Insane Nikon Fisheye Lens

Great article in Popular Mechanics on a Nikon fisheye that is so wide it can see behind itself:

Nikkor, Nikon’s brand of lenses, has been around for almost a century, and every now and then an old gem appears on eBay. This one will run you $62,000.

Introduced in 1972, the Nikkor 6mm f/2.8 was rare to begin with, with only a few lenses originally built, and features an astounding 220-degree field of view, 40 degrees more than any standard fisheye lens today, which means it can see behind itself.

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/how...an-see-behind-itself-17437555?click=pm_latest

They have one for sale at Greys Of Westminster in London http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/tour/media/secondhand-nikon-room.htm on a tripod near the stairs. I think this virtual tour was shot with one.

Every time i find some good reasons to think Canon was the better lens maker of the Big Four (Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax), i remember the 6mm f2.8 lens... and stand in awe of Nikon optical engineers.

"which means it can see behind itself. "
Hyperbolic rubbish. It would need 360 degrees to do that. Pop Mech is living up to it's name.
But, that really was an astounding lens, a true tour de force.

As far as I know this lens was desinged for thechnical use, with applications that really benefitted from this feature.

There were other most intriguing lenses in this "panoramic" field.


But just put a christmas bulb in front of your camera. It will yield more sight behind you and save you a lot of money...

Way too wide for me. I'd prefer the Nikkor 24mm myself but I guess I'm boring.

I have one on my iPhone. I use it to take selfies.

E. von Hoegh said:

"which means it can see behind itself. "
Hyperbolic rubbish. It would need 360 degrees to do that. Pop Mech is living up to it's name.
But, that really was an astounding lens, a true tour de force.

Click to expand...

my leitz fisheye can see 180 degrees diagonally, which means it can see 90 degrees to the side, or directly off to my left or right. So one with a 220 angle of view is seeing 110 degrees left or right from straight ahead. That means it is seeing stuff that is in back of whoever is holding the lens.

So maybe not "behind" the lens, per se, but it is behind the flat plane defined by measuring 90 degrees from straight ahead of where it the lens looking. This lens sees a round image too, I believe, so it is seeing behind that plane in a big circle.

close enough, sez I. Your results may differ.

this is fun -- the owner's manual refers to using a lens doubler on one of those things. Double it to a whopping 12mm? Wow!

I used to have the Canon FD 7.5mm. A fun lens to own for a while, and the quality is excellent, and not as huge as the Nikon 6mm, nor as costly.

Mix & match. Neither one has a monopoly on "Best!"

Chevy-Ford?
Toyota-Honda?

Anyhow I vaguely remember this lens was designed for inspecting confined space where the 180 degree coverage wasn't adequate.