Good, Cheap Fisheye Lens

[ni_gentry]

I know good & cheap don't go hand-in-hand, but I'm interested in good "enough" for a fisheye lens. <p>

Any recommendations for a decent quality, fisheye for Canon at maybe $300 or less?

[jaco_pastorious]

I'm satisfied with the Peleng fisheye, search for a review, lots of flare (of course), not too sharp wide open, good lens for the money in my opinion, I think I paid $400 or so new on ebay

[John Crowe]

The fisheye that creates a circular image with a diameter of approximately 23mm or a full frame fisheye with 180 degrees corner to corner and is usually a 15 or 16mm lens?

[JosvanEekelen]

Peleng 8 mm f/3.5 is well within your price range. Do a google search, it is not the best fisheye but decent. I bought one a couple of months ago and I'm quite happy with it. A 2nd hand Sigma or Canon may be an alternative as well.

[JosvanEekelen]

Just checked the price, I paid EUR 240 (USD 320) for the Peleng, with Canon EOS adapter.

[ni_gentry]

Anyone try the Zenitar 15mm? Any good? Know of a place to get one besides eb_y?

[PuppyDigs]

There's the Tokina Zoom Fisheye 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5. It ain't cheap at $560 but they say it's

pretty good and has AF. It's the same as the Pentax design.

[mark u]

This thread discusses the Zenitar:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EdqK

[rainer_t]

I have (and use) both, the Zenitar 16/2.8, as well as the Peleng 8/3.5.

 

Both of them really want to be stopped down to f/5.6 or f/8 for acceptable quality. The 16/2.8 is about 100euros, and the Peleng slightly above 200euros on E*ay.

 

Appended a small comparison of different focal lengths ... (on a crop 1.6 camera)

 

xxR means xx mm rectilinear, xxF_f means xx mm fisheye (uncorrected),

xxF_R means xx mm fisheye (corrected to rectilinear).

 

I personally find both lenses are certainly worth their price. I would recommend the Zenitar for film (or fullframe) and the Peleng for crop.<div></div>

[jimstrutz]

Ni, I have a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 with Pentax M42 thread mount and a Canon adapter. It was great with a full frame camera, but I no longer use it since switching to the 20D sized sensor. It's not fishy enough for me unless using it with a full frame camera.

 

If you want it, it's $100 delivered to any place in the USA.

[bobatkins]

As others suggest, The Peleng if you want a really serious fisheye effect and the Zenitar if you want something milder.

 

See http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/wide-angle-lenses-2.html for some comments on their use on digital cameras and some sample image.

 

See http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/fisheye.html for some comments and sample images with the Zenitar on a full frame 35mm camera.

 

I'd say the Zenitar 16mm is probably a more generally useful lens on an APS-C DSLR, though the cropped sensor lessens the fisheye effect. The Peleng 8mm gives a much more dramatic image, probably too dramatic for most normal uses. A little fisheye goes a long way!

[dogbert]

I use the Zenitar too, on a film camera. Its great value, well built like the lenses of old and fine provided you stop down a bit. It is not that exciting on a 1.6 crop camera. I have some shots taken with it, down the bottom in my portfolio.