Fisheye in Weddings

<p>Hi, I have been shooting weddings in Sydney, Australia for the last 2.5 years and I was curious if a fisheye lens ( I have Zenitar 16mm fishey on my mind) can be used sucessfully in weddings. I have seen a few great wedding photos done with fisheye, but if you are shooting weddings and own a fisheye, do you use it quite regularly? <br>

I just acquired a vintage Canon 1D MkII and I can now finally explore the wider side and Zenit is the cheapest and surprisingly good ( according to most reviews i have read ) and its easy to justify its cost.<br>

If any fellow photo.netter has been using fisheye ( esp. Zenit ) to get some visually striking photographs, I would like to request you to kindly share with us and also the idea behind the shot. <br>

Thank you.</p>

<p>Sorry, my response isn't the one you're looking for. I don't own a fisheye. I do own an ultawide non-fisheye (the Sigma 10-20 = 15-30 FF on my Pentax 1.5x crop factor cameras). I use the 10-20 very sparingly, mainly for photos of the congregation in the church. I've tried using it a couple times for close-up photos, at receptions, etc. NOT a good lens choice for use up close, unless you're trying to make people look fat. I keep thinking I might use it inside the limo, but I've not tried that yet.</p>

<p>Now, I can imagine using a fish-eye lens at a wedding. I think I've actually seen a photo of the bride and groom with the wedding party around them, where the photographer was apparently down on his knees and looking up. It was a cute effect—for ONE shot. That's about it.</p>

<p>I'll be interested to hear from others myself.</p>

<p>A few uses I can think of: 1) A super wide of the church; 2) The guys being cool; 3) Everybody having fun at the reception; 4) Kids up close.</p><div></div>

<p>I use a fisheye at almost all weddings. Sometimes I find a good use for it for the bride's getting ready shots, and almost always for table shots at the reception. I just hold it over the middle of the table and tell everyone to "Look up." Like Matthew K, above, I do sometimes use it during the ceremony for ambiance shots of the church interior, bu mostly I find it to be a "fun" lens and try to use it in fun places. I'll often be laying on the floor, or standing on a chair with it to get that really unique perspective only a fisheye can deliver.</p>

<p>I also have a wide rectilinear zoom, and use it as well for some things, but the fisheye gets far more comments with oohs & aahs attached to them. Like any lens you have to look for situations that call for a fisheye, and then use it to it's best advantage. That, and accept the fact it is limited use lens, so use it in a limited way.</p>

<p>I wouldn't consider a 16mm on a 1D Mark II a fisheye? With the crop factor it's a 20mm equiv. If you want a true fisheye I would stick to the 10-12mm range. Aside from that, with a wider wide angle or fisheye lens you'll find it best used during the reception, at least I do.</p>

<p>A rectinlinear ultra-wide (14mm) can be used to good effect, particularly for interior shots. But I haven't seen a convincing use of a fisheye (<=10mm) in a wedding. Its obvious characteristics tend to dominate the image.</p>

<p>Any lens can be used at a wedding, providing you are trying to get any effect and a great photo that will come out of it's use. The photo of the church above is great and a proper use of a fisheye. I'm sure there are many more that can be done with that lens.</p>

<p>Check David Ziser's images. He often uses a fish-eye, but again, only for specific reasons. </p>

<p>I been using fisheye at weddings for a while, it's great. And ya, on a crop sensor you're definitely going to want something around 10mm.<br>

<img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k21/Jazzhoodlum/_DSC0079.jpg" alt="" /><img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k21/Jazzhoodlum/_DSC0132-1.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I love any lens other than my 17-55 (24-70)! I use the 17-55 more than any other single lens, but that is my "normal" lens. I want to bring a different perspective to the image. I waited until this year to buy a fisheye and I regret it. It only gets pulled out maybe two or three times at a wedding (wide church, wide reception, maybe one "funny" shot), but everyone just loves the shot, it's different. This image was used as the background page in a 24x12 album.</p><div></div>

<p>There are no fish-eyes made specifically for a 1.3x crop factor. However do check out Tokina 10-17. It's a zooming fish-eye. I use mine with 1.6x crop gear. I've mounted it on my film body and looking through the viewfinder I get quite a bit of coverage - close to circular at 10 mm and diagonal coverage at 15 mm or so. I haven't actually shot any film with it, but those who have done so say that there's a little bit of vignetting that you can't see though the viewfinder. As such I think this lens might just work with 1.3x gear to give you full 180 deg coverage.</p>

