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Thread: Fisheye lenses

  1. #1
    Mucus
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    Cool Fisheye lenses

    What are some cheap ways to go for a fisheye lens for a canon rebel?
    Hoo-ray for the day.

  2. #2
    The one - The only
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    What's cheap?

    There are filter like adapters that are supposed to give you the fish eye effect. I've never tried them, but have heard they are hit and miss.

    You can pick up a used Canon 15mm fish for about $300 - $400. I love my Canon fishy.

    There's a Peleng 8mm fishy that alot of people are using. Never used it, but the shots come out pretty well. The color and contrast are good, but some users complain about depth of field on them.

    I guess it really depends on the amount of $ you want to spend and the desired effect.
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  3. #3
    Mucus
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    Cool Re: Fisheye lenses

    Cheap = CHEAP
    ~I saw one for $79 on a skateboarders' site.
    ~The Raynox QC-303 snap on lens, would it fit a 35 mm cam?

    And if I used the attachments would they bother my red filter?

    in my looking i found this http://aggregate.org/DIT/peepfish/ and it mentioned using a peep hole from a door to make a fish eye effect...

    would i be able to mount that into a lens cap or something...?
    Last edited by Mucus; 10-07-2006 at 02:06 PM.
    Hoo-ray for the day.

  4. #4
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    I bought a Russian made, Zenitar, 16mm Fisheye lens on ebay a few years back. The link I included is the exact lens that I have, but I don't think I paid that much for mine, but then again, it's been a few years. I think this lens works pretty good for the price I paid. Keep in mind that there are no electronics in this lens so everything needs to be set manualy.

    There are a couple images that I have taken with this lens in this thread.

    One thing to keep in mind when putting a fisheye on a DSLR with a smaller than full frame sensor, you are going to loose a lot of the distortion around the edges of your frame, due to the crop factor. The 16mm fisheye, becomes a 25.6mm on your DRebel.
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  5. #5
    Mucus
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    yeah, but i'm using film.
    i am trying to find something that'll give me lotsa distortion...
    Hoo-ray for the day.

  6. #6
    Not-so-recent Nikon Convert livin4lax09's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    peleng 8mm fisheye. search ebay for it.

  7. #7
    Mucus
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    Cool Re: Fisheye lenses

    i've looked at this but i'm afraid it's gonna hit my mirror; i don't want that.
    i am gonna try to make one with a peep-hole sight from a door and a lens cap... i'll post my results...
    Hoo-ray for the day.

  8. #8
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Quote Originally Posted by Mucus
    yeah, but i'm using film.
    i am trying to find something that'll give me lotsa distortion...

    Ok, this will give you lots of distortion on a film SLR. That 8mm fisheye that Brent mentioned looks pretty cool too. That looks like it gives a circle image, were as the one I mentioned will give you a full frame image.

    Let us know how you build your lens out of a peep hole, and post some images for us.
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  9. #9
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Bump. I'm looking for something a little more "full frame" (if that makes sense) than that Peleng lens. Are any of those ones on ebay legit? I'm under the impression that they slip over the actual lens thats currently on there, does that affect anything?

  10. #10
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    The lens that I linked to above, (post #4) is a full frame lens. It is an actual lens that mounts to your camera, and not an accessory lens that you have to attach to another lens. I bought mine on ebay, and it works fine. The aperture doesn't close as far as it should, but that doesn't bother me any.
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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  11. #11
    Not-so-recent Nikon Convert livin4lax09's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    accessory lenses, along with the peleng, as you said, will not give you the full frame. they will create a circle with the image in the center and a black ring border. Some prefer this, some do not. I'm personally going with the sigma when I do go FE.

  12. #12
    has-been... another view's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    You'll need a longer focal length fisheye for a full frame (semi-fisheye) like a 15 or 16mm. One great thing about some compact digitals is the accessory lenses. I have the fisheye for my Coolpix and it can be set up as regular fisheye (round circular image) or semi-fisheye. It's nothing like a DSLR setup, but I don't use it much and the results are very good.

  13. #13
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Bump. Can anyone recommend a lens under 300 that will give a fuller frame than the peleng lens, sort of similar to the canon fisheye. Any recommendations?

