Fisheye lenses, with their unique distortion and wide field of view, offer a fresh perspective in photography. While a fish eye lens has challenges, understanding how to use them can open up a new world of creativity in your work.
Whether you’re interested in landscape, architectural, or abstract photography, a fisheye lens could be a valuable addition to your toolkit. From the iconic Canon and Nikon fisheye lenses to other brands, a wide array of options are available to suit different needs and budgets. So why not try a fisheye lens and see the world from a new angle?
Introduction to Fish Eye Lenses
Definition of a Fish Eye Lens
A fish eye lens is a distinctive ultra-wide-angle lens designed to achieve broad panoramic or hemispherical views. With its unique perspective, the lens mimics a fish’s eye, hence the term “fish eye”. The visual distortion created by these lenses results in creative and engaging photographs, offering photographers a world of novel visual opportunities.
Brief History of Fish Eye Lenses
The fish eye lens has a fascinating history begins in the early 20th century. It was first developed for meteorology to study the sky and cloud formations. By the mid-20th century, this lens type had made its way into photography. The fisheye lens was initially patented by physicist Robert W. Wood in 1906 as a “panoramic lens.” Still, it wasn’t until 1924 when the term “fisheye” was coined by American inventor and professor Robert W. Wood, based on how a fish would see an ultra-wide hemispherical view from beneath the water.
Different Types of Fish Eye Lenses
There are two main types of fish eye lenses: circular fisheye lenses and full frame or diagonal fisheye lenses. Circular fisheye lenses capture a full 180-degree view in all directions, resulting in a circular image on the sensor. Full-frame fisheye lenses also provide a 180-degree view, but only diagonally across the image sensor, producing a more traditional rectangular image while still delivering the distinctive fisheye distortion.
General Uses of Fish Eye Lenses
Fish eye lenses are versatile and used in various genres of photography. They are prevalent in sports, landscape, and architectural photography due to their ability to capture a wide breadth of view. Furthermore, they are also used in scientific applications, such as in the study of the sky or cloud formations. Their distinctive look also allows for creative, abstract, or artistic photography.
Fish Eye Lens: Top Picks on Amazon
Choosing the right fisheye lens for a business, particularly in fields like photography, videography, or real estate, involves considering several factors to ensure you select a lens that offers the desired visual effect and is compatible with your camera equipment. Here’s a guide to the key criteria for choosing the best fisheye lens:
- Type of Fisheye Lens:
- Scale of Importance: 9/10
- Fisheye lenses come in two main types: circular fisheye lenses, which capture a 180-degree view in a circular image, and full-frame fisheye lenses, which produce a distorted, wide-angle view covering the entire frame.
- Compatibility with Camera Mount:
- Scale of Importance: 9/10
- Ensure the lens mount is compatible with your camera body. Different brands and camera models have specific mount types.
- Focal Length:
- Scale of Importance: 8/10
- The focal length of a fisheye lens, typically ranging from 8mm to 15mm, determines the extent of the wide-angle effect and field of view.
- Lens Construction and Optics Quality:
- Scale of Importance: 8/10
- High-quality glass and lens construction improve image clarity, color rendition, and reduce aberrations.
- Aperture Size:
- Scale of Importance: 7/10
- A wider aperture (lower f-number) allows more light, beneficial for low-light shooting and achieving a shallow depth of field.
- Build Quality and Durability:
- Scale of Importance: 7/10
- A durable build is important for professional use, especially in outdoor or challenging environments.
- Focus Mechanism:
- Scale of Importance: 6/10
- Consider whether you need autofocus (convenient for quick shooting) or if manual focus (for precision control) is preferable.
- Size and Weight:
- Scale of Importance: 6/10
- For portability, especially when using handheld cameras or drones, the size and weight of the lens can be important factors.
- Cost and Budget:
- Scale of Importance: 7/10
- Balance the cost with the lens’s features and optical quality. Investing in a higher-quality lens can provide better image quality and durability.
- Brand and Warranty:
- Scale of Importance: 6/10
- Consider the reputation of the brand and the warranty offered, as well as the availability of customer support.
