Yasuhara MADOKA180E Fisheye Lens for SONY NEX Series E

I bought this nifty 180-degree full-circle fisheye lens for a Sony a6000 I had just purchased for using with my several Nikkor lenses that work very well on my Panasonic MFT bodies (and also for copying 35mm slides using a reversed Rodenstock Apo-Rodagon with a Nikon ES-1 slide-holder). Since I had waited a couple of years for Yasuhara to make the promised similar fisheye lens for MFT (I'm STILL waiting.........!;-), I decided to buy this version for the a6000, since I had seen several published sharp photographs that had been shot with it. Before it arrived, I had decided to return the a6000 since NONE of the Nikkors performed well on the a6000 (and I was also getting better slide copies using my Panasonic G7 and GH4 with the Panasonic 30mm macro lens). So, when the Yasuhara Madoka arrived, I immediately returned it - but I could not resist carefully unpacking it, then repacking it after looking at it. It does appear well-made and designed, and that the focus has been upgraded with good (and smooth) damping, correcting an issue others had mentioned. So, it is likely at least a "4-star" lens, best I can tell. More on the above (including other solutions for full-circle fisheyes on MFT) can be found by Googling my name (spelled carefully...!;-) and adding "MFT lens reviews".--DR

We had fun with it. Review here >> [...]"We won’t be bringing this setup for commercial shoots just yet. Perception has yet change and clients expect you to be using big ass cameras with heavy stuffs.It’s been just 30+ months and things have caught up really quickly for this compact cameras. Give it another 12 or 18 months, we believe it will be something we’ll shoot panos with very often.ofc_tinyViewThis is a great setup for some quality panos that we can’t shoot enough with. We also got a 16mm F/2.8 and love it too. We can’t wait for the M4/3 mount of this lens to appear and coupling it with a whole range of M4/3 cameras that are in the market now."

This lens is carefully manufactured and works well on a full frame Sony alpha 7 camera to cover a 180 degree view in a circular fisheye. The focal length is perfect for that. If that is all you need, and the two issues we have with it noted here do not matter for your use, then it is a bargain and the best if not only choice available. There are two issues for us, both at high angle approaching the circular "horizon". 1. The image quality deteriorates and becomes soft, slightly chromatic, and aberrated. 1. There are however geometrical distortions such at you cannot use this lens to make images of a rectilinear object and expect that object to project back on a dome correctly. In other words, this is not a lens to be used to make content for an immersive system such as a planetarium unless leaning buildings and trees is acceptable. We needed a lens to produce content for a 2Kx2K dome theater, and regrettably this one was a disappointment in that application.