Goodness I am such a noob. Please help me with lenses!

[Trailboss]

My parents surprised me with a Sony Cyberyshot DSC-W7 digital camera for an upcoming trip to Japan. They knew I wanted something simple, and I didn't have the talent (and they didn't have the budget) to justify a more advanced camera. It is a 7 megapixel camera, fairly straight forward, and it has recieved good reviews. I also got a Wolverine Data 40GB media reader/storage for the trip (Thanks to Armin for the suggestion!)

This is the camera FYI

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

They also bought me this lense:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...cessory_detail

Of course I am very grateful for my parents to buy me this, but I am looking a fisheye lense for this camera, but I haven't been able to find any. The lense is nice, but it doesn't offer as much distortion as I am looking for. The thing is, I don't know much about camera lense sizes and fitting. The only consistent numbers I have found is 30mm on the lense and my camera. What does that refer to?

My question is, could someone point me in the direction of compatible fisheyes lenses for this camera? B&H Photo was not much help.

Thanks so much

[chanwahyaoh]

That camera being a point-and-shoot with a proprietary lens adapter - your aftermarket lens options are going to be VERY limited.

It requires this lens adapter:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

and looking at the B&H's accessory list under it, it shows only 3 lenses (the Wide Angle one you have, and 2 other telephotos). If B&H doesn't have it...it's doubtful you'll be able to find it elsewhere.

Unfortunately it looks like you already have the closest you can get. You could always take wide shots, and then distort them with Photoshop to make them look fisheye.

[Trailboss]

Yeah, I have that adapter

Thanks, that's what I thought my options were.

[Verdugo]

The thing is, I don't know much about camera lense sizes and fitting. The only consistent numbers I have found is 30mm on the lense and my camera. What does that refer to?

I'll go ahead and answer this. The 30mm you see on there is the focal length of the lens. For non-digital camera, a "normal" lens is 50mm...which means that what you see through the camera isn't zoomed or widened from what your actual eyes see. When you go digital, there's a bit of a crop factor, unless you buy a full frame digital camera like a Canon 5D or higher. This means that the edges are cropped out due to having a sensor in place, rather than film. As you can imagine, full frame digital tends to be quite expensive.

If you're looking for a fisheye, you're going to want to find something that has a small focal length. I know for Nikons, the most distorted fisheye I know of is their 10mm. Standard wide angle for digital cameras tends to be around 17-18mm, and things start to get "fishy" lower than that, depending on the lens of course. Of course, due to the digital crop factor, the 18mm tends to be equivalent to say around 24mm for full frame...so 18mm at full frame can look pretty wide.

[chanwahyaoh]

Actually on his lens, I think it refers to the rear mount diameter. It's an auxillary lens made to couple with a lens adapter for a point and shoot.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...enses_DCLenses

[Verdugo]

Actually on his lens, I think it refers to the rear mount diameter. It's an auxillary lens made to couple with a lens adapter for a point and shoot.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...enses_DCLenses

Ahhhh I see!