fisheye

[emhib]

i've only recently started getting into photography, and i'm interested in experimenting with fisheye photography.

my aim is to get a proper fisheye lens, but while i'm saving up for one i wanna get myself a fisheye adapter to have a bit of a play experimenting with it, and to kind of test that i really wanna spend the money getting myself a decent lens. obviously i know that adapters in no way compare with true fisheye lenses in terms of quality and that for the most part people view them as a waste of time and money. with that said though, i would still like to try out an adapter first, so i'd appreciate advice as opposed to just being told that its a waste of money.

so as a beginner i have a couple of questions. firstly, for now, getting myself an adapter. what kind of lens would an adapter work best on? i use a canon 300d and right now i'm shooting with the 50mm 1.8 prime, but from what i've heard fisheyes are better used with wide angle lenses (i'm after the real fisheye effect circular photos) so what length of lens would be best, bearing in mind that the 300d is a crop sensor SLR. and when it comes to actually buying the adapter, i've seen a lot of different figures involved with fisheye adapters that i really don't understand. 0.42x, 0.20x, etc, what do these all mean?!

and when it comes to getting a lens, what lens should i go for? has anyone here used fisheye lenses before and have any recommendations for a good one? ideally i'd like one thats competitively priced, but obviously i understand that lenses can be expensive and that you get what you pay for, so i'm quite happy to spend a bit more for better quality.

[inkista]

This is just me, but have you considered getting a manual focus lens? Samyang makes an 8mm fisheye for crop bodies that's fully manual, and it costs about half what a regular fisheye does (i.e., it's just under $300 on Amazon). It's also known as the Vivitar 7mm, and the Rokinon 8mm, and and bunch of other name, since it's been rebadged, but it's a nicer lens than the old Russian Peleng that's the other beloved budget fisheye lens.

To me, a converter simply isn't worth it, when you could be throwing the money at a real fisheye lens.

A manual lens is more of a PITA than using a regular lens, though. No autofocus, you can only shoot in M and Av modes, you have to use stop-down metering, and there will be holes in your EXIF data. But a full automatic fisheye lens tends to start at around $600, and for most people, they simply can't justify using one enough to pay that kind of money.

[emhib]

my main reasons for wanting to get an adapter is that i'd like to try out fisheye photography before spending the money on a lens, and i'd like to have something to have a play around with while i'm saving up.

i didn't actually know about that lens, thanks very much for the suggestion. i very rarely use autofocus anyway tbh, and my camera is pretty much permanently set to manual, so i reckon i could adjust to that pretty easily. and having done a quick google it looks like you can get that lens for about £200, so i'll definitely look into it.

[OsmosisStudios]

Adapters are USELESS. Image quality is terrible.

[Krusty79]

Another option is to rent one to try it out - LensRentals.com - Rent Canon > Lenses > Wide Angle

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by inkista

This is just me, but have you considered getting a manual focus lens? Samyang makes an 8mm fisheye for crop bodies that's fully manual, and it costs about half what a regular fisheye does (i.e., it's just under $300 on Amazon). It's also known as the Vivitar 7mm, and the Rokinon 8mm, and and bunch of other name, since it's been rebadged, but it's a nicer lens than the old Russian Peleng that's the other beloved budget fisheye lens.

To me, a converter simply isn't worth it, when you could be throwing the money at a real fisheye lens.

A manual lens is more of a PITA than using a regular lens, though. No autofocus, you can only shoot in M and Av modes, you have to use stop-down metering, and there will be holes in your EXIF data. But a full automatic fisheye lens tends to start at around $600, and for most people, they simply can't justify using one enough to pay that kind of money.

I have that one badged at Opteka and it does the job.... the other thing that should be mentioned is you hardly every need to focus a fisheye lens. Just about everything from dust on the lens to infinity is in focus anyway... (ok slight exaggeration) but the DOF is huge. If you are f5 on that lens and 5 feet from the subject everything from 1 foot infront of the lens to infinity is in focus.

Here are a couple examples with that lens:

Here is a landscape:

Here is a portrait:


Also, warning.... objects in mirror may be closer than they appear. I was probably about 3-5 feet from the subject in the portrait. You need to really watch you don't bang the lens on stuff if you are looking through the view finder