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08-13-2010, 08:44 AM   #1
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Pentax A 15mm Fisheye?

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This guy on Ebay is selling what he is calling a Pentax A 15mm Fisheye but in the lens review section it is not called a FE but a rectilinear. What's the difference? Is the guy wrong about it being a FE?

Pentax SMCP-A 15mm f/3.5 Lens - eBay (item 110572399962 end time Aug-21-10 21:39:21 PDT)

08-13-2010, 08:49 AM   #2
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It is not a fish eye, it is a rectilinear lens. A rare one, and supposedly very nice.
08-13-2010, 09:32 AM   #3
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Nope not a fisheye, just an ultra wide with a 111 degree angle of view. There is an A16 & K17 fisheye.

Phil
08-13-2010, 04:13 PM   #4
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If it's less than a thousand, grab it before it goes.

The m42, K and A versions of the 15mm are all rectilinear. But if you're looking for a digital-only 15mm get the Limited instead. It's cheaper and arguably better.

08-13-2010, 05:23 PM   #5
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Read through the eBay listing and all sorts of "red” flags pop up. Either this seller is clueless or up to something fishy.

Works fine. I just took photos in front of the US Capitol building in Washington with it at point blank range.

This is genuine Pentax, not vivitar, etc. This lens cost over $400 in the mid-1980's when I bought it from one of those merchants who advertised in the back of Modern Photography.

On Aug-12-10 at 09:11:43 PDT, seller added the following information:

I received a message with a request to end this auction and accept a substantial buy-it-now bid. I cannot do that, since there are already regular bids (albeit much lower). I did tell the requestor that if he/she formally bid the buy-it-now offer, I would end the auction sometime tonight, but since there are presently 28 watchers for this item, I made no guarantee that one of them wouldn't outbid his/her B-I-N offer/bid. This info is added to this listing as an FYI to all watchers that this auction may end tonight with a high bid(s). To be fair to the B-I-N bidder, I will not divulge his/her bid.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Aug-13-10 at 13:19:09 PDT, seller added the following information:

I am adding the following correspondence from someone who looked at my listing, and appears to know more about lenses than I do. This is an FYI and I cannot take responsibility for the validity of any or all of the message. I am adding it merely to throw it out there and readers can make their own decisions regarding the content:


Dear john5029,

The front element being curved just means that it is aspherical, not fisheye. Pentax never made a fisheye in the 15mm focal length. That lens has a 111 degree field of view and a fisheye has 180 degrees. So that lens is indeed the A 15mm Rectilinear model, a very nice lens that should more than double your current bid. Good luck.


- johnblaze911




How could you buy an expensive specialty super wide angle lens back in mid 1980’s, use it for 25 years and think it’s a fisheye? Also the price the seller indicated they paid for it new is less than 40% of the list price. The K15/3.5 listed for $932.50 in 1978, the A version in the mid 80’s would have been well over $1k.

Buyer beware, the lens has probably been castrated to fit a Nikon, notice there are no pictures of the rear k-mount.

Phil.
08-13-2010, 05:49 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by gofour3 Quote

I received a message with a request to end this auction and accept a substantial buy-it-now bid. I cannot do that, since there are already regular bids (albeit much lower). I did tell the requestor that if he/she formally bid the buy-it-now offer, I would end the auction sometime tonight, but since there are presently 28 watchers for this item, I made no guarantee that one of them wouldn't outbid his/her B-I-N offer/bid. This info is added to this listing as an FYI to all watchers that this auction may end tonight with a high bid(s). To be fair to the B-I-N bidder, I will not divulge his/her bid.
They also don't seem to know how eBay works! No matter what the "substantial" bid is, it'll only go up $5 from the next highest bid!

I've seen this lens listed as a fisheye before--completely incorrect, of course, but I can see how people might look at that lens, never having used a fish-eye, and say "yep, that's gotta be a fisheye!"
08-13-2010, 06:49 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by gofour3 Quote

Dear john5029,

The front element being curved just means that it is aspherical, not fisheye. Pentax never made a fisheye in the 15mm focal length. That lens has a 111 degree field of view and a fisheye has 180 degrees. So that lens is indeed the A 15mm Rectilinear model, a very nice lens that should more than double your current bid. Good luck.


- johnblaze911 [/I][/COLOR]


Phil.
HAHAHA, after I started this thread I emailed the eBayer to let him know what I found out and that is my quote he is quoting. Yeah it sounds kind of fishy that he had a lens for so long and knows little about it. Also the fact that he is trying to bend eBay rules is another red flag. Either way if that is the actual A 15mm, I would love to get my hands on that lens but I am going to stay away from it.

08-13-2010, 08:20 PM   #8
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As an owner of that particular lens, if all you are going to use it on is a DSLR, save yourself some heartache and get the 15/4 LTD.
OTOH, if you are shooting film, it is one sweet superwide.
Amazingly, even with the acre of glass at the front of that lens, flare is well controlled and very hard to find.
It is a very good optic.
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