Fisheye with a budget of £200 on 5d?

[RichBHP]

Hi, I'm after a fisheye lens for my Canon 5d but can't afford to pay any more than £200. Can anyone make any suggestions or am I being optimistic?

[Morganc]

There is a Zenitar 16mm full frame fisheye at around £125 new and an 8mm circular fisheye made by Peleng for around £250 new. They are both completely manual, manual focus, manual aperture and no AF confirm. The only sources that I can find are on Ebay.

[TheBigYin]

Zenitar and EOS Adaptor plate (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lens-Zenitar-M-Fish-Eye-New-Canon-EOS-16mm_W0QQitemZ350232200984QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Ca merasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_J N?hash=item518b774718)

[fastworldimages]

even second hand the sigma 15mm will be over £280-300+

£200 for a good quality AF/MF lens isnt really going to happen unless you get very lucky imo

[bomberman]

will the samyang 8mm fit? methinks yes. not 100% sure though

[Morganc]

The Samyang is made for APS-C, it will still mount on the 5D but the built in lens hood obscures part of the image, though this can be shaved the image circle is still too small for the 5D.

There are some examples of the Zenitar and the Peleng on a 5D MkII here: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/forum/topic/740193

[The Matt]

fisheye converters are a cheap option

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottleach74/sets/72157622003432362/

[chris_tim]

Stay away from zenitars, Pelengs and fisheye adapters! They produce very soft images and the build quality is terrible. Your best bet would be to lurk on ebay for a secound hand canon 15mm which might pop up in your price range or look at the Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye. The tokina will pop up on ebay in your pricerange you just have to be patient. It is a very good lens, sharp and the build quality is good!

If you buy a Peleng, Zenitar or adapter you will regret it and want a proper fisheye shortly after. It really is a case of buy nice or buy twice!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3849713381_d1fd175c4f.jpg

This photo was taken using the Tokina.

Here is the link to it big so you can see the quality of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrislanaway/3849713381/sizes/l/in/set-72157605037752729/

[fastworldimages]

another one for a proper fisheye and not cheap bolt on tat.

[AnnaV]

I got a fisheye adapter and used it twice - complete poo.

I have since hired one for these church shots in a wedding, it was £15 from Friday to Monday, which was a bargain IMO, so I won't be buying one just yet. If I were you I'd keep saving, hire in the meantime, and get something really good.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2552/4092705562_806ed43a3b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/4091939507_c7b5fc9d8d.jpg

[Peter-T]

I'm really interested in the images produced from a fisheye lens however the 15mm canon lense is quite expensive as im not sure how often i would use it. Chris tim the quality on that shot is really good.

[RichBHP]

Thank you all for your responses and examples! especially Chris Tin, I did see zenitars & Pelengs on ebay prior to my post and did question what they would be like as I hadn't come across these makes before. I will def keep a look out for a Tokina.
Cheers
Rich

[ianmarsh]

Got to say I disagree about the Zenitar MF 16mm/2.8 fisheye. I've got one and once you set it up properly and stop it down to f8-ish it produces lovely images. Out of the factory quality is apparently awful. Infinity focus is often not possible, the hood doesn't align with the body and there are often bits of metal rattling inside. But if you are careful and follow the tutorials on the web all of these can be fixed without too much hassle.

Most important thing is to use the filters provided. I bought one from a wedding tog who hated the soft images his copy produced. So did I, but a quick trawl on the web revealed that the filters which had been ignored and left in the box by both of us are part of the optical path of the lens. Pop the clear one in and the quality jumps up. OK, it isn't Canon/Nikon quality but the lens costs £100 (although see Ken Rockwell's review). Nobody looks at fisheye shots expecting edge-to-edge sharpness, they want a fun shot.

[ding76uk]

Again another vote for saving or not getting. Canon is king obviously, Sigma and Tokina are good as well. Maybe keep saving rather than splash out on something that you will probably want to replace sooner rather than later

[Rodintee]

I also must say the zenitar I had was pretty darn good out of the box. Everything was as it should be and once stopped down a bit gave great sharp images.

Not up to Canon / Nikon standards maybe but a great lens when it's adjusted correctly.

Russ

[ClickClocks]

I have a samyang, Falcon, opteka I think very good but vigneting in a 5D. you cheap option is find a Sigma for around 300. stay away from zenitar

[ianmarsh]

Given the lack of popularity of zenitars I'm going to get my brother to put up an advert for one.

Here are two shots of the Vatican staircase. One with the zenitar, one with the 24-70 L:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2651/4069826336_d6c0063985_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2773/4069825706_bfaea67da1_o.jpg