So, also thank to the recommendations and suggestions of the many here with great experience in photography, I am having a great time taking pictures. I just love it. I am learning a lot, buying lenses, experimenting, and enjoying the whole thing greatly.

I even started some experiment in basic, amateurish post-production
(for example:
Pre:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/taymtaym/8164964698/in/set-72157631954884573/lightbox/
Post:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/taymtaym/8202036894/lightbox/

- Trying to make Spiderman's colors more vivid and comic-style)

So, I started to think about a fisheye lens. Just for fun. I am not really in the mindset for purchasing any, but I am fascinated by the lens itself and its creative use. So, I was wondering, is there anyone here who owns one, would like to share some picturess, or some thoughts? Or, do you have any interesting pictures you particularly like?
It is a highly specialized type of lens, indeed. I am just curious to learn and share some thoughts with you.
I've been searching on Flickr, and there are some amazing photographs...

With respect to that photograph (cool costume) you should try the touch-up tools in your favorite photo editor to get rid of the giant camel-toe (or is that moose-knuckle?) on Spidey. It's most definitely not flattering.

Otherwise, cool.

I use a fisheye lens all the time at weddings, lots of examples on my blog if you search them out...

http://crismatthews.com/blog/

It's not really that specialised, and lenses can be picked up pretty cheap if you look. I started with an 8mm Peleng when I had a cropped sensor camera, but I now have the Canon 15mm as it better for professional pictures.

What are you using to edit your pictures ??? Lightroom is the way to go if you haven't already.

Cheers

Cris

Thanks Cris, fantastic pictures on you blog! I am going to take my time and look at those tonight.

The Spiderman picture linked above is the only real editing I have attempted, and the only one done with some clear goal in mind and that produced some decent result (to me, of course).

I used ACDsee, which I find great as a picture manager and viewer. I would not know how good it is in terms of post production, but in spite of several powerful tool, I have never compared it to Lightroom. I'll definitely look into that should I get more serious with editing

Chris, you have some amazing work in your blog. Congratulations! (Of course I could not help giving a look at that now, from the office... :D).
Do you also have a Flickr account maybe, for your non-professional work?

One good way to see what you get with different lenses is the old pbase photo sharing site. It has the handy feature of letting you search photos by the lens they were taken with (as long as the lens info is in the EXIF data).

http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/ef_8_15_4l_fisheye_usm

Thanks Andy.

Funny that I just now found out that also Flickriver allows a lens-based search into flickr itself:

http://www.flickriver.com/lenses/
I can't understand why Flickr itself does not let you search by lens. Silly of them.

Edit: No Canon Fisheye samples available on Flickriver, though...

Handy.

http://www.flickriver.com/lenses/canon/canonef15mmf28fisheye/

Oh, right, I was looking for the 8-15 Zoom only. Thanks for pointing that out. There are some beautiful pictures there.

So, Canon makes:

* 8-15 Zoom, f/4L Euro 1200
* 15 Prime f/2.8 ??? (not found anywhere in IT, including amazon, which is weird. It's Sigma counterpart is around
Euro 700)

Again, I am not in for buying one, at the moment, I am just talking for the sake of it

Was the Canon 15mm f/2.8 lens discontinued? Nowhere to be found in EU.

It is listed in the Canon Lens lineup in the US website:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup/ef_15mm_f_2_8_fisheye

But not on EU Canon websites.

Think they do the 14 and 17 now (as well as the zoom):

http://www.parkcameras.com/c/68/Canon-Fit-SLR-Lenses.html?fspec=4%3aCanon+EF%7c14%3aWide+angle&Page=1&fbrand=4

Thanks

I don't really do flickr to be honest, and rarely take pictures in my personal life. Just one of those things, I'm not the sort of guy who walks around on holiday with a 5D Mk III and a 70-200. Pictures have a purpose for me, and usually it's someone else's purpose.

Canon have unfortunately discontinued the 15mm fish eye, and it has been replaced with an 8-15mm L series fisheye. But last time I looked the old ones were still affordable on eBay etc...

If you currently have a cropped sensor and don't intend on going full frame then an 8mm fisheye will be much more fun for you

Download the trial of Lightroom and start playing with the sliders in the Develop module. Looking at your edit I think you'll enjoy the "Clarity" slider.

Cheers

Cris

I had the Nikon 10.5mm DX fisheye for my old D70. When I upgraded to a D700, I never bothered to get another fisheye, but instead got a super-wideangle lens (the outrageous 14-24mm zoom).

Why?

A fisheye just changes the way you look at the world. It's exceptionally difficult to frame things well with a fisheye, but you do have the ability to get up close and personal with your subject. Also, in post-processing, you can straighten out a fisheye image, or even combine several of them, kinda like Android's new PhotoSphere thing.

