DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

The weird new Canon RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L dual fisheye lens lets you shoot 3D 180° VR video

Oct 6, 2021 by John Aldred 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

So Canon has announced a weird but fascinating new RF 5.2mm f/2.8 fisheye lens for the Canon EOS R mirrorless system. It’s weird (but fascinating) because it’s not your typical camera lens. It’s not even your typical fisheye lens. Oh no, this one’s a dual fisheye lens for shooting 3D 180° VR video and photos.

At $2,000, though, it’s not inexpensive, by any means, but I guess now we know why the EOS R5 shoots 8K!

The lens does, naturally, look quite odd. It contains two lenses, each one being a 5.2mm f/2.8L lens that contains, apparently, 10 elements in 12 groups (not sure how that works). The lenses both have a 190° field of view in both the X and Y axes and being slightly apart from each other (similar to the distance between human eyes) allows us to capture a stereoscopic view of the world in front of us that we then have some freedom to look around in post.

The wide f/2.8 aperture stops down to a minimum of f/16, thanks to 7 aperture blades. The closest focus distance is a mere 20cm away, although I expect it’ll hit infinity not too far away from that minimum focus distance and the whole world will be in focus. There’s no control ring, no stabilisation, and using filters is going to be difficult, although there is a rear 35x20mm gel filter slot if you really want to add some ND. You’re not going to get a standard polariser on this lens, though.

Canon says that it’s designed specifically for the Canon EOS R5 as part of the “EOS VR” system, and a future firmware update for the EOS R5 is on the way to support the use of this lens for VR shooting. They’re also releasing new Canon EOS VR software (presumably for the desktop and not a smartphone app) for converting and processing the VR footage.

Of course, to fully enjoy the full stereoscopic 180° VR experience, you’re going to need a VR headset – Canon recommends the Oculus Quest 2, but I expect many phones in Google Cardboard would work just as well, as they do with so much other 3D 180° VR footage. The bad news, though, is that Canon says these will be available on a paid subscription model – which isn’t going to sit well with people who’ve just forked over six grand for this lens and an EOS R5. The other bad news is that there’s no mention of DaVinci Resolve. So, it looks like you’re stuck with Adobe’s ecosystem.

The Canon RF 5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye lens is available to pre-order now for $1,999 and is scheduled to start shipping in late December. The Canon EOS VR software as well as an EOS VR plugin for Premiere Pro are also expected to be released in December.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Meike announces a 180° 6-11mm f/3.5 fisheye lens for Nikon & Canon DSLRs Pergear’s APS-C 10mm f/8 Fisheye lens is basically an $80 lens cap you can shoot photos with Dual lenses accessories are coming to dual camera iPhones Google unveils a pair of 3D 180° point & shoot VR cameras by YI and Lenovo

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: 5.2mm f/2.8, augmented reality, Canon EOS VR, Gear Announcement, stereoscopic, vr

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« This Kodak Memory grey scale printer fits in the palm of your hand
Lighting setup: How to use colour gels outdoors »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy