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A New Lens - Anyone Know Anything About It?

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Author Topic: A New Lens - Anyone Know Anything About It?  (Read 556 times)
markt
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« on: October 11, 2009, 11:40:44 am »

Hi Guys,

I'm selling a load of my junk on ebay at the moment, which means my paypal account is twitching to buy something - I fancy a new lens for my camera (350D) and wondered what you guys thought...

Currently I have a Sigma 10-20mm which I love!  Lovely wide field of view but f4-5.6.  I have a sigma 18-50 f2.8 which I love for taking NLC and low light shots, a 28-135mm and the trusty 70-300mm.  Now, the 28-135 is one of those middle of nowhere lenses as far as i'm concerned - when it comes down to it I always want a wider fov or a longer focal length - so the 28-135mm is going to go off to EBay to help my paypal account grow!

I've always wanted a fisheye lens, for landscapes and also NLC, Aurora, milky way type shots.  Now there's 2 sorts - the 'true' fisheyes, which give the circular 180deg fov and the ones that give the rectangular pics with the diagonal 180deg fov.  Now i'd love the true fisheye, but the 8mm f3.5 sigma is currently a monster £715 - now if I had this money to spend i'm afraid the lens would realistically be about number 212 on the priority list...

Now like I said, i'm perusing the ebay and there are a number of cheaper 'bobby no name' fisheyes on there, namely

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Falcon-8mm-fisheye-lens-for-Canon_W0QQitemZ280405889661QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item41497e527d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Samyang-8mm-8-3-5-IF-MC-Aspherical-Fish-eye-Canon_W0QQitemZ220489772271QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item335636ecef&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Doing a little research on old t'internet it seems despite different branding these are one and the same lens, and while there's not a huge amount of info on them what there  is is favourable.  Now I know quality wise it isn't going to be in the same league as the sigma and there will be more chromatic aberation etc, but tbh, i'm tempted by one of these...  I've said before I think, i'm off to Iceland for the week in february where clear skies permitting I shall be hunting aurora.  I've always found I want that bit more fov than the 10-20mm allows me... ( My brother is coming with me with his 450D so safe to say aurora wise he'll be borrowing the 10-20!) - I reckon one of these cheapo fisheyes may do the aurora job pretty darn well, plus will be good for those snowy volcanic landscapes!

Anybody heard anything about these fisheyes?  Roll Eyes

Mark.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2009, 11:42:34 am by markt » Report Spam   Logged

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Paul
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« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2009, 12:44:05 pm »

I don't know the specific model Mark, but 8mm will give a circular image on a full frame camera, or of course film, and it will give an enlarged circle with corners missing on an APS-C sensor. Due to the lack of rectilinear correction it will give a much wider view than your 10mm - way more than the 2mm difference would suggest.

Samyang always used to be Korean manufactured, sold in the UK under the "Sirius" name and were generally at the lower end qualitywise, though they made some interesting lenses - I used to have an 18-28mm lens of theirs which was pretty OK when stopped down a bit.

You'll have to be careful to keep your feet out of shot Smiley
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JohnC
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« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2009, 07:05:50 pm »

Mark - my storm chase friend in the US has recently bought the Canon 15mm  fisheye and he's sent me some photos - it's a great lens. It's worth looking at, at least you can consider it, it's about £500 but it's quality.

http://photo.net/equipment/canon/15-fisheye

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-15mm-f-2.8-Fisheye-Lens-Review.aspx

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=26&sort=7&cat=2&page=1



When I've got the rest of the equipment I want, I'll get this as a fun lens.
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Paul
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« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2009, 08:59:20 pm »

Your other possibility of course is a Russian Peleng. Apparently pretty good though totally manual and not as cheap as they once were.
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Paul
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« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2009, 08:58:11 pm »

And as luck would have it, just having had a look, and being off with the lurgy, I successfully bid on a Sony mounted Peleng, so I should be able to tell you all about it any day now Smiley

Paul.
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markt
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« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2009, 10:03:38 pm »

I look forward to reading your appraisal of it Paul Smiley
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Paul
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« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2009, 01:31:11 pm »

I have it! The fun begins here.....





Looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun with this! Of course what we really need is a meteor shower,and there's one tonight as it happens Smiley

Looks to be a pretty sharp lens though a bit of flare around the outside of the frame which comes as no surprise. Aperture and focus are both manual, though frankly there's not much need to focus an 8mm lens, such is the depth of field. Camera meter seems to underexpose a couple of stops which is easily compensated for. Just have to remember to keep my feet out of shot Smiley
« Last Edit: October 21, 2009, 01:53:51 pm by Paul » Report Spam   Logged

markt
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« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2009, 07:25:27 am »

Ooooo!!!  Shocked

Now that looks exciting!  Your top image would be perfect for aurorae, meteors etc!  I spotted one of those Peleng ones on ebay and it had me wondering.  Are you using a full frame or APS-C camera with it Paul?
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Paul
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« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2009, 10:12:30 am »

That's on a Sony APS-C frame (1.5x). I popped it on a film body and it gives a complete circle with a 180 deg view all round. Of course we had total cloud cover last night so no Orionids to test it out on.

Here's another shot just down the road from me....

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markt
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« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2009, 04:17:56 pm »

I'm very much impressed by the pickies from it Paul!  It seems to give a slightly wider fov than the standard 180deg diagonal fisheyes - and extreme fov is what I want!  Have you / are you able to give an estimate of the fov it pulls in?

I take it being russian build quality is good - I had a zenit portrait lens, a 58mm f2 I think which I sold (and now regret doing so!).
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markt
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« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2009, 08:24:32 pm »

Sorry to rake up an old topic, but I was wondering Paul, a couple of months down the line if your impressions of this lens had changed at all?

February in Iceland is getting closer for me and I (good report pending) intend to get one of these for the auroras and landscapes when i'm out there...

Any further info / thoughts etc appreciated! Smiley
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