wide angle lens WITH barrel distortion

[gregory_nicholson]

I'm looking for a wide angle lens (35mm format) in the 17 to 24mm

focal length with a ton of barrel distortion. Like a 15mm fisheye but

not that wide. I don't care if it's third party or a manufactures

brand. If it's the later I'll get a camera to use it. If it's third

party I'll find one in my mount. The more distortion the better, it

just has to be ultra wide but not a fisheye. Thanks for taking my

question and any responses are appreciated.

[jim schwaiger]

Look for the inexpensive wide angle zooms - something like an 18-35mm. The off-

brands are likely to have a bit more than the major mfg's as well. Probably talking

$200 to $300 new. Tell what camera system and someone might be more helpful as

to specific lenses.

[gregory_nicholson]

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't mention my camera system because I already know Canon did not make what I'm looking for in their manual focus line of lenses. I was thinking maybe an early Tokina, Tamron or Sigma 17 or 19 but I've never seen one let alone use one.

[jbq]

Look for a cheap zoom whose wide end is in the range you target.

 

From photodo, it appears that Sigma's 17-35/2.8-4 has -4.82% on the wide end. There's a chance that any cheap 19-35 would do as well (-4.28% for the vivitar one). Tokina's prime 17/3.5 has -3.35%.

 

In reality, your best bet is to get a 0.42x converter and to use it on a consumer zoom. I have one that cost me $30 on eBay and that has exactly the distortion you want.

[stephen hazelton]

Check out Pentax's fisheye zoom. It's a full-frame fisheye at the wide end, more or less a normal wide angle at the longer end. Should be a semi-fisheye at the in-between settings. I think it's a 17-28mm, goes for around $400.

 

You could probably get the effect you wanted digitally with a rectilinear or fisheye lens to start with.

[douglas_green1]

I agree with the 0.42X converter solutionm mounted on pretty much any consumer grade zoom lens. There is no surer way to get Barrel Distortion for a reasonable price.

[gregory_nicholson]

I just looked through photodo and found the Centon 18-28 f/4-4.5 has a whole bunch of distortion at 7.29-3.95%. It also has one of photodo's worst ratings of .9. I don't know if this will work being so bad. I also looked at B&H and found a Phoenix 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 Zoom. This is probably better optically.

 

So, it's a toss-up between the Phoenix zoom and the .42x on whatever cheap but good 35-70 I can find locally. About the 35-70, do I want to find one with a lot of distortion and would a 24-50 or 28-70 be better as it may have more distortion to start with? If I can't find a standard zoom with a lot of distortion I'll probably use my 50mm.

 

One final question about the .42X converters; will the results give a good picture enlarged to 8x10 mounted on a decent 3rd party 35-70? I'm sure the Phoenix lens will be fine at 8x10 but may not have enough distortion to be dramatic.

[gregory_nicholson]

I just read NKguy's review of the .42x. I think that's eliminated too. I'll give the zoom a try, maybe I can change the camera angle a bit to increase the amount of percieved distortion. Thanks for all your responses. I'll check back later to see if anything is added.

[jimstrutz]

The Pentax fisheye zoom is what you want. You can dial in as much distortion as you need, up to a full frame fisheye effect, just by turning the zoom ring.

 

I had a Phoenix/Vivitar 19-35, and I don't think it has near the effect that you want.

 

Another thing to try is use a regular full frame fisheye and crop the edges off. Percieved distortion will be a matter of how much you crop.

[stemked]

Another who would second (or third?) the Pentax zoom. I also had a Tokina 24-40 ATX f2.8 that had pretty bad barrel distortion, but really only on the edges.

[greg_erker]

The Pentax fisheye zoom or the 0.42x adapters are the ways to go.

The 0.42's are cheap but not very sharp. The Pentax lens will be

much sharper but also quite a bit more money.

 

Greg