On Wed, 11 Nov 1998 12:10:55 -0800, "EUGENE MEZERENY" wrote:

>Does anyone have experience with the Nikon 18mm rectalinear or the 16mm
>fisheye?

I've used the Nikkor MF 18mm f3.5, and both of the 16mm MF Nikkors
(the f2.8 is the same optically as the AF...).

>I just returned from a road trip to the desert southwest and despite
>shooting in indirect lighting conditions, bottom of slot canyons, dreaded
>lens flare appeared. Small apreatures and long exposures were used.

All three of the above are unusually resistent to flare.
Were the lenses very clean? If you are shooting in a dim
area, but bright sky or the sun is just out of the picture
area, this would cause problems with any lens (try shading
with hands or fingers, or one of those card-on-a-flexible-tube
gizmos).

>Is it possible that shooting at minimum aperatures is the cause or is there
>some other mechanic at work?
>I look forward to some insights.

Most lenses project a circular image into the camera, cropped
by the shutter opening. Bright light sources may be imaged
by the lens, hit a mirror-box wall, and result in enough
reflected light to strike the film to reduce image brilliance.
A slight possibility with small stops and longer than normal
exposure times is that any camera light leaks (like light passing
into the eyepiece and around deteriorated mirror foam) become
more important... (try shading or covering the eyepiece during
long exposures). Otherwise, I dunno....