<p>i have yet to see a good fisheye wedding pic...most photographers just use them cuz it is not something brides can do with their point and shoot so they go all oooohh and aaaaahhhh..</p>

<p>but most of those shots would have been better if the photographer simply used a wide angle, the distortion caused by the fisheye is simply distracting..</p>

<p>but hey... whatever sells right...</p>

<p>It is especially helpful for the album design. It is a nice, wide 2-page spread. So, the outside of the church is captured, and makes a good background for other pictures in the final album layout.</p>

<p>Agree with Mark. Nothing against anyone who likes a fisheye (hey, it's good we're all different) but I'm not a fan. The examples on this page do nothing for me, except remind me why I don't want one.</p>

<p>I prefer to use an ultrawide over a fisheye. I think maybe the only time I would maybe use it, is like the first shot of the church, or if a customer requests some. I don't have one, just because I prefer to carry as little as possible, and am not a huge fan. If I need one, I'd rather just rent it when the need arises.</p>

<p>I use the Tokina 10-17 on a Canon 40D or 7D. At 10 it does give the fisheye effect and at 17 it's very usable with little distortion, especially at the reception when using a flash.<br /><br />Can't overuse that fisheye effect though. About 1 or 2 shots per wedding slide-show/album. Much more than that and it starts to smell like that fish has been left out in the warm air too long. The last wedding we shot it never came out of the bag.</p>

I pretty much use a fisheye at every wedding. Its actually my favorite lens, because of the creative captures you can get. It of course has it's limits so I usually only take about 10 to 15 shots with it per wedding.

 

You have to be careful with this lens, as well as with any wide angle lens, because people can get distorted, in an unflattering way.

<p>It might be good for a novelty shot, but I would not use it regularly. If you have to get really wide, I would use a 20mm or 24mm (on 35mm or FX) that is rectilinear, rather than a fisheye. Plus that Zenit 16mm f/2.8 fisheye does rather poorly in the corners and has problems with flare and ghosting.</p>

<p>I think the following are great examples of a fisheye for a wedding, provided the surroundings are interesting:<br>

www.flickr.com/search/?q=samyang+wedding&w=12219484%40N07<br>

or www.flickr.com/photos/paw_con/sets/72157612448036772/<br>

The Samyang 8mm is a great lens in my own experience, and its projection is less bulging than typical fisheyes. Its distortion is much more kind to people's faces than the edges of my 20mm on full frame.</p>

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<p><strong>if you are shooting weddings and own a fisheye, do you use it quite regularly? </strong></p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Yes. I use the Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye on an EOS 5D. I almost always would use it to to capture the bouquet and garter toss. The bride and other's love the stop motion sequence from the toss to the catcher and their reaction. All captured in a matter of seconds on continuous drive mode.<strong><br /></strong></p>

<p>I like this one from a wedding last year, but not everyone will like fisheye photos. To each his own.</p><div></div>

<p>I use a Tokina 10-17 FE on a D300s. Great lens.</p>

<p>Here is one from this past W/ends E-session...</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for so such great participation. Loved that Church shot Matthew and Bride getting ready with the girls is great fun shot to have in the album.<br>

But I do agree....too many fisheye shots and wedding album will start to stink like fish...lol. <br>

I also was amazed to see really nice fisheye shots by paw_con on his flickr page...thanks for posting the link mate. That gave me some really good idea about what can be achieved with a fisheye..but 8mm fisheye is too wide for me. <br>

I will stick with cheap 16mm zenitar ...and although the effect wont be as pronounced,20mm is pretty wide for me.<br>

Thank you all again for such good participation.</p>

<p>Fisheye can be a fun lens to use in crowded/upclose situations too ... getting ready.</p><div></div>

<p>Works great in the right conditions (like churches, as mentioned by others):<br>

<img src="http://www.resolutionplan.com/Joey/Mar13_10/MattKim-0281_photonet.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>There are also plenty of other situations where a fisheye works well...<br>

<img src="http://www.resolutionplan.com/Joey/Jan30_10/IMG_0715_Photonet.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>and many situations where it simply should not be used. I have tried it plenty in those places too, and I just don't like the effect.</p>