On Mon, 29 Jun 1998 19:09:47 GMT, sylvainm@cae.ca (Sylvain Moisan) wrote:

>I need an alternative to the Fisheye-Nikkor 8mm f/2.8 (180 degrees)
>lens that we are using. Nikon has stopped manufacturing those lenses.
>I need something with the same specs. The focal lenght can be between
>6mm and 10mm. F/# need to be the same or very close and it's very
>important to have a 180 degree field.
>
>Can anyone know if I can find such a lens? (The Nikon 6mm fisheye is
>too expensive since it's made only by special order.)

If you must have 180 degrees, the alternatives are the older
non-reflex-viewing 7.5mm f5.6 and 8mm f8. The Sigma 8mm is
excellent in color at wider stops than the Nikkor (though
it is not up to the Nikkor in B&W...) and is very compact
(and it is f4, and pretty decent at f4...), but stopped
down the angle of coverage narrows somewhat, giving less
than 180 degree coverage. The 6mm f5.6 (for 220 degrees - I
want another one! ;-) is slow, and VERY hard to find.
The 10mm OP-Nikkor f5.6 has a not-very-useful
orthographic-projection perspective.