Fisheye for a 350D?

Prophet · 10 Nov 2006 at 09:27

I'd like to have a go with a fisheye lens. I goto quite a few car shows and events so think I could get some interesting shots.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of a half decent lens that wont break the bank

Many thanks,
OP

thumper · 10 Nov 2006 at 10:33

fisheyes's are pretty expensive - do you want true fisheye or just super wide?
sigma do a 10-20mm super wide ~£300
and an 8mm Fisheye ~£350 IIRC
a cheaper option may be a Peleng 8mm, which is an old russian lens that you should be able to get on ebay, you'll need a converter for it to fit the eos mount & it'll be all manual but it should be cheaper ~£200...

other than that i'm not sure, perhaps other peeps have some suggestions...

rpstewart · 10 Nov 2006 at 10:51

thumper said:
a cheaper option may be a Peleng 8mm, which is an old russian lens that you should be able to get on ebay, you'll need a converter for it to fit the eos mount & it'll be all manual but it should be cheaper ~£200...

The Peleng is pretty cool but fully manual - not that it's that much of a problem, the DoF even wide open is vast so focussing isn't that much of a problem. The image quality isn't great but you're never going to get L glass sharpness from a 180 degree fisheye.

I use it on a 1D MkII so I get most of the view, on full frame it projects a circular image, on a 350D you'll get almost a full frame view - there are a lot of samples of the Peleng on a 300D on the web if you google.

Anyway, obligatory example....

cyKey · 10 Nov 2006 at 10:55

Is it worth spending more than £300 on something that you'd probably get bored of? Fish-eye lenses are fun for a bit but I think the fun would eventually run out. Its not like you can use it for weddings or summin

You could try and find a cheap lomo fisheye cam on ebay. £35 for a starter kit. Yeah its film but if its just a bit of fun £35 is easier to justify than £350

Prophet · 10 Nov 2006 at 10:56

Wow that shot is amazing! Takes a while to fully appreciate it!

Thanks for the info. I'll do some Auction site surfing and see what turns up.

Prophet · 12 Nov 2006 at 10:23

Can someone explain what the .22X and .42X numbers mean please?

SDK^ · 12 Nov 2006 at 10:35

If you're going to get a Fisheye lens then the Sigma 15mm F2.8 Fisheye is the one to go for. Also remember that on a 1.6x crop body you lose some of the wideness of the fisheye.

cyKey said:
Its not like you can use it for weddings or summin You could try and find a cheap lomo fisheye cam on ebay.

rpstewart · 12 Nov 2006 at 10:52

Orange Peel said:
Can someone explain what the .22X and .42X numbers mean please?

Sounds like you're looking at fisheye converter lenses rather than stand alone ones, the .22x & .42x are the focal length conversion factors.

Gregeff · 12 Nov 2006 at 12:41

I would highly recommend the Peleng 8mm fisheye. It is a full circular fish eye on a full frame camera, so on a 350D it is about a 12mm fisheye which in my opinion is perfect! I use it all the time on my 350D, its fantastic! It only costs £130 on ebay too. Although it is manual focus, just set it to F8 and everything will be in focus, I also find it's sharpest at F8-11, with 5.6 being not far behind. F3.5 is pretty poor though. But as its a fisheye you can hand hold it at 1/10th of a second so you don't need large apetures.

For example shots I took with this lens check out this thread i made just after i got it:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17603495

Also my competition entry for emotion and motion competitions where taken with this lens.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7648135&postcount=60
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7894108&postcount=48

Hope thats some help!