I have a serious need for a gopro HD camera with a STANDARD lens.
and they dont exist, so can I take any old lens and find away to attach it to the gopro (after removing the fish eye lens) and have it work?
should I try and get an old gopro with the standard lens and use that?
link to the camera needing a new lens
link to one of the old ones with a standard lens but no longer made
http://cgi.ebay.com/GoPro-Digital-Hero-All-Season-Sports-Camera-NIB-/160572246731?pt=Camcorders_Professional_Video_Cameras&hash=item2562da0acb#ht_500wt_1156
Although it would be a real pain in the ass, requiring trying a lot of lenses, and heavy experimentation, if you point a fish-eye camera through a magnifying glass type lens, it will give a more normal appearance. That’s where the “lot of lenses, and heavy experimentation” comes in. You have to find one that gives you the view you actually want, and get the focus right. That’s the only suggestion I have. Good luck.
Have you considered correcting the fisheye distortion in software? This should be possible.
It is conceivable to replace the lens on that camera, but it is unlikely to be worth the effort. Your key difficulty will be in finding a lens with the right “flange focal distance” (that is, the distance from the lens to the sensor needed for things to be in focus) and mounting it accordingly. This distance is probably somewhere around 10mm, where being off by tenths of a millimeter will throw everything out of focus. For reference, an SLR lens typically has a flange focal distance of around 40mm.
It can be done, but will require a LOT of trial and error. A good bet to find a donor lens might be an point and shoot film camera with fixed lens (no focusing, no zoom). An APS camera might be a better candidate if you can find one without a zoom lens.
oooh what about these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260770560935#ht_1054wt_1139
they are for underwater shooting but they look very flat at the 2:39 point of this video
any thoughts? I dont know enough on the subject but the price is certainly right.