These criteria are key in choosing a fisheye lens that meets the specific requirements of a business, ensuring that the lens provides the desired visual effect, compatibility with camera equipment, and reliability for professional use.
Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens
Features:
- Advanced Optics For Professional Imaging: Experience professional-level image quality with the advanced optics of this lens, ensuring sharpness, clarity, and vibrant colors.
- Quiet and Fast Autofocus and Low-Light Performance: The lens features a fast and accurate autofocus system, allowing you to precisely capture your shots. Its low-light performance ensures exceptional results even in challenging lighting conditions.
- Built for Professional Performance: Designed for professional use, this lens meets the rigorous standards of Canon’s L-series. It offers outstanding construction, durability, and reliability to withstand demanding environments.
Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens
Nikon AF DX NIKKOR 10.5mm f/2.8G ED Fixed Zoom Fisheye Lens
Features:
- Wide-angle fisheye perspective: Capture stunning images with a frame-filling 180-degree angle of view, providing a distinctive and immersive visual experience.
- Close-Range Correction (CRC) technology: Achieve sharper images when capturing subjects up close, thanks to the high-performance CRC feature.
- Compact and lightweight design: Designed specifically for DX-format cameras, this lens offers portability without compromising optical quality.
- Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass: Minimize chromatic aberration for superior image clarity and color accuracy.
- Precise distance information: The Nikon D-type design provides accurate distance information for flash and ambient light exposure processes.
Nikon AF DX NIKKOR 10.5mm f/2.8G ED Fixed Zoom Fisheye Lens
OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 FISHEYE PRO
Features:
- Fast and Furious Fisheye: Enjoy the unique and dramatic fisheye effect with the fast F1.8 aperture, allowing for creative depth of field control and impressive low-light performance.
- Weather-Sealed Design: Designed to withstand various weather conditions, this lens is ready to accompany you on your outdoor adventures.
- Wide Angle: Capture expansive scenes with the wide-angle perspective, providing a broader view and immersive storytelling opportunities.
- Silent Autofocus for Movie-Still Compatibility: The lens features silent autofocus, making it suitable for both movie and still photography without disrupting the audio recording.
- Minimum Working Distance: Get up close and personal with your subjects, thanks to the minimum working distance of 2.5cm from the end of the lens.
OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 FISHEYE PRO
Sony SAL-16F28 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens
Features:
- Unique photographic perspective: The 16mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8 fisheye lens delivers expansive images with a distinct wide-angle view and curvilinear perspective.
- Corner-to-corner sharpness: Enjoy exceptional image sharpness from edge to edge, ensuring high-quality results.
- Extended depth of field: Capture vast vistas with everything in sharp focus, thanks to the extended depth of field even at the maximum aperture.
- Built-in filters: The lens comes with four built-in filters (Normal, 056, B12, A12), providing added convenience and creative options.
- Quick filter selection: Easily switch between different filters using the simple rotating dial for quick adjustments.
Sony SAL-16F28 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens
Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens
Features:
- Digitally optimized diagonal fisheye lens: Capture stunning images with a unique perspective and a 180-degree field of view.
- Advanced multi-layer coating technology: Minimize flare and ghosting while maintaining accurate color balance and high-definition image quality.
- Minimum shooting distance of 5.9 inches: Get up close to your subjects and achieve impressive close-up shots.
- Gelatin filter holder: Conveniently attach gelatin filters for creative effects and customization.
- Lightweight and compact design: Easy to carry and handle for on-the-go photography.
Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens
Samyang 8mm F2.8 II Fisheye Manual Focus Lens
Features:
- Ultra-wide-angle fish-eye lens: Capture expansive and distorted images with a unique perspective.
- Latest generation multi-layer anti-reflection UMC coating: Minimize flare and ghosting for superior image quality.
- Built-in petal-type lens hood: Provides additional protection and enhances contrast.
- Minimum focusing distance of 0.3m: Capture impressive close-up shots with excellent detail.