  14. #14
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Do a search on ebay for Zenitar. There are people on there selling the MC Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 fisheye for $145.00. This is a full frame fisheye lens, as stated in my previous post. You will need an adapter to fit your camera, but if you get one that's listed for EOS, it should have the adapter with it. If this isn't what you're looking for, can you be more specific? If you don't trust the dealers on ebay, just google Zenitar fisheye and you will find other online stores selling the same lens. Usually for more $ and without the adapter.

    I have used this lens on my EOS film cameras, as well as my digital and it works fine.
    The image below was taken wth my Zenitar fisheye and EOS 300D



    One thing to consider with the Peleng lens is the camera you intend to use it with. If you're using it on a DSLR with a 1.6 crop factor, it becomes an 13mm lens, and may come close to filling the frame.
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  15. #15
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Do you have any more shots with that lens preferably of closer objects?

  16. #16
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    There is another shot in this thread that I took with this lens.

    Here is a quick shot I just took as an example. It's pretty dark in here, so it's hard to focus. I'll take some more shots tomorrow and post them here.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fisheye lenses-crw_0638.jpg  
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  17. #17
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Awesome, that is clearly the alternative to the 15/2.8 i've been looking for, thanks.

  18. #18
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Here are a couple shots I took this morning to give you an example of the lens distortion on a 1.6 crop DSLR. The lines between the deck boards are straight in real life. The last pic is a scan of an image taken with 35mm film. You will get a wider view, and more distortion with this lens on a film camera.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fisheye lenses-crw_0642.jpg   Fisheye lenses-crw_0644.jpg   Fisheye lenses-untitled-1.jpg  
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  19. #19
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    That last picture with the film camera is making me "iffy" about this lens.

  20. #20
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Quote Originally Posted by MeetMeHalfway
    That last picture with the film camera is making me "iffy" about this lens.

    Is it the distortion that is making your "iffy" or the image quality? The image quality of the last one is very poor, but it's not because of the lens. That image was scanned using a cheap flatbed scanner from a 4x6 print. I'll look through my slides and see if I can find any taken with this lens.
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  21. #21
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Here is better example of a film shot with this lens.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fisheye lenses-crw_0645.jpg  
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  22. #22
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    Awesome, thank you very much, this is the lens I'll be buying.

  23. #23
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    me as well, with the next paycheck. you convinced me mjs

  24. #24
    Learning more with every "click" mjs1973's Avatar
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    I hope this lens works as well for you guys as it has for me. One, or two words of caution that I forgot to mention before.

    1st: The aperture of my lens does not close down all the way. When I turn the aperture ring on my lens, it's very easy to see the aperture blades closing down. When I get to somewhere between 2 and 4 clicks from all the way closed, the aperture doesn't get any smaller. To be honest tho, this doesn't bother me one bit. With a lens of this focal length, you won't need to stop down to f/32 to get a huge DOF. It may be an issue if you need a longer shutterspeed, but I have never had a problem with this.

    2nd: I read on another forum where some people were talking about the lens hood causing vigneting. I have NEVER had this problem with my lens, but I thought I would throw that info out there just as an FYI. From what I read on that other forum, it sounded like they were using this lens with a Pentax K mount, and then an EOS adapter, and it was causing the lens to be rotated 90 degrees. My lens has a very simple, metal mount that screws onto the lens, and has the EOS mount on the other side.

    If you want, I will take some detail shots of my lens tonight to give you a better idea.
    Mike

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    "I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
    Aldo Leopold

  25. #25
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    Re: Fisheye lenses

    i asked this same question a while back. i wanted a fisheye to take my skate fotos with. since peleng and vivitar dont make a 4/3 adapter for olympus e system dslr's i had to go the long way and get a true zuiko 8mm fisheye. with a 900$ price tag. it was rough but the quality is pristine compared to anything the russian knockoffs can do.

    another word of the wise with those russian jobs. they have uneven coating on them so you will get a phantoming thing around the 4 corners of the frame. and not to say that it will happen to every lens. its just what happens with fisheyes anyways that arent quite that expensive.

    also i think that the peleng and vivitar lenses are circular fishs mines diagonal thers also a slight difference between the 2. anyways...

    i did alot of research about it. and whoever saius that they were afraid if their mirror would hit. thers a site on google somwerhee where this guy tested a bunch of cameras and tels you if it either hits all the time, sometimes, or not at all.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fisheye lenses-pa208001.jpg  

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