Fisheye lens

[tiffany_young1]

I currently have a canon xti and only have a a 75-300 zoom lens. I just bought

a fisheye converter lens and it is not working with my lens. Does this not

work with the zoom lenses, do I need to get a wide angle lens for this to work?

[bueh]

<blockquote><i>do I need to get a wide angle lens for this to work?</i></blockquote><p>

 

Well, yes, what did you expect?

[tiffany_young1]

Well I obviously expected it to work with my zoom lens that's why I asked.

[bueh]

Take a look at the manual. Take a look at the converter. There is a factor which will be applied to the focal length. Whether the lens works with primes only or if some zooms are okay depends on the actual converter and its design (<abbr title="read the fucking manual!">RTFM</abbr>). But you can be sure that no "fisheye" converter will work on a telephoto zoom lens.

[fmueller]

<p>The fish eye converter is meant to be used with lenses of 50mm focal length and below on a film camera (full frame). It can be nice to play with one of them for the special effects they give, but image quality is generally very low, and the effect gets boring very soon. But the latter could also be said about dedicated fish eye lenses, which can cost a small fortune. At least you haven't a lot of money if the converter starts collecting dust in a drawer. </p>

 

<p>If you want a lens wider than 75mm, I am afraid you will have to bite the bullet and buy a wider lens, not a cheap converter.</p>

 

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/3105019-md.jpg" alt="fish eye converter"></p>

 

<p><i>Taken with a cheap 0.42x fish eye adapter on a MD 28mm 2.8 lens and an old Minolta XD-7 film SLR</i></p>

[shambrick007]

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=Peleng&btnG=Google+Search

[bobatkins]

Fisheye converters which screw into the lens do not work well, especially with telephoto zooms.

<p>

If you actually want a real fisheye lens and don't want to pay Canon's price, look for an <a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/wide-angle-lenses-2.html"> 8mm Peleng for EOS </a>, but you'll still have to pay around $350 for it.

<p>

If you're happy with somewhat soft images, try your converter on something like a 28mm, 35mm or 50mm lens.

[tiffany_young1]

Thank you guys so much for your help

[anson_ko]

I have the 8mm f3.5 sigma . absolutely amazing effect. Printed on a 11x18 with acceptable image. Anything large, maybe not.

[tiffany_young1]

do you think the 18-55mm canon lens would work?

[bueh]

Tiffany, it doesn't matter what we think. Check the specs for your converter or ask the manufacturer. At the very least you could give us a hint which converter you have, maybe someone else has it and can share his/her experiences.

[tiffany_young1]

Opteka .38x HD? Super Wide Angle Panoramic Macro Fisheye Lens for Canon EOS / EF

This is the converter lens I have

[bueh]

An <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R341C9IXIJPC5L/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm/">Amazon review</a></b> notes that it the works on the kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6). But since you can find hardly any <b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/optekafisheye/">pictures</a></b> online that were made with it, I guess the image quality must be very disappointing.

[mike_young1]

Tiffany, Take a look at the 16mm f2.8 Russion Zenitar. Mr Atkins wrote a review of it on this site. http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/fisheye.html

I purchased one for my 5D and it works as advertised. I paid about $125.00 as I remember.

good luck mike

[mike_young1]

See attached sample shot I found. Mike<div></div>

[stillbound]

I personally think the tokina 10 - 17 is about the coolest thing for fisheye wanting 1.6 folks...

great image quality and a super close focusing distance make for a lot of fun shooting...

JC

[rainer_t]

-- "do you think the 18-55mm canon lens would work?"

 

-- "Opteka .38x HD?"

 

To have 180 degrees over the diagonal, you need a lens with non-rectilinear projection and a focal length of about 10mm.

 

You have the kit and a 0.38x converter. So the kitlens set to 26mm

along with the converter will result in a 26*0.38=10mm lens.

The converter will also care for the projection (to a certain extend).

 

It's also simple mathematics, why such a converter cannot work with

a tele-lens ... 75mm*038=28mm ... that is simply way too much to

produce any fisheye-like effect ... especially on a crop-1.6 camera.

 

My guess is ... yes, this converter will work with the kit lens ... but my guess is also ... you'll be disappointed. If you want to enter the fisheye-domain on a budget ... have a look on the 8mm/3.5 Peleng.

[kari v]

8mm Peleng is great fun. It can be a little scary at first if you're not accustomed to such design and manual focusing... but then again who needs AF with 8mm anyway?

And if you wan't to go seriously fishy just buy a cheap 35mm film body and enjoy almost complete circular vision. :)

[w_t1]

I haven't done it in a few years, and don't know if they still make them, but the Legg's brand pantyhose used to come in a silver egg case that was a great portable fisheye effect...with the photog and lens in the pic, of course. Took some film pics in Banff and various places and get lots of comments about them, took it cycling and backpacking. If it doesn't work you get a free pair of pantyhose, or in my case the gf did. Tom

[carnagex_carnagex]

I actually had decent success with a Fisheye adapter on a Canon 5D, although not the

cheap kind of Fisheye lens. I used a Canon 28mm 2.8 lens, a 52 to 28 step down ring and

a Nikon FC-E8 Fisheye lens.

<img

src="http://homepage.mac.com/summergirl007/.Pictures/Jerry%20/MISC%20/5D%20fishe

ye/CIMG0194.jpg">

<img

src="http://homepage.mac.com/summergirl007/.Pictures/Jerry%20/MISC%20/5D%20fishe

ye/CIMG0198.jpg">

<img

src="http://homepage.mac.com/summergirl007/.Pictures/Jerry%20/MISC%20/5D%20fishe

ye/IMG_0044.jpg">

[todd_masters]

If you go to those links posted above on <a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/fisheye.html" target="_blank">Bob's site</a> you will see <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130170643443" target="_blank">my Zenitar</a> lens for sale down at the bottom. Don't buy a converter, not worth it, just buy a decent fish-eye so your pictures come out good enough to print. If you have skills like carnagex you could geek your way through it, but he seems to be a bit more advanced than most newbies in this area. It will be cheaper to buy one of the fisheyes mentioned so far. I had a lot of fun with mine and you would too. Screw on novelty lenses are just that, a novelty - pics come out fuzzy and are only good for emailing if even that.

[tiffany_young1]

Well I have already purchased this lens and I'm only using it for fun effects, so I'm just looking for advice on how to make the best of what I already have and not pay for another one. Thank you

[w_t1]

Carnagex, way cool. I have that same nikon fisheye, i will look into that...gotta be better quality than what i get on a 2mp nikon 950

[shambrick007]

I've been trying to do what Carnagex has done, but my only problem is that I don't want to pay what the FC-E8 has been going for on ebay. I'd figure that all the Nikon point-and-shoots that it was designed for would be long dead by now...

[w_t1]

Sheldon, not true regarding "long dead by now". Check KEH and ebay of course, the 950 has a reputation for infrared, not sure about the 990 and 4500 etc. I got my FC-E8 a couple years agon on ebay, a mint 950 plus all three of the accessory lenses in mint condition, the wide, the tele, and the fisheye, all for about 180, which at the time i believe was what B&H was asking for the FC-E8 new. Great fun with infrared (28mm filter from Harrison), and if I can find a 52-28 step down ring like Carnagex, I'll be trying on slr. Tom