Looking for a cheap wide angle in M42

[Alan Gage]

Hey all,

Since I got my DSLR I haven't really missed my wide angles. I never seemed to be able to use them all that well anyway and usually preferred more of the normal look. There are a couple things now though that I want to do that I just can't do without a pretty wide lens.

Since these ideas usually don't pan out and I then end up with an expensive piece of equipment I don't use I'm looking for a cheap way to get some decent wide angle shots. I know the russians made some in M42 mount that were pretty cheap but decent and I think that's what I might be looking for. I'm thinking somewhere around 16mm but when I look on Ebay all I seem to find are fisheye lenses.

Anyone got any ideas out there? Or maybe one they'd want to part with?

Thanks,

Alan

[Wimpler]

I think picking up any 28mm f2.8 for 15$ and using it on a film camera would be a lot easier.

No lens wider as 28mm will be cheap, as far as I know.

[josphy]

Maybe 20mm?  You can get a Russian Mir 20 for about $100 or less.

[Alan Gage]

I don't think a 20mm is going to be wide enough. I've got a 24mm and that doesn't quite cut it. I wonder how one of those 16mm fisheyes would look on a DSLR considering the image will be cropped from the center, maybe not so exagerated and they're under $150 new (including shipping).

As for shooting film; I thought about it for a while. But the truth is I really have no desire at all to shoot 35mm film anymore.

Thanks,

Alan

[josphy]

Oh I totally spaced out.  I only read m42, and I didn't even see you were planning to mount it to a DSLR.

http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/fisheye.html

Look towards the bottom, and he's got a pic of the Zenitar 16mm used with a DSLR.  I think that lens is a full-frame fisheye, not the circular type of image anyway.

[Alan Gage]

Excellent, thanks Josphy. That's the lens I've been looking at. I'll have to do a little more research; but I get the feeling I'll end up with one for those "once in a while" situations. Hard to go wrong for the price and could probably come close to breaking even if I decided to sell it.

Alan

[Alan Gage]

Well, the deed is done. Now awaiting my package from Russia.

Found one on Ebay (new lens) that came in Pentax K mount with automatic diaphragm so no adapters and no stop down metering. Under $150 shipped and I couldn't pass it up.

What was that I said in another thread about not spending money anymore? Guess it's time to make one more pass through my cameras and find some more stuff to sell.

Alan

[josphy]

If I were you, I'd still be tempted to mount it on a film SLR for some superwide craziness.  Just once at least.  But on your DSLR it should be about 24mm I guess, which is my favorite wide-angle.  I had a zoom that went to 20mm, but that was really almost too wide for a lot of situations.