Any pointers on using fisheye lens?

shaylou

shaylou

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Shayne
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Well I just rented my first fisheye lens for this weekend and was looking for some pointers. It is a Tokina 10-17 and I will be using it on my canon 600D.

There is a hot air ballon festival this week end that I was planning on checking out and my friends are also competing in a big drag racing event as well. Not so sure the fisheye will see any use at that event though. Anyway I have heard that fish eyes can be a bit tricky so I thought I would look for a bit of advise here before I pick it up.

All feedback is welcome. Thanks.
 
Fisheyes are great - I use a Sigma 10mm/2.8 - and love it.
You should be able to get some great stuff with a fishy at a baloon festival.
You'll probably find some good use for it at the drags as well.
Don't be afraid to try stuff with it, but have an idea of the type of shot you have in mind and the results you want to achieve.
By that I mean don't use it gratuitously - just because you have it doesn't mean you have to use it all the time.

Have a look through the forum or do a Google search for sample fisheye pics to get some ideas.

Here's a couple of ideas to get you started...
KB2N0116.JPG


IM2_0079.JPG


IMG_0887.JPG


IMG_7347%20copy.jpg


IMG_7700%20copy.jpg
 
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Just get out there and play! It's hard to say what does and doesn't work through a fisheye - I use a Sigma 8mm on full frame which gives me a full 180° FoV in every direction so is a circular image. The whole joy of TTL viewfinders is that WYSIWYG, so you don't have to take the photo if you don't think it works. Here's my lates shot, possibly going to be used by the College in future leaflets.
Beware of feet and shadows and keep the front element spotless to reduce flare.

8026090988_3e1a67fb88_b.jpg
 
Reckon you did the right thing hiring one, rather than buying.

Novelty of these sorts of shots can quickly wear off.
 
Shaylou - fisheyes are great, really good lenses to add impact but they can be easily overused and samey so think about what you want to shoot.

I personally love them for making shots look that little bit more impactive. There;s a train of thought that you can set the focus manually and just shoot and everything will be sharp - it works if you're shooting wide stuff (landscape etc) but get anything close to the lens and you do have to watch focus and DoF. If you do want to get on close, be mindful that looking through the viewfinder it's hard to to jusdge distance - many a time I've come close to dinking the front element because I thought I was feet away when in reality, I merely inches away.

Also, remember that things that look close to you will looks miles away so it's better to get closer to a subject to give it prominance in the frame.

And also remember that you can often see your feet and/or shadow in shot.

They really are a fun lens to use. I used to love mine for shots like this where space was a bit tight for the 17-55mm:


Fighting To The End by Pat MacInnes, on Flickr


rjbell said:
I really can not see the point, they just look naff.
Click to expand...

heretic :lol:
 
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specialman said:
Shaylou - fisheyes are great, really good lenses to add impact but they can be easily overused and samey so think about what you want to shoot.

I personally love them for making shots look that little bit more impactive. There;s a train of thought that you can set the focus manually and just shoot and everything will be sharp - it works if you're shooting wide stuff (landscape etc) but get anything close to the lens and you do have to watch focus and DoF. If you do want to get on close, be mindful that looking through the viewfinder it's hard to to jusdge distance - many a time I've come close to dinking the front element because I thought I was feet away when in reality, I merely inches away.

Also, remember that things that look close to you will looks miles away so it's better to get closer to a subject to give it prominance in the frame.

And also remember that you can often see your feet and/or shadow in shot.

They really are a fun lens to use. I used to love mine for shots like this where space was a bit tight for the 17-55mm:


Fighting To The End by Pat MacInnes, on Flickr




heretic :lol:
Click to expand...
Looks like a good shot spoilt to me!;)

Just get a UWA lens much more useful and if you want to make silly fisheye style images do it in photoshop.
 
rjbell said:
Looks like a good shot spoilt to me!;)

Just get a UWA lens much more useful and if you want to make silly fisheye style images do it in photoshop.
Click to expand...

UWAs are by far more useful, no doubt about it, but fisheyes give a totally uncorrected look that can work in certain circumstances.
 
rjbell said:
I really can not see the point, they just look naff.
Click to expand...

Your opinion to which you're perfectly entitled! I Like the effect though and it can be very effective. UWAs are all very well but sometimes aren't wide enough. :)
 
Nod said:
Your opinion to which you're perfectly entitled! I Like the effect though and it can be very effective. UWAs are all very well but sometimes aren't wide enough. :)
Click to expand...

I agree, UWA are usually no where near wide enough. Even when corrected a fisheye image can yielder a wider image overall although the trade off is reduced resolution.
For one example the samyang 7.5mm has a far wider angle of view compared to the panasonic 7mm-14mm UWA.
 
Nod said:
Your opinion to which you're perfectly entitled! I Like the effect though and it can be very effective. UWAs are all very well but sometimes aren't wide enough. :)
Click to expand...
Yeah fair comment.
 
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Hongsta299 said:
I agree, UWA are usually no where near wide enough. Even when corrected a fisheye image can yielder a wider image overall although the trade off is reduced resolution.
For one example the samyang 7.5mm has a far wider angle of view compared to the panasonic 7mm-14mm UWA.
Click to expand...

An example of a fisheye corrected for barrel distortion on this thread http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=436221 Works out close to a rectilinear 12mm on full-frame.
 
Well I tried it out this weekend and I have to say I liked it a lot. It is a lens that challenges the creative mind. At first I couldn't get anything to come out remotely like I wanted. But after a wail I realized that a 10-17 on a 1.6 crop is barely wide enough. There is no room to zoom at all and keep the effect. I can see why canon came out with a 8-15 now. If I'm correct that lens should work on both full frame and crop. Anyway thanks for all the input and if I find get a chance I will post a shot.
 
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