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Lensball in an optical tube

Started Sep 18, 2018 | Discussions thread
ProfHankD
ProfHankD Veteran Member • Posts: 9,147
Re: Lensball in an optical tube

SmoothOperator wrote:

ProfHankD wrote:

SmoothOperator wrote:

l wonder if anyone has tried using a lensball in an optical tube. Possibly in conjunction with a macro lens.

The idea would be to fill the frame completely with the lensball, to get a fisheye effect. Only problem, I can think of is the depth of field of the macro lens.

I've done plenty of things reflecting off a shiny ball, but nothing with an optical glass ball. Where did you see one for cheap?

Ah. I found them on eBay. Ordered a 30mm and an 80mm... we'll see if there's anything good from it.

Can I be first author?

The lensball makes me wonder about the fisheye adapters. I've avoided the adapter, though I want a fisheye lens, but maybe a high quality distortion can be accomplished in just a few elements? If I went the adapter route for a fisheye lens, what would the best pairing be? I'm guessing a lens that has both a flat and deep field, would impart the least amount of additional distortion. The Lensball clearly produces nice results by itself, even with extraneous light reflections.

Actually, this has been done before primarily for a wide view angle with multiple cameras looking at parts of the sphere. There are better ways to get a fisheye view... although we'll see; perhaps this is viable too?

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