The Sigma lens is relatively hard to find, and from my research, not
available in OM mount anymore. It'd be a good choice if you can find one.
The adapters are not going to come close to the quality of a prime
circular-image fisheye. Especially for all-sky photography, you want the
best image quality possible to get the star images clean. (i.e., you get
what you pay for)
But my recommendation would be to get one of the Zuikos that Frank
mentioned that were available in Holland. They're devilishly hard to find
in the U.S. I think most of them are being used by Ipix (www.ipix.com)
photographers to take 360 degree photos for the web. Check the site out,
it's neat.
As for the two in Holland, I'd find out what makes one an 8.5 and the other
a 9.5. Make sure there's no fungus on the rear elements. They seem to
have problems with that and possible delaminating. Also, make sure it
comes with the front hood. That would be an expensive item to replace, if
you could find it at all. You really don't want that huge front element
exposed. The prices $1,032 and $1,347 (plus shipping and duty) seem
on-target. Don't forget the duty. It might run $50. ***Maybe others have
better experience with trans-Atlantic duty charges?***
(BTW, I located a 9.5+ one this week from a little birdie on this list, and
it'll be here in my hot little hands in a couple of weeks, so I've got the
same disease as you.)
Skip
At 3/23/00 01:27 AM -0500, you wrote:
I know this is an expensive item, but I think I want one. I might settle
for a Sigma, if one exists. Any ideas where to look for this?
Do any of the secondary lenses (e.g. Spiratone, Kenko) come close to a
Zuiko's optical performance? I tried a cheap adapter, and it had severe
chromatic aberration and undesirable distortion.
I want to use this for night-time all-sky photography.
I know you can make a cheap all-sky camera with a convex mirror and a
tripod, but the image quality isn't liable to be super, and the tripod and
camera get into the image.
Matt BenDaniel
-----------------------------------------------
Skip Williams
Westfield, NJ
skipwilliams@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.skipwilliams.com
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