Micro 4/3 The Fisheye Question

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Hai. I have been inspired by an idea for a personal project that got me excited to try for the next 6 months, it came about from this:

I know I have a suspicious reputation when it comes to memes.

Anywho. The idea is to have a set of pictures of doggooo noses at the centre of the frame and with perspective distortion. I want in the end to print zines of about 20 to 30 pages with a selection of various doggooooes I hope to meet and photograph.

Talking to my therapist about it she encouraged me to try it because it gives me a short term purpose and can help me focus from anxiety to productivity and going out more and have an opportunity to socialise more.

Now I do have the Pany Leica 15mm f 1.7 and Oly 17mm f 1.2 and I haven't tried them for this purpose yet BUT I am wondering to try Fisheye ultra wide angle lens for this project. It's a class of lens I have never tried before so I have no experience with them.
I would try manual focus 3rd party ones but I don't know if the DoF would cover the doggo nose to their eyes if I set it to minimum focus and I won't have enough to focus manually with doggies.

For the manual ones which one have the better sharpness at the centre?

If not manual focus what about the 2 main AF lenses?
The Panasonic Lumix G 8mm f 3.5 ... One of the oldest G lenses, I haven't heard much about them within communities like DPReview, u4/3 and here. Used it goes for around 250 £ if one can find one.

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f 1.8 Fisheye ... Has quite a unique reputation for its fastness, amazing IQ and build quality given it's a PRO lens. (Also very good for astrophotography) On the used market it goes for around 550 £.

As this is a very niche lend I'm not sure I want to invest in the Oly PRO and the used price of Pany 8mm is as far as I would go.
Any recommendations from the fisheye users?

 

[rloewy]

I have the Rokinon / Samyang 7.5mm - it is super sharp - and it is pretty easy to use, just put it on F8 and infinity and it is almost always in focus. For Dogs noses you might have to move focus slightly back - but I suspect it would not be hard to do with focus peaking.

Olympus OMD E-M1 w/ Rokinon 7.5mm 3.5 fisheye

 

[MountainMan79]

I think I’d rather chew glass than try and use manual focus with any animal, let alone an excited dog inches from the front of your camera 😂

Unfortunately I don’t think there are any other alternatives, even given how large the ecosystem is. Ultra wide fisheyes with AF is apparently still a pretty big hole in the coverage.

 

[rloewy]

I think I’d rather chew glass than try and use manual focus with any animal, let alone an excited dog inches from the front of your camera 😂

Unfortunately I don’t think there are any other alternatives, even given how large the ecosystem is. Ultra wide fisheyes with AF is apparently still a pretty big hole in the coverage.

I will check it a little later, but I suspect there is some kind of distance info on the lens - so you can probably focus it once on a static object - and keep it there for every dog after that...

 

[rayvonn]

I agree with @rloewy , I've used that Samyang/ Rokinon with an EP-5, its a nice lens.

 

[Irene McC]

I have the Rokinon / Samyang 7.5mm - it is super sharp - and it is pretty easy to use, just put it on F8 and infinity and it is almost always in focus. For Dogs noses you might have to move focus slightly back - but I suspect it would not be hard to do with focus peaking.

View attachment 516305
Olympus OMD E-M1 w/ Rokinon 7.5mm 3.5 fisheye

I also have the Rokinon /Samyang fisheye for Fuji X mount but I'm sure mine is 8mm. Fine focusing is not such a big deal, practically everything is in focus when stopped down a bit

 

[rloewy]

I also have the Rokinon /Samyang fisheye for Fuji X mount but I'm sure mine is 8mm. Fine focusing is not such a big deal, practically everything is in focus when stopped down a bit

I believe the 8mm is an APS-C lens, the 7.5 is specific to MFT and as such is smaller and might (or might not) have different sharpness / characteristics. It is not the same lens in a different mount (which Samyang / Rokinon sometimes do)

 

[Irene McC]

I believe the 8mm is an APS-C lens, the 7.5 is specific to MFT and as such is smaller and might (or might not) have different sharpness / characteristics. It is not the same lens in a different mount (which Samyang / Rokinon sometimes do)

Ohhhhh that of course makes total sense

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

Ovi, if this stuff makes you happy, you should study the work of Elke Vogelsang. She has many images on 500px. They make me happy, too!

