Micro 4/3 The Fisheye Question

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

So after a bit of brain juice crunching on the subject I have decided that:
1) The Fisheye nature of the lenses and the very specific aim of the project I am not willing to plop down the price of Oly 8mm f 1.8 PRO (until I get used to the format and then I may invest in one)
2) As much as I would like an AF Fisheye my recent experience with Oly 17mm f 1.2 PRO being unable to CAF on anything slower then an object falling to to a black hole past the horizon if it's life depended on it. So setting the fisheye to manual focus and minimum focus distance is probably the best option.
3) For MF Fisheye the best ones seems to be Samyang/Rokinon/Bower 7.5mm f 3.5 because it has sensation sharpness at centre and edges wide open AND TTArtisan 7.5mm f 2 because it has centre sharpness as good as Oly 8mm PRO and the edge needs f 8 to catch up to the PRO and (because it was designed for APS-C) it has slightly less fisheye distortion and angle of view, more like a 10mm fisheye. The things both lenses have in common is very small size and lightweight and the Samy is 100 £ used and TTArtisan is 100 £ new and both have excellent minimum focus distance.
4) Using a Depth of Field calculator at 9 cm at f 2 the DoF is 0.8 cm, f 3.5 is at 1.3 cm and f 5.6 is at a little over 3 cm. This may be a bit harder then originally thought.

 

[mfturner]

It’s not in the same optical class as the other lenses mentioned, but the very inexpensive BCL-0980 isn’t terrible, and the “cheap” plastic construction let me insert a cardboard shim to allow focusing to about 10cm. Maybe not quite the look you want, but here’s an (iso 12800, so only useful for framing and distortion example) example with my dog (who I couldn’t get to hold still).

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[CatsAreGods]

Just ran across this thread. I went on a little spree not long ago and found a Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye on eBay for $70 or so and figured it was worth having for occasional weirdness. This seems to be a good day to post these:

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[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Just ran across this thread. I went on a little spree not long ago and found a Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye on eBay for $70 or so and figured it was worth having for occasional weirdness. This seems to be a good day to post these:

View attachment 519314View attachment 519315

Thanks, definitely something I would be curious to try once in a while for some funky images. But it's not something that would work with the project I have in my mind.

 

[CatsAreGods]

Thanks, definitely something I would be curious to try once in a while for some funky images. But it's not something that would work with the project I have in my mind.

You sure about that? 😺

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[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

You sure about that? 😺

View attachment 519319

That's a very funny looking dog ... Must be from down under, Australia has some weird looking puppers 😛

 

[CatsAreGods]

That's a very funny looking dog ... Must be from down under, Australia has some weird looking puppers 😛

I'm guessing you're a strict literalist 😺

 

[phigmov]

Worth checking out the Lens Showcase thread on the old mu-43 site (for all its faults under its new owner I don't think there is anywhere else on the interwebs that has such a good selection of images for native m43 glass) https://www.mu-43.com/threads/samyang-7-5mm-f-3-5.16458/page-145

I might have some copy-variation in my Samyang/Rokinon fish-eye, its generally pretty great for long-shots (set to infinity and f5.6 or thereabouts) and most things are in focus from about a metre to infinity. I do find it finicky for close-ups though - you have to get nose-bumpingly (or boop-ingly?) close and then close-focus can be unforgiving if you're off. I do tend to use it on older bodies with lower-res screens, so it could be a combination of my bad eyesight, fidgety subject, darker lens aperture and low-screen resolution (+ bright sunlight) that means it can be a little hit-or-miss for me (but then again, using the macro technique of rocking back & forth while burst-shooting should give you one or two keepers (hopefully the dog doesn't decide to leave shmutz on the lens while you're doing it 😂 ).
Good luck! Fish-eyes are great fun and you can often get pretty good deals on used ones - people tend to use them and then sell them when the novelty wears off or they can afford a rectilinear wide.

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Worth checking out the Lens Showcase thread on the old mu-43 site (for all its faults under its new owner I don't think there is anywhere else on the interwebs that has such a good selection of images for native m43 glass) https://www.mu-43.com/threads/samyang-7-5mm-f-3-5.16458/page-145

I might have some copy-variation in my Samyang/Rokinon fish-eye, its generally pretty great for long-shots (set to infinity and f5.6 or thereabouts) and most things are in focus from about a metre to infinity. I do find it finicky for close-ups though - you have to get nose-bumpingly (or boop-ingly?) close and then close-focus can be unforgiving if you're off. I do tend to use it on older bodies with lower-res screens, so it could be a combination of my bad eyesight, fidgety subject, darker lens aperture and low-screen resolution (+ bright sunlight) that means it can be a little hit-or-miss for me (but then again, using the macro technique of rocking back & forth while burst-shooting should give you one or two keepers (hopefully the dog doesn't decide to leave shmutz on the lens while you're doing it 😂 ).
Good luck! Fish-eyes are great fun and you can often get pretty good deals on used ones - people tend to use them and then sell them when the novelty wears off or they can afford a rectilinear wide.

Thank you, I will look into it tomorrow. Yus, the plan/idea is to stick it to minimum focus and try to work out a good DoF to keep the eyes in focus and depending on the light work out a functioning exposure. The IQ doesn't have to be perfect or amazing because the main purpose for the images is to be printed for a zine so lesser quality of print and smaller size so it can hide a few imperfections.
I don't mind if the puppers mush their nose in the lens or even lick the lens, that would make for an absolute adorable moment to capture ... Until the lens is to wet to even see the doggie 😛

I might get (back) my old favourites Pany GX-7 to dedicate it for this project as a pocket-ish daily carry. Just need to find a way to contain myself when I see doggies because I turn into a happy toddler every time I see one:

 

[e-light]

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TTartisan 7,5mm F2 @ f2.8 0,2 m 0,66 ft door knob to door look 6cm 0,06m 0,2 ft /2,4 inch

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

View attachment 519456
TTartisan 7,5mm F2 @ f2.8 0,2 m 0,66 ft door knob to door look 6cm 0,06m 0,2 ft /2,4 inch

Thank you, that is very helpful to know that there is enough DoF and sharpness for that distance. That should work well for longer faced doggies like Goldies, Sheppies, Huskies, Danies, Boxies, etc.
Will have to experiment with the shorter faced doggies for interesting compositions but keeping in with the similar style of pictures.

 

[e-light]

the poodle is not willing ... his face is too long to the nose

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[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

the poodle is not willing ... his face is too long to the nose
View attachment 519465

It's okayu, that is perfect because I can see the eye is in the DoF, I wouldn't expect the DoF to be from the tip of the nose to their eyes and the DoF is wide enough that the nose is lightly blurred but still give a sense of context, exactly what I would like.
And the distortion effect is at the right amount without being to excessive at the corners.
Now I am getting more and more excited.