Who Still Uses a Fish-Eye Lens?

[Al Kaplan]

Back in the late sixties and early seventies Fish-Eye lenses were all the rage. Is anyone using them these days?

 

[JeremyLangford]

I use a Minolta 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye all the time. I bought it off ebay for $240 to use on my Minolta SRT-101 and I love it.

 

[Svitantti]

I like Zenitar, but I dont currently have it. Planning to get a Pentax SLR again and maybe a Zenitar sometime.

It is funny but not for everyday use I guess.

 

[Solinar]

I've noticed that Raid has numerous images posted in his gallery that were taken with what I believe is a Canon FD 7.5mm lens.

 

[raid]

Yes, I have returned to using the circular fish-eye Canon FD 7.5mm 5.6 SSC. It can be a boring experience but it also can be quite challenging not to ned up with boring looking images with such a lens. The trickis to be highly selective.

Here, I saw the world as round, and the round image looked pleasing to my eyes. It is not for everyone.

 

[raid]

Crops are possible.

 

[capitalK]

I have a Zenitar 16mm in Canon EF mount. Never use it because I no longer have a film body and I don't like it cropped. On my 1D it's not so bad but on the Rebel XT it's barely even a fish anymore.

 

[Avotius]

My girlfriend's only lens is a Canon 15 f2.8 fisheye, I have played with it a few times, its a fantastic lens. I would like to try using it on a shoot one day, but until then I cant get my hands on it, just like she cant get her hands on my M6! 🙂

 

[Spyderman]

I've got a Zenitar converted to OM mount.

A fish eye can be interesting but only when used reasonably i.e. not too often.

 

[maddoc]

I have never used one and won't do so. Same with special effect filters, polarizer etc...

 

[furcafe]

Based on flickr, yes.

Back in the late sixties and early seventies Fish-Eye lenses were all the rage. Is anyone using them these days?

 

[charjohncarter]

I mounted the Zenitar on my Leica IIIf, no finder but it works. Sorry, this is Arista EDU 100, I film I have never achieved a rapport with:

 

[ZorkiKat]

Another vote for the Zenitar 16mm. It's often on, what else, a Zenit. And then a Praktica (before the shutter broke), and now on a Pentax Spotmatic. I would have wanted to use it on DSLRs and even LTM rangefinders with an M42 to LTM39 adapter, but the lack of an A/M switch prevents this.

As others have said earlier, the lens can be 'cute' and intriguing to use. THere is a tendency to overuse it. And there are very few instances where its use can really be justified. Otherwise, as it often happens, any picture taken through it becomes a picture of a fish-eye lens. It's like having the flute get in the way of the music....

 

[BTMarcais]

Pentax 10-17 fisheye for my digital.
It does make you think and shoot differently, at least if you want a decent image out of it.
It's not for everyone.... and it's definitely not for every shot either! But it can be a lot of fun.

 

[Justin Smith]

I've got a first generation Lomo Fisheye that my wife gave me for Valentine's Day 2 or 3 years ago. It's fun for playing around (especially on vacation), but I don't that I have put more than 5 rolls through it.

 

[notraces]

I love mine -- when I get the chance to use it -- the Canon 15mm fisheye is wonderful.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2979378972_c6f48e925e_o.jpg

 

[Al Kaplan]

I still haven't got the knack for posting pix here on RFF. The one I reaally like and wanted to post is on my blog http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com It's posted in March 2009 and titled "If Smiles Could Smile ~ Marilyn Davis". I've always loved the lower of the two photos! The smile is priceless and the position of the rubber balls is perfect.

The tech details are in the blog post.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Al, to copy post those photos, right click on the photos from your blog. Then click on 'copy image location'. Then type "

. I tried it and it worked. (deleted the test posts though).

 

[Spyderman]

Another vote for the Zenitar 16mm. It's often on, what else, a Zenit. And then a Praktica (before the shutter broke), and now on a Pentax Spotmatic. I would have wanted to use it on DSLRs and even LTM rangefinders with an M42 to LTM39 adapter, but the lack of an A/M switch prevents this.

Jay, I can't believe you wrote this, because Zenitar is just sooo easy to convert to manual aperture...

 

[Leica All Day]

Hey Al, whats up......I actually put my 15mm vc on my m6 today because I realized that I have been neglecting it lately.... I had to trek across Bangkok earlier today and I decided that the 15mm was going to be used....I usually leave the house with just one body and one lens when I am cruising around town and for some reason, I decided on using the 15mm today....When I am out on photo missions I always take it with me and generally have pretty good results with it when I use it......It is the only 15mm that I have ever used and there was a learning curve when I first got it, but I like the results that it produces.....I should use it more...unfortunately, these are the only scanned images that I have.....(these have been posted before)...

Kathmandu, Nepal

Calcutta, India

I really need to buy a scanner..........cheers, michael