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3. Fisheye Lens

Anyone out there have any good experiences with a fisheye camera lens? I have always wanted one for my SLR. The lenses I have been looking at are a bit pricey...does anyone know if that is common for these lenses?

I take a lot of night photography in the summer and I feel like I could get some interesting shots with it then for stars / fireflies.

Yeah Artie, they are somewhat expensive. If it were me I'd buy used (www.keh.com) especially for a lens like a fisheye. You have to be careful which lens you buy. If you are shooting digital some fisheye lenses will not fill the entire frame. Do some research for your particular camera.

Check out this one:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/8mm-f35.htm

It has some serious limitations (no autofocus for example), but if you're comfortable with manual shooting it could be just the thing and for a very good price. I'm looking at using it for an upcoming research project.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll definitely be researching a lot before I make a purchase. Hopefully I'll find a quality lens for a good price!

Artie,
Another option to bring the price down is to look for factory refurb or open box deals. Most vendors offer these but you have to ask/dig a little.

I would also suggest renting you candidates for a shoot before committing to the final purchase. There really is no telling how you will like a lens until you actually shoot through the thing.

Eric,
Are you referring to the issue folks find with lens designed for APS-C sensors on a full frame body or is it particular to fish-eyes?

JW

If I am understanding you it would apply to all lenses that are meant for APS-C Sensors not just fish eye. Please correct me if I am wrong. Artie did not say he was shooting digital he just said SLR. The issue I was referring to, since I don't know which camera he is using is this: ( and will speak in Nikonese here), is for example, a lens like the Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 DX Fisheye on a full-frame film camera or full-frame digital. It will leave black edges if used on the FX cameras. If you have an FX camera the Nikon 16mm f/2.8 AF-D would be a good choice. Now also the fisheye effect will be much less from a full frame lens used on the smaller APS-C sensor camera due to the crop factor. This can be corrected in post processing with photoshop but that's an extra step. I can't say anything about Canon because I don't have one. But I don't think they make a fisheye for their small format (APS-C) digital SLRs. (but I may be wrong about that). Many people realize this so I'm sorry if I'm speaking down to anyone...

Eric,
My understanding was kind of the reverse of what you describe (then again I am easily confused). I have seen that black edge scenario when using lenses designed for the small format sensors on a full frame camera as the image is only sized for APS-C. In other words the image does not fill the sensor. My assumption was that Artie was shooting digital but would still apply with a
Film camera as they are the standard for "full frame".

But basically I was asking of that was the issue you were referring to or if there was a different issue inherent to the fish eye.

I think that's what I was describing.

Same Church just different pews. :)