Fisheye Adaptors?

[newyorkaddict]

I found this on EBAY, and as i am quite poor at the moment, was wandering if anyone had any experience with these things. Good or bad, let me know please :thumbs:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/42x-Fisheye-Macro-Lens-For-Canon-EOS-EF-Camera_W0QQitemZ330214940249QQihZ014QQcategoryZ300 70QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[laser_jock99]

Optically they are usually quite poor with loads of colour fringing and softness- still if you're on a budget they can still give interesting shots you wouldn't other wise achieve.

Here's a photo I took using one bolted onto a 24mm wideangle lens. As you can see it will take in about 160 degrees of sky!
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f206/laser_jock99/Abstract%20Photos/SAILING_022-1.jpg

[newyorkaddict]

Cheers:thumbs:, mite have to look at one, it's mainly to open up my BMX shooting, most shots look better if you can get in close, so i'm hoping one of these will help with that.

[8utters]

I hate those fisheye lenses, with a passion.

Poor quality and has that terrible black boarder round it. Real fisheye lenses don't have that and, together with the image quality, make them a far better alternative. Of course you pay more, but the more you pay, the more you get.

[laser_jock99]

I hate those fisheye lenses, with a passion.

Poor quality and has that terrible black boarder round it. Real fisheye lenses don't have that and, together with the image quality, make them a far better alternative. Of course you pay more, but the more you pay, the more you get.

If you want full 180 degree coverage there's no getting around the black border bit. Some semi-fisheye lenses do 180 degrees across the diagonal (my Sigma 15mm does for instance) but these lenses are only semi-fisheye. True fisheyes are always circular.

There are reasons for needing full 180 degree, circular coverage (or even more with some lenses!). They are mainly designed as scientific rather than artist lenses- though they could of course fall into the wrong hands! 180 degree fisheyes are used by meteorologists to monitor cloud cover and by astronomers for real widefield shots.

Here's some examples photos I took requiring full sky (read circular) coverage of an auroral display in 1992. They record the aurora covering most of the sky. That's not possible with a 180 degree diagonal lens.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f206/laser_jock99/ASTRONOMICAL/AURORA_011.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f206/laser_jock99/ASTRONOMICAL/AURORA_017.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f206/laser_jock99/ASTRONOMICAL/AURORA_004.jpg

I found another good 180 deg fisheye astronomical photo here:

http://www.public.asu.edu/~rjansen/localgroup/SouthernSky_fisheye.gif

Wow! I wish we had dark skies like that in the UK!

Mind you- I notice a bit of light pollution on the left hand side.

[8utters]

Oh right didn't realise that.

I still think that the semi-ones like the Canon EF 15mm Fish-Eye f/2.8 are much nicer. Just can't stand the whole black thing, looks rubbish IMO.

[cherryrig]

DONT GET THOSE FISHEYE ADAPTORS.

so s***t really. dosen't foucs, mad vig and a waste of money. Just save up and get the right fisheye lens for your camera. Plus those adaptors look so rubbish on your camera as well. Please dont :(

[laser_jock99]

Here's a proper fisheye lens- the Nikkor 6mm with 220 degree field of view!

http://www.nearfield.com/~dan/Photo/wide/fish/ftest5.jpg

http://www.din.or.jp/%7Eyamato-c/foto/nikkor6mmF2.8.jpg

If you could ever find one for sale it would cost a few thousand!

Cheaper is the Sigma 8mm 180 degree (circular) fisheye around 300 pounds

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Released-SIGMA-LENS-8mm-F3-5-EX-DG-FISHEYE_W0QQitemZ260215707421QQihZ016QQcategoryZ30 070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I used one of these Jessops 0.4x for my pictures:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jessops-Fisheye-0-42X-Attachment-58mm-Ring_W0QQitemZ160213029129QQihZ006QQcategoryZ707QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

As has been said - poor image quality but okay for the few occasions you'll use it -you'll get bored with the effect quite quickly.