Finally I got around to set up my Nikon 8-15mm for shooting in the 8mm end. Nikon call this lens a fisheye zoom, but its really an either or lens. You either shoot a full frame image in the 15mm end, or a circular image in the 8mm end. Anything in between just looks weird.
8mm fisheye is about the most extreme fisheye effect available for full frame cameras.
I can not use this lens in the 8mm end with the 4″ mini dome that has become more or less my standard set up. The mini dome has fixed shades, and the zoom gear doesn’t fit.
A bit hesitantly I removed the shades from my 9″ dome. It becomes very vulnerable without the shades, and most of my diving is done from small boats where the rides can be rough on gear.
As always with wide angle the flash light is a challenge. With natural light it is easy to use this lens, but I can’t really see why anyone one would prefer a circular image over a full frame. Yes, it brings you a bit closer, but that’s the only benefit I can see.
With flash light things become challenging, specially in bad visibility as we had tonight. You shoot so close that its difficult lighting the center of the frame without spraying the edges with backscatter at the same time.
You will need good visibility to get meaningful images with this. And a lot of practice.