How can I make my own fish eye lens.?

Question

is there any way I can make my own fish eye lens and/or filter?
if so, what materials would I need to make one?

Answer 1

you need light metals, optically ground glass, plastics, a degree in plastic/metal fabrication........a strong understanding of optics

a

Answer 2

nikon holy trinity for FX 14-24 super wide landscape (12-24 f/4 DX) 24-70 portrait general purpose (35-70 dx) 70-200 portrait sports works great on DX all f/2.8 and around $2k the 18-200 is soft and slow, fish eye fun but limited. good luck ps response to fhotoace Yes i do own it and find it not a pro lens. Surly if you plan to be a wedding photog you want to do the best for your clients. I agree, rent a lens and teat it first to see if it suits your style. Also some examples suffer from lens creep (zoom wont stay put when carrying) more info on sharpness here Steve. " ArthurJS Pro User says: Anyone who tells you that the 18-200 competes with pro-type glass such as the 17-55 f/2.8 and/or 70-200 f/2.8 , is just crazy. I have all three, and can tell you with out hesitation that it is not as sharp as those other two Nikkor lenses. Having said that, if you are realistic about what the lens can and cannot do, you will occasionaly get a great shot, provide you have enought light, and are able to keep about an f/8 aperture or so. Lenses are all about compromise and trade off. If the perfect lens existed, why would there be so many of them offered? This is a great walkaround/travel lens. This is not a "pro" lens". It serves a specific purpose. There are several long, time proven sayings about lenses. One of them is, you truly do get what you pay for. -Arthur "

Answer 3

The easiest way would be to make a "fisheye filter". You could use an old filter for the ring, or you could have one fabricated by a machine shop. You would then need optical quality glass--really thick glass preformed to the correct diameter. The techniques for hand grinding lenses is available and amateur astronomers have been known to grind their own lenses and mirrors. The instructions should be available from amateur astronomy sites on the net. And you'll need a lot of time--with the amount of grinding you will need to do, and according to my hazy recollections of the accounts of guys grinding their own telescope lenses--maybe as much as a year to actually do it yourself. Good luck.

Answer 4

You can fill a clear, plastic baggie with water, and place it directly in front of your camera.

The quality will not be great, but, using anything other than high grade glass optics will not give you much better results. As one person, already mentioned, it would be cheaper and easier to just go out and buy one.

Just for fun, though, try the baggie experiment. In situations where the light is strong enough, you can get some very interesting effects. Keep your camera dry.

Answer 5

The easiest way would be to go to your local butcher and purchase a fresh schnappa. Fresh because their eyes haven't clouded over yet. Carefully gouge out the eye and with a sharp scalpal, very carefully remove the outer layer of the eye revealing the lens. And there you have it, a fisheye lens.

Answer 6

Is much easier to archive the fisheye effect during post processing with Photoshop.

go to filter-->distort--->spherize and adjust the amount of effect you desire

or you can buy a fisheye lens :)

Answer 7

Supposedly you can fabricate one from a "peephole" used in doors for viewing who is there. You'll have to search the web for instructions. You might find them right here in Yahoo! Answers.

For the absolute best quality buy the fisheye offered by your camera manufacturer.

Answer 8

Why do that ? they do not cost that much.