Fisheye lens

[Tervon]

Talked to someone today about fisheye lenes and wanted to know what you think about this type of lens. How do you use? When and why?

[OsmosisStudios]

Fisheye lenses are very special-use lens. its fun for every now and then, but it's not something I could justify having in my camera bag.

Of course, Canon doesn't have a EF-S fisheye, so the one they do have wont be super fishy on a crop-sensor body.

[Photosbykev]

The main function for fisheye lens tends to be for stitching panoramic images together. Used as a stand alone lens they can be fun but you really need to be close to the main subject for the distortion to be dramatic and effective. I've bought the Samyang 8mm fisheye for my Canon 7D which provides close to 180 degree field of view and covers the sensor completely so you don't end up with a circular image.

[inkista]

I don't know if fisheyes are primarily used by everybody exclusively for pano stitching , but I got one because I'm into spherical/cubic panoramas. For me, getting a Sigma fisheye was well worth the money, and I'm constantly fighting the urge to get their 10mm crop body diagonal fisheye.

The extreme wide angle of the fisheye lends itself well to extreme scene coverage in the smallest number of shots. I can cover an entire spherical view with enough data overlap for stitching with four handheld shots with an 8mm fisheye.

But most folks will probably be using them for the distortion, as with skateboard photography, or simply for scene coverage in small, tight spaces.

Things to know about fisheyes:

• They're pretty expensive, as they're niche lenses. "Cheap" for a fisheye is in the $200-300 range, and those prices generally mean you're giving up autofocus and possibly aperture control from the camera body (i.e., they don't communicate electronically through the mount). This is probably the only drawback to a lens like the Samyang/Opteka/Rokinon/Vivitar/etc.. The Peleng and Zenitar are woefully lacking in flare resistance and designed for full-frame. Aside from those three choices, prices start at $600 and up.
  
  
• Flare performance matters more with a fisheye. You can't really use a hood because of the extreme wide angle, and with 120°-180° coverage, it's very easy to get the sun in the shot.
  
  
• Fisheyes come in circular or diagonal flavors. Circular have much shorter focal length and more extreme field of view, and the image that you'll get is a circle in the frame (black corners and edges). A diagonal will be longer and less distorting, but will cover the entire frame with image.
  
  If you put a full-frame circular on a crop body, you get something midway between the two: black corners).
  
  
• You can't use filters. The front element of a fisheye is convex. Typically, the "bulge" will keep you from mounting any filters in front of the lens. The only way to put a filter or a lens cap on a lot of fisheyes is to use a collar that "builds up" the edge of the lens. Take this collar off when shooting--the vignetting effect it can have may be extreme.
  
  
• Watch your front element. It's exceedingly easy to end up touching something with the front of a fisheye, because the distortion exaggerates the distance you are from the subject. And you have no filter/hood on the front.

[qtox91]

im very interested in this threa to. i really like fish eye photography and am considering shelling out some money for it. so please any info would help

[SusanH1970]

Cindy Wanyonyi does some pretty cool fisheye stuff in her portrait photography. I love her work! http://ashkiphoto.com/blog/2010/04/1...-photographer/ (third photo was done with her fisheye).