Searcher Loc: Kent, England

If you have a bucket load of spare cash, this topic probably won't apply to you.

I do not own one, but I do collect and use old lenses and a moderately priced fisheye has come on to the market, but I just cannot see the point of it. I could spend an hour or two taking circular distorted photos then boredom would set in. At about £400 for the lens, 4 hours of use = £100 per hour, then put the lens away.

Is there a real - practical - use for such a lens or are they just to produce fun effects?

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

I have often wondered about that... I used to have a Kowa Super 66 medium format camera, and they had a fisheye lens for that which cost several thousand pounds - back it the 70s - and was about 2 feet long with an objective lens the size of a moderate portable tv. I figured maybe one or two fisheye photos per year was probably as much as anyone wants to look at, so how many of those did they actually sell???

I might buy a fisheye attachment for an ordinary lens, if it were priced right, but I just cannot see the purpose of spending huge sums of money for a lens like that.

Photo Phledgling Loc: tiny island between Hudson and East rivers

Though I've never owned or used one, I do think the effect can be interetsting. But, as you say, how many fish-eye photos can you look at before boredom sets in.

However, I understand that there are features included in PP software that allow one to "flatten" the image from round to flat to make a pseudo-panorama with one image. How effective this is I have no idea, but I know the option exists.

Perhaps there's a person out there just like you who, for £400, will take a leap of faith, use the lens for a limited amount of time and re-sell it to another like-minded individual? If you think you can re-sell it without much difficulty to such a person, I say get it and try it.

I'm sure there are other hoggers that know a lot more about these lenses than me.....

just my $.02 (what is that in £BP?)

nitrophil Loc: Dayton, Ohio

I love the effect of them, it's fun!!

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

I took this on a Canon SX150 - it has a Fisheye simulation mode. I tried to straighten it up but my software won't do it. (I don't need it straightened, I was just playing around)

Ashdown Forest Vistor Centre

Swamp Gator Loc: Coastal South Carolina

The Rokinon 8mm fisheye I have for a crop sensor body (Canon 7D) does not make a floating circle, it creates an edge to edge image.
I got it from B&H for $214 delivered and I figured at that price it would be a fun thing to have around even if I only use it occasionally.

Here are a couple I took using that Rokinon.

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

I am beginning to be impressed.
The 2nd is as I imagined, the circular thing, but the first looks like an extreme wide angle with relatively low distortion - or have you "straightened" it?

Swamp Gator Loc: Coastal South Carolina

I didn't do any straightening, cropping, or any type of perspective correction at all on that second image, that's how it looked right out of the camera.
Certain subject matter will work nicely with a fisheye, other subjects may look awful but that's part of the fun in it. :-)

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

The least distorted part of a fisheye lens is a horizontal or vertical line right through the middle. For landscapes, you can get a good panorama image by putting the horizon right through the middle, then crop the top or bottom as desired. Note that in Swamp Gator's first shot the horizon is above center, the second one is below center.

Going to be a rainy day here, but in a couple of hours I can get enough light to shoot some samples.

For now, I would not recommend spending 400 pounds (current equivalent = $643 USD. If you want to experiment first there are a lot of .42X converters on eBay that will give an 18mm kit lens the same view as a 7 1/2mm lens (or 11 mm on a crop sensor) for 10 pounds or less. Don't expect much for image quality, but that would give you an idea if this is something you really want to do.

Oops, forgot to add:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=fisheye+lens&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC0.A0.X.42+fisheye+lens&_nkw=.42+fisheye+lens&_sacat=0

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

As promised some SNAPSHOTS. No consideration for artistic merit, CA, focus, camera shake or any of that other normal stuff. Good grief these are just samples and it was cold out there! Sometimes you have to get closer, these were shot with a .42X converter then distortion adjusted with Elements.

Just Imagine there was something worthwhile in this pano


Cropped and straightened


If you really need a telephone pole shot from 30 feet away.


Or it could have been a building or a very tall person. And yes, that pole is bent.


Or maybe a traffic sign from 5 feet?


Bare with me here. Only a few more.


Or you maybe want to sell this on Craigslist but it's parked 8 feet from the fence??


This one had to be undistorted several times to come close to being straight.

Photo Phledgling Loc: tiny island between Hudson and East rivers

Very interesting. Most fish-eye shots I've seen have the entire image wrapped around the center circle, but yours are not like that at all. Distorted, yes, but that's the whole idea right.

If these were far-away landscape shots, would they look different, i.e., wrapped around the center circle? Or is that more a question of focal length and sensor size?

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Give me a minute. I'm still loading images. :)

OK, I'm done uploading pix. The "typical" true fisheye image would take in a full 180 degrees. Point the camera up and it will capture a circular image from horizon to horizon all the way around. In my case, I'm capturing about 120 degrees centered around whatever it's pointed at. And yes it depends on focal length and sensor size. These were shot with an 18-55mm kit lens set at 18mm plus a .42X converter for equivalent 7.5mm on a crop sensor or 11mm if used on a full frame camera. Then these were severely stretched to a more normal shape using PSE9 to correct distortion.
EDIT: Actually I think that should be 7.5mm on full frame and 11mm with the crop sensor. ;)

Musket Loc: ArtBallin'

Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye and a good example of how I use it.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6026/5889351918_f01ddccbbe_b.jpg

You can also flatten them and "unfish" them with software with decent results:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5170/5310751478_7ee5b4d077_b.jpg

MagicMark

Fish eye lenses were made with the "photography addict" in mind. LOL!

:-D

Kestrel1029 Loc: Philadelphia, PA

I second the Rokinon. I got one for my Sony NEX. Very cool effects. Fun to play with. Certain subjects really work well with it. I never thought that I would have any interest or need for a fisheye but I like using it.