pretty sharp. It gives much better distortion than the 6600.

>Kind of pricey, I don't know if it wouldn't be better to save another couple

>of hundred and go for the Century, but then again, if it does the job, a

>couple of hundred in my pocket is always better.

>

>Jim Harvey

>JHV Digital

>"Neuman - Ruether" <d_ruether@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>news:3e7a39d7.6530169@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...

>>

>> Raynox DCR-FE180 Pro Fisheye Lens Converter...

>>

>> Mine arrived yesterday. I'd been looking for a good

>> full-frame fisheye for the VX2000, and this one looked

>> like it would be good (Raynox frame-grab examples on

>> their web page tend to be usefully honest

>> representations of how their lens converters actually

>> perform [they are unique in this, and should be praised

>> for it - and some of their converters look really bad

>> on their web page...;-]). Expensive at around $400,

>> it is cheaper than the Century - and it is rather large

>> and quite heavy (1.5 pounds, making a VX2000 quite

>> front-heavy). With a 62mm mounting-thread, it will

>> fit a variety of cameras with stepping rings without

>> vignetting. Briefly, it is sharp, and it is wide

>> (VERY wide...) - and it is sharp through moderate

>> zooming. I have added it (with comparison frame-grab)

>> to: www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/WA-converters.htm so that

>> it can be compared with several other WA converters

>> used on the VX2000...

>> David Ruether