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Phoenix .25x Super Fisheye

WOW!!! It's honestly not everyday I discover an add on lens that actually impresses me...  well, today's the day. The Phoenix Super Fisheye .25x lens is super cool!

Right off the bat, the lens works extremely well with the new Minolta Dimage 7i. The 7i already has an impressive .28mm wide angle but, the  Phoenix Super Fisheye adds a whole new dimension to Wide Angel.

With the Dimage 7i set below 50mm mark, the lens produces a nearly  perfect circle... a perfect fisheye... with lots of barrel distortion, a great effect and AMAZING wide angle. With the Dimage 7i set to the 75mm mark, the Phoenix lens produces a fabulous  increase in wide angle, with typical fisheye barrel distortion but without any vignette... also a fabulous effect.

So, if you have a Dimage 7i, and you want a serious gain wide angle, or you want a total circular fisheye, or you want that standard cool fisheye effect... this is one lens that will handle all three!!!

A must have for landscapes and cityscapes!!! 

 

Below, the first  image was shot with my Minolta Dimage 7i at full wide angle .28mm. Followed by a shot with the Super Fisheye (lens set to the 75mm mark) what an increase in wide angle! The 3rd & 4th shots were taken at progressively wider angles until... the full circler fisheye was achieved. 


        001.jpg (160703 bytes)   002.jpg (156220 bytes)   aPicture 004.jpg (157193 bytes)   
aPicture 005.jpg (154214 bytes)

 Here are a few more Super Fisheye examples, using the Phoenix lens...

 aPicture 034.jpg (127525 bytes)

   aPicture 024.jpg (158666 bytes)   aPicture 030.jpg (120825 bytes)   aPICT0040.jpg (168401 bytes)   a fisheye PICT0044.jpg (174209 bytes) 
aaaPicture 038.jpg (113984 bytes)  aaaPicture 014a.jpg (109790 bytes)   

 

Below are two photos of  the same shot, but  the second was run through Panotools,  just compare the wide angle range, which is now at approximately below the 20mm mark, to the stock 28mm of the Dimage 7i!!! WOW!!!
(click the thumbnail to see a large image)

PICT0037 800x600.jpg (140388 bytes)   PICT0037 PT 130x130.jpg (239892 bytes)

Okay, since I've received quite a few emails, asking what the heck is Panotools and where do I get it... here ya go...

Panotools is a simple to use Photoshop Plug in Filter, does much more than just correct fisheye and barrel distortion, and the best part... it is FREE!!! 

Once installed, just open up Photoshop, click filter-Panorama tools-remap
(click the thumbnail to see a large image)

Filter-panorama-remap.jpg (91523 bytes)

 

Then configure it as below... depending on your camera, and amount of fisheye or barrel distortion you will have to "tweak" the HFOV (horizontal) and the VFOV (vertical)  settings... in my case, the 130 mark was just right
(click the thumbnail to see a large image)

Remap settings.jpg (95855 bytes)

 

You can download the Free Photoshop Plugin Panotools below

http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~dersch/

or

http://home.no.net/dmaurer/~dersch/Index.htm

 

Here's cool Panotools tutorial

http://www.virtualdenmark.dk/fullscreen/