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A hands on first impression with the $139 7artisans 7.5mm F2.8 APS-C Fisheye Lens

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I held the curiosity of having a fisheye lens in my camera bag since I first used the Nikon 10.5mm APS-C Fisheye. Though fisheye lenses serve a very niche market, it’s a fun lens to have and most of those lenses are not that big or heavy to bother your shoulders.

There are reasonable alternatives available in CaNikon world, but since I shifted to Fujifilm, the only highly reviewed option I could find was Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye, which I did go to purchase but (un)fortunately only the demo piece was available in stock and the seller did not agree on any discount for that lens.

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Nikon 14mm vs Nikon 16mm Fisheye + Lens Correction

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I have been using both the Nikon 14mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 16mm f/2.8 fisheye for a while now, and I have been noticing that the images from the 14mm are very very similar to the images from the 16mm fisheye after a lens correction has been applied.

Of course, there is one very big difference between these two lenses: the Nikon AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8 ED lens costs $1891.95…while the Nikon AF Fisheye Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D lists for $996.95 – so the big question is: is the 14mm f/2.8 really worth nearly a grand more than the fisheye?

In this article I will post a few sample photos along with my thoughts on the differences and similarities of the Nikon 14mm f/2.8 vs the Nikon 16mm f/2.8 fisheye.[Read More…]

This 250° fisheye lens is so wide it can almost see behind itself

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Entaniya’s fisheye lenses for GoPro cameras have proven to be quite popular since they were initially released. They led to the creation of something Entaniya calls “One Shot VR“. This is essentially footage shot with a single 250° fisheye lens and then mapped into a VR sphere. It doesn’t contain the complete surroundings, but as long as you don’t need to look directly behind you, it does a pretty good job.

Now, Entaniya have scaled up the lens and announced the new Fisheye 250 for micro four thirds cameras. This allows you a much higher degree of control over your fisheye video footage, as well as the ability to shoot raw stills. It’s quite a large lens, weighing in at 1.6kg, but it still weighs a lot less than Nikon’s legendary 6mm f/2.8 which only offered a mere 220° field of view.

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Meet Facebook’s futuristic-looking 360º virtual reality camera

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Some might pass virtual reality off as nothing more than a fad, much like 3D televisions that left the world almost as quickly as they came into it, but the reality is, it’s here to stay.

Nokia, Lytro, Google and Facebook have all dipped their toes into the metaphorical pool, and with the amount of R&D going into it, it’s safe to say virtual reality has plenty of room and capital for growth.

Today, Facebook unveiled the next component in its virtual reality endeavors, the Surround 360, an open source 360-degree video camera designed to capture immersive VR content.[Read More…]

A DIY Guide For Fixing The Rokinon/Samyang MFT Fisheye Focus Issue

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The internet has quite a bit of reports that the Rokinon/Samyang/Walimex MFT Fisheye has some issues with its focus scale. The reports range from the annoying”Infinity is at the 0.5ft mark” all the way up to “not focusing to infinity at all“. My lens had the latter issue. That’s why I started to look around the net for a solution. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a real tip on how to fix it. The only hint I got was from the rear lens element becoming loose on some lenses.

In fact, the rear lens element was also the issue of my not focusing to infinity problem. I was able to fix it by unscrewing it a bit. Here is a DIY guide on how to fix your lens in case you have focus issues as well. (of course, this is all very informational, if you end up bricking your lens by following this guide, we are not taking any blame for it)

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Homestar Runner Returns With Ridiculous Rap Video Parody Paying Homage To Fisheye Lenses

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Fans of the cult classic internet cartoon, Homestar Runner were delighted to discover the creators have posted a new episode after having been on a long hiatus. The cartoon, known for its pure randomness and quirky flash animation, held true to its roots, this time with a hilarious rap video parody that pokes fun at over used fisheye shots.

The video is part “tutorial” with verses like “Put the camera on the ground and aim it up // make my kicks look huge and my crew look tough” and partially “behind the scenes” footage that will have you nodding and rapping along with the Strongbad posse…”Once you use the fisheye you just can’t stop // it used to be expensive, but then the price dropped.”[Read More…]

Recycling Project – A Broken Glass To A Fisheye Lens

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UPDATE: Pat Joyce jest released a complete set of instructions for this mod.

It happened to all of us. At one point or another our beloved glass falls on the floor and dies. (Yes, by glass I mean lens – we’re trying some hard photo talk here on DIYP).

If you had a UV or Haze filter on the lens glass, you may have protected it from any minor damage. If you tried some camera tossing and missed, you’d better collect your insurance money. Or waitaminute. As Miracle Max would say the lens may only be mostly dead.

Pat Joyce came up with a neat way to convert that broken glass into a fisheye lens (ok, ok, you can buy one if you don’t want to hack it).
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