[jwc77]

I own the DA 10-17 and I love it. I was really torn as to whether or not to buy it in the first place. I didn't know if I would quickly tire of the fisheye effect...a quick passing novelty. But I think it is extremely versatile. The fisheye perspective can make you be way more creative than with reticular...it also obviously opens other shots that you didn't previously have. I was also considering the 8mm samyang but ended up with the 10-17 and I'm glad I did. At 17 it can take really nice wide photos without an overpowering fishy effect. Like I said...it is way more versatile than I imagined. It is always in my bag as it does things that no other lens I have can do.

[GeneV]

Fisheyes for groups of people are terrific!! I love the family shots.

[Yamakasi]

The one thing that really sold me on it this time, is after reading a thread here or somewhere, about how it is all about how you hold the lens in relation to your subject. The main jist of this is that if you are careful about keeping the horizon centered in the frame, and try to keep vertical objects out of the extreme edges of the frame, the shot will look almost normal. Now just tilt the lens a little up or down, and you can produce more distortion in the center. Kind of hard to put into words, but it does work. I did this experimentation with the 10-17 at 12mm-13mm where this lens isn't quite as fishy as at 10mm. Now my curiosity is up on how I could work this with the Bower 8mm.

i have a samyang 8mm fisheye and its possible

taken with a samyang 8mm and no cropping

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

taken with a samyang 8mm and no cropping

+1

with Samyang/K:





with Samyang/MFT:

[pentaxian_tmb]

Ok. I am convinced. Order placed

[Usuqa]

Thanks all.

I do love the little fisheye, its a fun creative lens that gives you great perspective control in an image .

[bibz]

It's a total 'wow' item if you've never had one. Part of the point of an interchangable lens camera is things like these imo.

[Drake Avenue]

Careful cropping can give close shots a more UWA, less fishy look.

[reeftool]

My DA 10-`17 gets used a lot and more often than I thought it would. A few years ago at the ECAC Rowing championships, the events were cancelled due to wind but some of the teams decided to settle things on the rowing machines used for training and workout. It's an essential tool in crowded places.


Car shows are another place I use it. For getting in a whole bunch.


Or getting up close.


Or getting in a whole show

[GabrielFFontes]

Some pictures i took yesterday with mine :

[lesmore49]

I use my Pentax 10-17 fisheye a fair amount. I use it for scenics, vintage car shows.

But I would never buy a prime fisheye such as a 15 mm only, etc. Their way too restrictive...a prime FE IMO, is a novelty lens...only fisheye.

I do occasionally use the full fisheye effect...but I find it get's old pretty fast.

The beauty of the 10-17....is you can go from full fisheye to 17mm....which if you play the angles right...almost comes off as a wide angle.

The single focal length fisheye is too restricting....the Pentax zoom fish eye...opens up new world's.

A fisheye is a challenge...you have to 'work' it to get the most out of it....play around with it ....zoom in and out....go up and down...use the viewfinder to see what it shows....before pushing the shutter button.

Again...I wouldn't get a single focal length fisheye...get a 10-17 zoom.

[GabrielFFontes]

Given the price different between the 10-17 and the 8mm ($280 to ~$510), i would surely get the 8mm...and i did.
It has a wider angle (that's why we get a fisheye, huh?), and that might compensates for the lost angle while defishing...
It has a less aggressive distortion, with it's different projection...etc

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

Given the price different between the 10-17 and the 8mm ($280 to ~$510), i would surely get the 8mm...and i did.
It has a wider angle (that's why we get a fisheye, huh?)

The Samyang 8mm does not have a wider perspective than the Pentax 10-17 at 10mm. They both offer 180 degrees perspective diagonally, although i feel that in practice it's a little bit less than that.

Don't get fooled by the focal length difference - at these focal lengths, the optical design is what matters. The Samyang offers a different mapping function than the Pentax - stereographic.

[GabrielFFontes]

Laurentiu, the Samyang 8mm does have a wider perspective. I'm not looking at the focal length, but at actual tests.
This is with the 10-17



This is with the 8mm


You can see that the 8mm's FOV is bigger.




PS : these pictures were taken by kh1234567890, all rights go to him

[stevebrot]

Car shows are another place I use it. For getting in a whole bunch.


Or getting up close.


Or getting in a whole show

Oh, yeah! Frame tight and enjoy...










Steve