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Sample photos (26)

Model history (2)

Specification

Source of data

• Manufacturer's technical data.

Manufacturer description

The lens got its name "Fisheye" due to the angle of view - 180°. It is at this angle that the eye of the fish observes objects located above the water surface. This feature of the lens allows you to get original pictures.

The lens is characterized by high image quality and the ability to capture fine details of the object.

The small dimensions and weight of the lens create convenience for amateur and professional shooting.

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"МС Зенитар-М" 2,8/16 "Рыбий глаз" is an interchangeable short-focus ultra-wide-angle compact lens designed for domestic and foreign-made SLR cameras with M42x1 screw mount with a frame format of 24x36 mm and a working distance of 45.5mm.

The lens has an automated push diaphragm that closes to a pre-set value when shooting and allows focusing with a fully open aperture, regardless of the aperture value set.

An anti-reflective multi-layer coating applied to lens elements increases transmission and reduces light scattering, which provides particularly favorable contrast and sharpness of the image, largely eliminates ghosting, glare and light spots, even when photographing against the light with a large difference in the brightness of the subject.

Light transmission: 0.88. Resolving power, mm^-1, not less than: in the center of the field: 60, at the edges of the field: 23.

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The lens is recommended for shooting on color, black-and-white and infrared films.

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A distinctive feature of the lens is the presence of significant negative (barrel-shaped) distortion, as a result of which, when the subject is not in the center of the frame, its shape is distorted. Long straight sections, lines far from the center of the frame became arched, and those passing through the center of the frame are registered without distortion. If you need to get minimal distortion, you should place such areas as close to the center of the frame as possible, and if you want to get special effects due to distortion, further from the center of the frame. The effect of distortion is hardly noticeable when shooting landscapes.

Typical characteristics of fisheye lenses

• Extreme angle of view (at least 180° diagonally);
• Circular types (the image circle of the lens is inscribed in the image frame) or diagonal types (cover the entire image frame);
• Usually of equidistant projection type, with the distance from the picture center to any given point always proportional to the angle from the optical axis to that point;
• Huge barrel distortion;
• Short closest focusing distance (0.20 - 0.30m with 35mm full-frame prime lenses);
• Very large depth of field, eliminating the need for autofocus or precise manual focusing;
• Due to the extreme angle of view and convex front element, front filters cannot be used;
• Often equipped with a filter turret with swivel-mounted filters;
• Often come with a small, built-in petal-shaped lens hood.

From the editor

This is one of the most famous and popular lenses of the Zenitar family. The lens was produced by the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant (USSR/Russia) from 1990. The following versions were released:

• МС ЗЕНИТАР-М 2,8/16 РЫБИЙ ГЛАЗ or MC ZENITAR-M 2,8/16 FISH-EYE - with the M42 screw mount;
• МС ЗЕНИТАР-К 2,8/16 РЫБИЙ ГЛАЗ or MC ZENITAR-K 2,8/16 FISH-EYE - with the Pentax K mount;
• МС ЗЕНИТАР-Н 2,8/16 РЫБИЙ ГЛАЗ or MC ZENITAR-N 2,8/16 FISH-EYE - with the Nikon F mount.

Since the use of front filters is not possible due to the convex front element and the ultra wide angle of view, the lens accepts M26.5x0.5 interchangeable filters that are screwed onto the rear element. Since the filter is part of the lens construction, one of the supplied filters must be installed before using the lens. The following filters were supplied with the lens in the 1990s: neutral (compensating), ЖЗ-2х (Yellow/Green), Ж-1,4х (Yellow) and К-8х (Red).

Lenses with similar focal length