- Smooth focus ring: Enjoy precise manual focusing control for creative flexibility.
Samyang 8 mm F2.8 II Fisheye Manual Focus Lens
PANASONIC LUMIX G FISHEYE Lens, 8MM
Features:
- 180-degree diagonal angle of view for expansive and unique perspectives
- Compact and lightweight design for portability
- ED lens for enhanced image quality and reduced chromatic aberration
- Inner focus system for a long working distance and close-up capabilities
- Smooth and silent focusing for improved shooting experience
PANASONIC LUMIX G FISHEYE Lens, 8MM
Nikon AF-S FISHEYE NIKKOR 8-15mm
Features:
- Widest NIKKOR fisheye lens with zoom capability
- Capture epic 180-degree circular images and frame-filling fisheye shots
- Close focusing up to 0.5 inches for macro-style fisheye images
- Weather-sealed design for use in harsh conditions
- Suitable for still photography and video work
Nikon AF-S FISHEYE NIKKOR 8-15mm
Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD Fisheye Lens
Features:
- Ultra-wide-angle 8mm fisheye lens with exaggerated perspective
- Manual focus control for precise image capture
- 167º diagonal field-of-view for rounded images on APS-C size formats
- Hybrid aspherical elements for sharp and defined images
- Improved HD optics and super multi-layer coating to reduce flare and ghost images
- Removable petal-shaped lens hood for added convenience
Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD Fisheye Lens
Moment Fisheye Lens – 14mm 170º
Features:
- 14mm focal length with a 170º field of view for ultra-wide and immersive images
- Compatible with iPhone, Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy, and more
- Works with dual phone camera lenses for enhanced versatility
- Handmade from premium cinema-quality glass for superior optical performance
- Cinema design process adapted for mobile phone accessories
Moment Fisheye Lens – 14mm 170
Features of Fish Eye Lenses
Ultra-Wide-Angle View
The main feature of a fisheye lens is its ultra-wide-angle view. Fisheye lenses capture a far broader scene than conventional wide-angle lenses, often encompassing up to 180-degrees. This expansive view creates a strong visual impression and can add a dramatic touch to photographs.
Distinctive Distortion
Fisheye lenses are known for their distinctive distortion, often described as a ‘barrel’ or ‘bulbous’ effect. This results from the lens’s unique ability to project a hemispherical view onto a flat sensor. Straight lines not passing through the center of the image will appear curved. This distortion can provide a unique aesthetic in images, adding a surreal and dramatic touch to landscapes, architecture, and other expansive scenes.
Close Minimum Focusing Distance
Another notable feature of fisheye lenses is their short minimum focusing distance. Many fisheye lenses can focus on subjects just a few centimeters away from the lens, enabling photographers to capture detail-rich close-ups while maintaining an ultra-wide background. This characteristic is beneficial for macro photography and situations where dramatic emphasis on the subject is needed.
Depth of Field Characteristics
Fisheye lenses are known for their extensive depth of field, which is a byproduct of their short focal length. Even at wider apertures, a fisheye lens can keep a large portion of the scene in sharp focus. This makes them excellent tools for capturing sweeping landscapes or detailed interior scenes where maximum sharpness throughout the image is desired.
Lens Construction
The construction of fisheye lenses is complex and requires precision engineering. A fisheye lens typically comprises multiple lens elements, including aspherical and extra-low dispersion elements, to handle the extreme refraction of light. Some fisheye lenses also feature anti-reflective coatings to reduce flare and chromatic aberration. The lens barrel is usually designed to accommodate the bulging front element, which is characteristic of fisheye lenses.
Benefits of Using Fish Eye Lenses
Creativity and Visual Interest
Fisheye lenses can inject creativity into your photography. Their distinctive distortion can transform otherwise ordinary scenes into unique, eye-catching images. Photographers can use this distortion to their advantage, creating playful, abstract, or visually intriguing compositions that are impossible to achieve with conventional lenses.
