Another fisheye question

GinaRothfels wrote:

I already own a fisheye lens - the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom (f3.5-4.5) which I occasionally use with an adapter on my M50.

While reading this forum last night I became aware of the 7Artisans 7.5mm fisheye which is wider, faster (f2.8) and doesn't require an adapter. The one drawback is that it's a manual focus lens.

I'm not too bothered about using the adapter, but I'm curious to know whether the benefits of the wider and faster lens are going to be significant enough to make it worth buying. Ideally I'd like to test any lens before buying it, but this one isn't available locally - only on Amazon.

I'm probably expecting a bit much asking if anyone has used both lenses, but I'm struggling to find any comparisons aside from this one from versus.com which says the Tokina is BETTER because of its narrower minimum angle of view and longer maximum focal length. Clearly this comparison doesn't understand what fisheye lenses are all about.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

See this thread; https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63490564

Personally I like the Samyang lens, as its stereographic projection is a bit more relaxing to view than most fisheyes. Ken Rockwell has an interesting discussion of this as one of his more sensible web pages.

For anything this short, scale focussing is as quick as anything; you can guess any distance further than arm's length more than accurately enough and use a tape measure for anything within reach.

Samyang 8mm f/2.8

Taken an hour after sunset, hand held; that's the moon in the picture

Sittatunga wrote:

GinaRothfels wrote:

I already own a fisheye lens - the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom (f3.5-4.5) which I occasionally use with an adapter on my M50.

While reading this forum last night I became aware of the 7Artisans 7.5mm fisheye which is wider, faster (f2.8) and doesn't require an adapter. The one drawback is that it's a manual focus lens.

I'm not too bothered about using the adapter, but I'm curious to know whether the benefits of the wider and faster lens are going to be significant enough to make it worth buying. Ideally I'd like to test any lens before buying it, but this one isn't available locally - only on Amazon.

I'm probably expecting a bit much asking if anyone has used both lenses, but I'm struggling to find any comparisons aside from this one from versus.com which says the Tokina is BETTER because of its narrower minimum angle of view and longer maximum focal length. Clearly this comparison doesn't understand what fisheye lenses are all about.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

See this thread; https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63490564

Personally I like the Samyang lens, as its stereographic projection is a bit more relaxing to view than most fisheyes. Ken Rockwell has an interesting discussion of this as one of his more sensible web pages.

For anything this short, scale focussing is as quick as anything; you can guess any distance further than arm's length more than accurately enough and use a tape measure for anything within reach.

Samyang 8mm f/2.8

Taken an hour after sunset, hand held; that's the moon in the picture

Thanks. I love your photo but the Samyang costs a lot more than I want to spend on a manual focus lens. It's almost double the price of the 7artisans.

Alastair Norcross wrote:

What about the newly announced 4mm F2.8? Now that's a fisheye! 210 degree angle of view. It's manual focus, but at that length, just set it to infinity and F5.6 (or 8) and you're fine.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/5486009930/venus-optics-adds-canon-m-fuji-x-and-sony-e-mount-options-to-its-4mm-f2-8-circular-fisheye-lens

$200 seems like a pretty reasonable price for this. I'm tempted, but I'd probably just take a few gimmick shots, and then leave it in a drawer.

I haven't read about that yet. I'll have a look later. If it produces circular images (I'm guessing that based on the title) it may be too gimmicky for me. I've got a fisheye converter which I used on my Olympus OM-D E-M5 a long time ago for round photos, but I didn't use it often.

GinaRothfels wrote:

Alastair Norcross wrote:

What about the newly announced 4mm F2.8? Now that's a fisheye! 210 degree angle of view. It's manual focus, but at that length, just set it to infinity and F5.6 (or 8) and you're fine.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/5486009930/venus-optics-adds-canon-m-fuji-x-and-sony-e-mount-options-to-its-4mm-f2-8-circular-fisheye-lens

$200 seems like a pretty reasonable price for this. I'm tempted, but I'd probably just take a few gimmick shots, and then leave it in a drawer.

I haven't read about that yet. I'll have a look later. If it produces circular images (I'm guessing that based on the title) it may be too gimmicky for me. I've got a fisheye converter which I used on my Olympus OM-D E-M5 a long time ago for round photos, but I didn't use it often.

Well now I've read it. I like some of the sample photos in that article but I can't see myself getting much use out of that lens. Thanks for the suggestion though.

DrSki wrote:

i am totally impressed with Meike's 8mm, f2. 0 lens. Around $150. EOS-M mount. The fast aperture is great for night and low light shots and even wide-open the depth of field is great. Focusing is not a concern.

Night shot

sunset shot: crepuscular and anti-crepuscular view.

F2.0 sounds great. I'm not sure I want circular images though.

HaroldC3 wrote:

What about the Laowa 9mm f2.8 lens? It’s mf but not fisheye so no need to defish.

I like fisheye but I'm sure your suggestion will help someone else.

Edit: on second thoughts it's something to consider as I probably don't need two fisheye lenses anyway.

I'm considering buying the EF-M 22mm f2, but as I already own an EF-S 24mm f2.8 pancake, something wider might be better.

DrSki wrote:

even wide-open the depth of field is great. Focusing is not a concern.

I have an old Minolta MD 7.5mm fisheye, and it's fixed focus. Not a concern at all:-)

GinaRothfels wrote:

HaroldC3 wrote:

What about the Laowa 9mm f2.8 lens? It’s mf but not fisheye so no need to defish.

I like fisheye but I'm sure your suggestion will help someone else.

Edit: on second thoughts it's something to consider as I probably don't need two fisheye lenses anyway.

I'm considering buying the EF-M 22mm f2, but as I already own an EF-S 24mm f2.8 pancake, something wider might be better.