For my newest camera, a Fuji X-Pro 1, I bought two prime lenses: a 35mm f/1.4 and an 18mm f/2.0 lens (equivalent to 52 and 27mm field-of-view, respectively). I find myself mostly just using the 35mm standard lens rather than the wide-angle lens.

That said, I'm pondering converting my old 10.5mm DX fisheye into a full-frame circular fisheye, although it's requires serious courage to do the process.

I happen to already have a 10-22mm for my APS-C (16-35mm equivalent circa), which I really like. So, in my specific case, I am actually intrigued by the way a fisheye alters perception of reality, and by the creative implications of that.


That said, I once more repeat I am really not (yet) in the market to buy one. And I'll repeat that, over and over, in the desperate attempt to convince myself that is true. For some reason friends who know me well are laughing at me every time I tell them that.

Too bad for us!


Ok, that make sense. I do see myself upgrading to a FF in the future (6D is appealing), but currently I own a 7D, so your recommendation does apply.


Indeed

ACDsee has quite a few interesting development settings, however. So, I already have some room for experimenting.
http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-pro-6/features/develop

Well, since you are not really in the market for one, you might as well grab an el-cheapo fisheye off of eBay to whet your appetite. If you like what it does, then you can think about a higher quality image from a more expensive version.

Eg. there's this $30 "fisheye converter lens" that screws onto a Canon zoom lens (58mm front threads required):

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-Super-Wide-HD...=item19c3e5066d

And there are other, similar converter lenses that fit other front thread sizes.

Cheers

Who said I am not?! Oh, of course, I did. Yes, of course, I am not.


Yes, I saw those... Maybe worth trying. They puzzle me in some way, though. I am afraid they may offer a very different experience than a a "real" fisheye. I wish there was some lens rental service here. But no such thing.

This, for example, has something so interesting and beautiful.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidkingham/8170956036/in/photostream/


I found TWO rental services I could use, finally. Unfortunately, none of them has an Canon 8-15 in stock. But, it is good lens rentals are finally around. Prices are not bad at all, either.

Okay, that photo does it for me! Great stuff!

That is a great shot, but you don't need a fisheye to take it. It's made from multiple shots stitched together.

The 8-15 is brand new, and has been delayed a few times. It may be that very few of them have made it to market at the moment.

Cheers

Cris

Cris, really?! I thought it was a fisheye shot crop!!? I so don't deserve one, then... :-D

(... I have even added a 8-15 to my amazon wishlist, which is a bold move for "not" being in the market for one. This lens thing is killer ).

But you need a fisheye for the distorted effect, unless you distort the images before stitching surely ?

(as far as I can tell it is two fisheye images stitched)

Looking at the EXIF data, it turns out that wasn't shot with a fisheye at all

It was taken with the Nikon 16-35mm, which has lots of distortion at 16mm, but isn't a fisheye.

16mm counts as fisheye for most people for a 35mm frame (rectangular frame, not circular). Yes, it's pretty much the upper end of that term, but it's always easier to say "fisheye" than it is to say "insane wide-angle"

Ok, I assume the definition itself of "fisheye" implies distortion. Am I correct in that?

Based on the above picture I linked, I guess distortion does not imply "fisheye", then, as I guess it all depends on the amt and type of distortion. Am I correct in this?

My 10-22mm lens does not distort things in the way that photo shows. Nor does my 16-35L.

There are super-wide angle rectilinear lenses (non-fisheye) as well as super-wide angle fisheye lenses. My understanding is that fisheye lenses make no attempt to correct for the obvious warping and distortion; whereas rectilinear lenses include a number of secondary lens elements specifically to try and correct such.

A good super-wide rectilinear, when held horizontally, will generally show a familiar view of the world. A fisheye lens of the same focal length will always show a curvy view.

The term fisheye lens refers to the effect you get when no correction is made by the lens, as Mark explains above. A 16-35mm lens certainly is not a fisheye lens as the glass goes some way to correct the image, the Canon 16-35mm pulls in a liner fashion towards the extreme edges, but there is little of the fisheye (or fishbowl) effect left.

The originally linked image could be taken with just about any lens if you stitched enough of them back together, the fisheye effect is added in software. I have seem full circular 360degree versions which are just amazing !!!

Cheers

Cris

Like this full-frame Nikkor 16mm Fisheye F2.8 which does not provide the level of distortion seen in the original image.

No that is a fisheye lens, you can clearly see it is not correcting the distortion, see the second image of the Hot Air Balloon in the link you gave.

If that were shot on the Canon 16-35mm lens you wouldn't see the extreme bend towards the edges of the frame, there would be some but it would be more linear as the lens will have corrected some of it for you.

Unless you want to continue arguing the point to the finite detail ???

Cheers

Cris