I have the Bower flavor of the Samyang FE, but I have never taken a lot of pictures with it. I have a hard time visualizing what I want in fisheye photography.

But I just did a few test shots. I don't have a dog's nose available, but I have a statuette stand-in, about 1 foot tall. Here are images to illustrate depth of field wide open and f/8:

f/3.5 (wide open, lens front less than 1 inch from subject)

Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

f/8

Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

So I think that using a manual FE lens you could set the focus distance near minimum and shoot at f/8 and get very close, but you should be prepared for a lot of dog nose prints on your lens. Filters for fisheyes is a whole other topic.

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Thank you so much for the replies, they are very helpful and give me much food for thought.

 

[rloewy]

Looked at my Rokinon, it does have a distance scale on it - so choosing your distance and setting it on a static object and reusing it there for live animal shots is easy. FWIW, it seems that the MFD on that lens is 9cm - that's pretty neat.

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Looked at my Rokinon, it does have a distance scale on it - so choosing your distance and setting it on a static object and reusing it there for live animal shots is easy. FWIW, it seems that the MFD on that lens is 9cm - that's pretty neat.

That's nice but that could pose difficult with short nose doggoooooes like Frenchies, Bulldogs and Pugs for example.

 

[PacNWMike]

If you are interested I have the Samyang 7.5 and will sell it. I haven't used it since I got the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 for interiors.

 

[e-light]

The Samyang/Rokinon is the lense for the job!

Depth of Field (DoF) calculator | PhotoPills

This Depth of Field (DoF) calculator will help you get the creative control on the design of your photos. Decide the zone of sharpness you need to tell the story you want and get your message across.

www.photopills.com

7mm MFT F4 at 20 cm distance to subject noise to eye 10cm

by the way : near distance of the 7,5 F3,5 is 9cm ! -> distance 11cm you have to use f8 the noise (front ) to eye and that can max 6cm !

 

[pdk42]

You can’t beat the Oly 8mm f1.8 fisheye. Stunning lens. Sharp at f1.8 (Astro king), AF, EXIF info etc. Just spend the cash !

 

[rayvonn]

You can’t beat the Oly 8mm f1.8 fisheye

Yes, the others that have been mentioned are good but I believe this is the "King" of all fisheyes on m43? The only issue (if indeed it is one) is its larger size compared to the others. I'm guessing it focuses manually just as well as the others?

 

[RAH]

I agree with folks saying just get the Oly8mm FE and be done with it. It isn't as small as some of the other lenses you mentioned, but it is not all that big either. It is quite convenient diameter-wise. Here is a comparison between it, the O17mmf1.2, and the PL 9 (which I also have).

It isn't a fair comparison vs the O17mm f 1.2m which IS a fat lens, but since you have one, it is good to compare it to the O8mmFE. The PL9 is a good comparison because it is very small and also very wide, and has a reputation for good minimum distance.

I also have a m43 Samyang 7.5 FE. Take it from me, an AF lens is MUCH more convenient for things like experimentation (one of the best things about a FE lens). For example (some taken with an O60mm macro lens, a few with a PL 12-60, and some (inside the slinky toys) taken with the O8mm):

slinky abstracts

www.rahsoft.net

I did these shots by constantly changing what I was focusing on, giving different looks to the results. Many were taken by inserting the lens inside the slinky toy. Using a MF lens for this type of thing would be a big PITA and grow wearisome very quickly, I think.

 

[Richard]

I think whichever lens you buy needs to be pretty impervious to dog saliva.

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

I think whichever lens you buy needs to be pretty impervious to dog saliva.


View attachment 516755

I agree, that's why I went with the Oly 1.2 PRO lenses. Between doggies getting in the water and shaking it off right in front of me, mud slinging little submarine that divebombs in the smallest puddles and lens lickers like my camera and lens is made of candy this is one of the main reasons why I need good WR and Olympus is great at it.

 

[fredlong]

If you're not 100% set on a fisheye, the SLR Magic 8mm f4 is a very small, inexpensive rectilinear option. It focuses down to 10cm so there's plenty of perspective distortion but not that roundness you get with the fisheye.