And then I saw the price. I'm not in the market for a $500 lens right now, especially not a manual focus one. I can buy both the Canon EF-M 22m f2.0 and the 7artisans 7.5mm f2.8 and still have change.

Of course import duties and a high exchange rate don't help.

DrSki wrote:

Understand that if you place the horizon near the centre of the frame, you can then crop and enlarge to get unique perspectives that would be difficult to achieve with a standard lens. Following images are examples. I'm shooting with an M100. Most of my fisheye images are nightscapes, so the f2 works great for me. You are going to get circular images with a fisheye lens. That's why it's called a fisheye!

Not all fisheye lenses produce circular images. My Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom doesn't . Nor do the 7Artisans 7.5mm fisheye or the Samyang 8mm f/2.8 from which Sittatunga posted a sample image in this thread.

But there is a lot of latitude for creativity.

cropped fisheye image

cropped fisheye image

cropped fisheye image

Nice list. Thanks for sharing.

noisebeam wrote:

I am also looking for an ideally <10mm <f2.8 Rect. or FE EFM lens. This is the summary I put together for myself, but thought I'd share:

Circular Fisheye:

Laowa 4mm/f2.8 cFE, MF/A, 135g, $200

Meike (or Opteka) 6.5mm/f2.0 cFE, MF/A, 266/300g, $130-143

Full Sensor Fisheye:

7artisans 7.5mm/f2.8 FE, MF/A, 278g, $140

Samyang (or Rokinon) 8mm/f2.8 FE, MF/A, 260g $250-300

Rectilinear:

Laowa 9mm/F2.8, MF/A, 215g, $500 (I read this one has up to 4stop vignette in corners)

Looks really nice, but more than I'm willing to spend on an MF lens.

Rect Wider than 10mm, but for comparison sake:

The 11mm/4.0 end of the Canon 11-22 zoom.

I already have that one, so I'm not sure the faster 12mm lenses will offer that much benefit.

Rokinon 12mm/f2.0, MF/A, 245g, $330-400

Several Mieke, Opteka, 7art, 12mm/f2.8 MF/A offerings in ~$190 to $240 range

Sigma 16mm/f1.4 – AF/A, 405g, $450

Sounds really good because it's f1.4 but for that money I'd want to try it out before buying it. Sadly it's not available in my country yet. Maybe one day!

Please add any other lenses below 10mm and correct any wrong too.

noisebeam wrote:

GinaRothfels wrote:

Nice list. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks. I had it ready to go! I listed the weight as well as I will take it as part of my multi-day backpacking trips (for non tracked astro shots and more) and every 100g counts.

noisebeam wrote:

I am also looking for an ideally <10mm <f2.8 Rect. or FE EFM lens. This is the summary I put together for myself, but thought I'd share:

Circular Fisheye:

Laowa 4mm/f2.8 cFE, MF/A, 135g, $200

Meike (or Opteka) 6.5mm/f2.0 cFE, MF/A, 266/300g, $130-143

Full Sensor Fisheye:

7artisans 7.5mm/f2.8 FE, MF/A, 278g, $140

Samyang (or Rokinon) 8mm/f2.8 FE, MF/A, 260g $250-300

Rectilinear:

Laowa 9mm/F2.8, MF/A, 215g, $500 (I read this one has up to 4stop vignette in corners)

Looks really nice, but more than I'm willing to spend on an MF lens.

I will spend if a great lens, but the reports of the severe vignette wide open mean that for evening or astro shots if I correct in post then I loose the benefit of the lens speed. Sometime full correction is not needed of course, but I am more and more bothered by vignetting. I'd rather add in in post if for the art than have it inherent. It is not the only lens on this list with the issue, but I haven't yet researched.

Rect Wider than 10mm, but for comparison sake:

The 11mm/4.0 end of the Canon 11-22 zoom.

I already have that one, so I'm not sure the faster 12mm lenses will offer that much benefit.

I have it too and it is my primary lens on camera when hiking/backpacking. I listed it because any wide evening/astro lens will need to be notably faster, sharper across field wide open or wider. The Rokion 12/2 below does get some interest from people doing astro shots, but it will not add a new FL for me.

Rokinon 12mm/f2.0, MF/A, 245g, $330-400

Several Mieke, Opteka, 7art, 12mm/f2.8 MF/A offerings in ~$190 to $240 range

Sigma 16mm/f1.4 – AF/A, 405g, $450

Sounds really good because it's f1.4 but for that money I'd want to try it out before buying it. Sadly it's not available in my country yet. Maybe one day!

It is tempting, but for me not only pricey, but relatively heavy for my purposes and not a new FL.

The price and weight bother me too, but I may be tempted if I ever have an opportunity to buy one. Alternately maybe the Sigma 56mm f1.4. Neither is a lens I would buy online though - I'd have to try them on my camera to see if I like them.

After I reviewed these options I think am most interested in the full sensor coverage fisheyes. They are small and light and can be defished when desired with less extreme losses in the corners than the circular fisheyes.

At this point that would be the 7art 7.5mm or the Roki 8mm. Now I need to find out if the Roki has benefits over the 7art and the decide if worth 2x the price.

I also am tempted by the fun aspect of the 4mm or 6.5mm. I could use it for a few night sky images in combo with the 11-22 which I will have anyway and I enjoy 'fun' lenses for day use as well.

I'm not particularly interested in the circular lenses but I'm still tempted by the 7artisans 7.5 though I don't really need another fisheye lens. The main attraction is that it doesn't require an adapter like my Tokina 10-17mm does. And it's smaller and lighter, faster too. But I'm a bit worried about buying something I haven't seen. I've never bought a lens online before.

Decisions...

Decision making is something I really struggle with.