Capturing Expansive Scenes
With their ultra-wide field of view, fisheye lenses excel at capturing expansive scenes. They’re excellent tools for landscape or cityscape photography, where the ability to encompass a vast view can portray the grandeur of nature or the breadth of urban environments. Fisheye lenses can also bring a fresh perspective to architectural photography, emphasizing the scale and complexity of structures.
Unique Perspective in Close Spaces
Fisheye lenses can produce unique perspectives in confined spaces where using a regular wide-angle lens might not be possible. For example, in interior photography, a fisheye lens can capture the entirety of a room or interior space in a single frame. This can also be a boon in nature photography, where the lens can capture sweeping vistas even in tight forest settings.
Adding Depth to Images
The large depth of field provided by fisheye lenses can add a sense of depth to your images. By keeping the foreground and background in sharp focus, fisheye lenses can create a feeling of “being there” in the viewer, making your images more immersive.
Inexpensive Alternative for Wide Angle Photography
While wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses can be costly, fisheye lenses often come at a fraction of the price. This makes them an affordable option for photographers experimenting with wide-angle photography. While the fisheye look might not be suitable for every scene or genre, these lenses offer an exciting entry point into wide-angle photography, allowing one to capture unique images without investing heavily.
Boosting Business Image Quality
The usage of fisheye lenses is not limited to personal photography alone. Businesses that use visual content can greatly benefit from their distinct capabilities.
Delivering Impactful Marketing Imagery
Marketing often thrives on standing out from the competition. Using fisheye lenses can give your brand a creative edge, making promotional images pop with their unique perspective. For businesses in the real estate or hotel industry, this can be particularly useful as fisheye lenses can capture the full extent of property interiors or room spaces.
Making your Event Coverage Stand Out
Event photographers can use fisheye lenses to get comprehensive crowd shots or venue images, adding an engaging depth to their coverage. The wide field of view and distinctive look of fisheye photos can create a comprehensive and visually captivating story of an event.
Enhancing Product Photography
In product photography, using a fisheye lens can emphasize the product, especially if it’s a larger object or an assembly, as the lens will keep both the product and its environment in sharp focus.
The notable benefits of using fisheye lenses for businesses include:
- Creating engaging visual content for marketing campaigns
- Capturing compelling interior shots for real estate or hospitality businesses
- Adding an extra dimension to event coverage with expansive crowd and venue shots
- Enhancing product photography by keeping both the product and its surroundings in sharp focus
Accessibility and Affordability
Furthermore, the affordability of fisheye lenses makes them a cost-effective choice for small businesses and freelancers looking to enhance their photography without making a significant investment. This easy accessibility of fisheye lenses coupled with their unique features allows businesses to explore new ways to convey their message, making their visual content more intriguing and impactful.
FAQs
How does a fish eye lens work?
A fisheye lens works by capturing a wide field of view up to 180 degrees, and bending or ‘distorting’ straight lines in the process. Unlike traditional lenses, which aim to reproduce the scene as faithfully as possible, a fisheye lens intentionally distorts the image to create this wide panoramic or hemispherical view.
When should I use a fish eye lens?
A fisheye lens is best used when you want to capture a wide view of a scene, such as in landscape, architecture, or interior photography. It’s also useful when you want to create unique, artistic images with exaggerated perspectives.
What are the main challenges of using a fish eye lens?
The main challenges of using a fisheye lens involve managing its distortion and composing images. Because fisheye lenses distort straight lines, they can make images seem unnatural or skewed if not used properly. Also, their ultra-wide angle of view can make it difficult to compose images, as they capture much more of the scene than typical lenses.
How can I minimize distortion when using a fish eye lens?
While the distortion from a fisheye lens can’t be entirely eliminated, you can minimize its impact by composing your shots carefully. For instance, placing the horizon line in the center of the frame can help reduce distortion. You can also use software in post-processing to correct some of the distortion.
Can I use a fish eye lens for professional photography?
Yes, fisheye lenses can be used for professional photography. While their distinctive distortion might not be suitable for all types of photography, they can be extremely effective in certain genres like landscape, architecture, and creative or abstract photography.
Image: Amazon
This article, "Fish Eye Lens: Options for Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends
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