Anyone ever used a fisheye lens?

[jwedehase]

So this isn't directly reef related, but it could be. In a couple weeks, I'll be shooting in a live rock concert setting. My main staple lens will be the Canon 50mm f/1.4, but I've also decided to step out and rent the Canon 15mm fisheye, just to play around. Does anyone have any real world experience or words of wisdom for fisheye photography? Unfortunately, I'll only be able to pick up the lens a couple hours before the event, so the learning curve will be on the fly. I intend to use the fisheye for both the super wide shots (read: keep the horizon level) in addition to intentional warpage and distortion.


Later that weekend, I'll play around with aquarium shots.

 

[BlueCorn]

Sorry Jason,

I was in Yosemite, shooting, and missed this. I've never personally cared for the the fisheye look so I don't have any real experience with them. On my crop body camera I really liked my Tokina 12-24. It's built like a tank and is pretty reasonably priced.

 

[Kinetic]

Fisheye lenses are great for big events. I use the 10.5mm 2.8 on my nikon and it is fantastic.

Focus speed is amazing on them, since they really can be set to infinity and get everything perfect.

If you want a straight line, keep it towards the middle of the lens, otherwise it'll be insanely distorted.

A great fisheye lens use is put it on a monopod, raise it way above the crowd, and start snapping away with a remote. Top down fisheye shots are REALLY cool.

I have a few fisheye shots in my flickr page (see red house), but nothing of big crowds.

 

[juniormc8704]

Off topic, kinetic, those are truly breath taking photos....inspires me to move far beyond shooting my tank.

 

[jwedehase]

Doug, Arthur, thank you for the feedback. And yes, you have a great portfolio, Arthur. I should head up your way and have an afternoon field trip learning session with you and Doug!

Here's a look at the setting, from the last time I shot. Most of these were with the 50mm f/1.4. Some may have been the 17-40 f/4L. I wanted to try something new, so I thought intentional distortion with the fisheye might work. I'll still have these other two staple lenses with me, though. I just wanted a chance to see what to expect, since I won't be picking up the lens until literally a couple hours before the show.

 

[Kinetic]

haha thanks for the comment but I'm not really that good!! Your shots are just as amazing if not better!! seriously.

The distortion on the fisheye aren't that appealing for single person shots in my opinion. It just makes it look funny, rather than a cool effect. What would be neat is something in that last photo you've posted, you may have gotten a lot more all around and a bit of distortion, but again a wide angle would be a better choice. But hey, play around with it and see what you can get Just don't leave it on the whole time because it's such a novel effect and forsake the greatness of the 50mm

 

[jwedehase]

It's probably just familiarity, then. I don't care for my shots a whole lot because I know how they were taken. Yours, OTOH, are crisp, seemingly well thought out, and have some very nice still composition. Maybe it's the magic of Frisco that still enamours me, while it's common place for you. That's such a great town.

My shots were taken by me, so I don't see the ingenuity in them, they never catch me by surprise. I'd imagine that's probably a reciprocal argument for you. Oh well. I'll not overanalyze it, or am I already past that?

I'll post the results from the next concert in a couple weeks.

 

[RevHtree]

Oh yea well your both better than me!

Great shots man!

 

[jwedehase]

Thanks, Rev!

I just got home from the show, and ripped through a couple photos in post processing. Very little was needed in any of these shots, just the random piece of noise or light reflection Healed out, a resize and sharpen. Overall impression of the fisheye lens: Not bad at all. But it wouldn't have worked, had I not the opportunity to actually walk up on stage. You definitely need to be CLOSE for this lens. In a concert setting, it's nearly worthless outside of about 8 feet away. Here are some of the shots I came up with, just to share.

I'm really bummed I missed the focus on the shot below.

 

[Kinetic]

great photos! you did a really good job. the one where you said you missed the focus, I don't think you missed it at all. it's perfect! Ibanez sits perfectly in the rule of thirds, and gives you a great perspective with the guy in the background.

 

[tricky]

Wow! Great photos! Makes me want to try the fisheye lens for sure. Has anyone tried a fisheye lens with a bowfront or corner tank?

 

[Kinetic]

yes, I've tried it, the effect is not that great. For a tank I only use macro lenses or a wide angle for a FTS.

 

[jwedehase]

The fisheye is worthless for a FTS, that's for sure. It made my square tank look like a bowfront. However, I did have a little fun with fish shots. This lens "fakes" a whole lot of depth. Check out the photo below (sorry, it's just out of the camera and resized. No editing). Notice the 1" Loc-Line in the background, upper right. It sure looks like it's 4 to 5 feet back, but this is a 24" deep tank.

At the same time, it can also take some nice shots. In this shot, I had the lens pretty much right up against the glass. The sixline was no more than maybe 4" from the glass (yes, the magnet cleaner has hit those corals). The lens is sharp, and pretty quick at f/2.8. I'd consider keeping it around for fun once I have a little expendable income, that's for sure.

 

[jwedehase]

Those are both uncropped, but keep in mind... this is a 1.6x crop body (Canon 20D). The effect is MUCH more pronounced on a full frame.