New fisheye canon lens

hrsa

Hi!
I've been thinking of buying a new lens. Stopped at a Sigma 10mm f/2.8 fisheye for Canon.
Have anyone already used it? There are no reviews on the internet...
Is it worth buying?

hrsa

Frankly speaking, i can't make up my mind between these lens, which is specially made for cropped cameras, and waiting for Canon 5D MkII so i would buy a native Canon fisheye lens.
So, what do you think?

ziggy53

If you want a "circular fisheye" effect then you must buy for the intended format. A full-frame circular format fisheye lens will be cropped pretty tightly on a crop 1.5x/1.6x imager and may not be that much different in visual distortion from a superwide lens native to the format.

If you want a bargain fisheye lens, look at the Peleng 8mm, f3.5. It is a circular full-frame format that is still very wide, and fairly distorted, on a crop camera.

http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/stuff/peleng_fisheye/peleng_fisheye.html

Be aware that the rear element may not work with the Canon 5D because it has a very large mirror that will probably conflict when the lens is used at infinity focus.

BTW, here is a review on the Sigma 10mm, F2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM:

http://www.popphoto.com/lensreview/sigma-10mm_f2.8_ex_dc_fisheye_hsm.html

hrsa

Thanks for the links! Still, this review doesn't give any more information than the one on Sigma's web site... i'm looking for some users' experience.
Sigma 10mm is a diagonal fisheye, so it's like a "cropped" version of normal one. I just don't know what would be better to choose - this one, or (in a couple of months) - a new canon body with a canon fisheye...

BTW, i've never seen really great photos made with a circular fisheye

Tee Why

My response is a no. Fisheyes are a speciality lens as as far as I know, not too commonly used except maybe in snowboarding and skateboarding pics.

I've not seen any reviews of the Sigma. I think some have also reviewed the tokina 10-17mm fisheye though, which may be just a touch slower but probably more versatile.

If it was me, unless there is something sepcific you want with a fisheye, I'd probably go with an ultrawide lens instead.

jogle

One of my collegues did a review of the Peleng... http://www.muellerworld.com/peleng/

I've also got the 8mm sigma fisheye for the 5D. I work in the visual effects industry so we do a lot of 360 degree hdr maps. The sigma 8mm is prety much the standard.

The 8mm has A LOT less flare and a lot more contrast. which is a huge deal when you have a 180 degree field of view, it's hard enough to keep your feet out of the shot let alone your light sources.

I've also got the Zenitar 15mm fisheye that I use a lot more often for just playing around and shooting portraits. It's great for fireworks photos

http://ogle.smugmug.com/gallery/2095777_XdqbD#108144235_zDau9
http://ogle.smugmug.com/gallery/2095777_XdqbD#108138189_8rKXX

Manfr3d

Have you considered the new (and very good)
Tokina 10-17mm/3-5-4.5 Fisheye zoom? It is
designed for Crop cameras but can be mounted
on fullframe as well. On fullframe there is
only vignetting from 10-13mm. This gives
you effectively a 14-17mm filsheye zoom.

ivar

hrsa wrote:

BTW, i've never seen really great photos made with a circular fisheye

"great" is relative; I borrowed an 8mm circular fisheye (Sigma) from Schmoo when she was visiting. Click for bigger:


Maybe not 'great' but sure fun, which is also great to me. As mentioned above, it's a specialty lens and not something that would be your 'main' lens, not mine at least. Still, I loved that thing, and you can get some really fun shots with it, I think. It's on my "I want that" list for sure

hrsa

Well, tokina is generally for full-frame cameras, at least that's what they say at the site... and the distortion of sigma looks nicer. I think i'll get myself one at thursday

Manfr3d

hrsa wrote:

Well, tokina is generally for full-frame cameras, at least that's what they say at the site... and the distortion of sigma looks nicer. I think i'll get myself one at thursday

Tokina currently makes 6 crop lenses (the DX ones)
and only 2 fullframe (the AT-X ones) lenses.
http://www.tokinalens.com/products/tokina/index.html

Also the distortion on the tokina is controlled by the zoom setting. At 15mm they are both the same.

Either way you'll have fun with any fisheye, there
are almost no bad ones (except peleng and zenitar).

robscomputer

I personally love the fisheye look, I grew up watching this heavily used in skateboarding magazines and Beastie Boys videos.

That being said I would try to find a used Sigma 8mm rather than the Peleng. I have a ok copy I bought new from eBay but it's somewhat hard to get a decent image from, especially since it's manual focus. Mix in with a dim light and it's very hard to focus.

Overall in bright sunlight it's pretty decent but don't expect it to be super L quality when you view the images.

ian408

Another vote for the Sigma 8mm
Like Ivar, fun best describes it.

Hey Rob, how close to that BART train were you

robscomputer

ian408 wrote:

Another vote for the Sigma 8mm
Like Ivar, fun best describes it.

Hey Rob, how close to that BART train were you

I was actualy in the next passing train looking out. The short focal point makes everything seem strange. I would love to try out a autofocus fisheye.

jogle

They make for some fun portraits too (sigma 8mm on a 5D)

http://www.ogle.co.nz/gallery/3417554_3YNfu#212548384_fqj9z

ian408

robscomputer wrote:

I was actualy in the next passing train looking out. The short focal point makes everything seem strange. I would love to try out a autofocus fisheye.

Ah! That 'splains it.

Get yer hooligan bike and let's go riding (with cameras).

Photoskipper

Fish eye lens will be the last lens that I need to complete my lens collection.
Looking back for the few decades photo experience, I got very rare chance to think of fish eye lenses. (may be I am not a fish)
If you have extra money, just get a ultra wide angles lens or fast prime lens which will give you more chance to use and more fun.

hrsa

Finally, got myself a sigma 10mm f/2.8 fisheye.

At first i was a bit doubtful, but now i can say - i truly love it!
Here is a photo:

Manfr3d

Looks great! I suggest watching some Busta Rhymes videos on you tube for additional inspiration as well

ian408

hrsa wrote:

Finally, got myself a sigma 10mm f/2.8 fisheye.

At first i was a bit doubtful, but now i can say - i truly love it!
Here is a photo:

Nice car.