[stevebrot]

Just to throw it in the mix the pentax da 10-17 is a similar price
Seems to give a ultra wide pretty much rectilinear image at 17mm with the option of a 180 degrees fish eye effect at 10mm..q a bit slower though.

The DA 10-17 Fisheye is a decent lens that does pretty much what you said. It is still fisheye projection at 17mm, but with narrower FOV. The effect is much like what I get with my Zenitar 16/2.8 Fisheye on APS-C.

There are a lot of photos taken with the DA 10-17 on the Fisheye Fever lens club thread.

Fisheye Fever Club -- Flaunt your fisheye photos! - PentaxForums.com


Steve

[Oakland Rob]

I really misread this. I kept trying to figure out how Oakland Rob and Samantha Decker were the same person. Finally I read this right. LOL.

Heh...the difference is she takes better photos. Well, one difference....

[dms]

The attached images are with the 8mm fish eye. The 2nd is with pp w/ fish-eye hemi. These were simple tests to check the lens, and the fish-eye hemi needs more trial and error adjusting to get the correction better (notice right side vertical elements are not quite right). Since there were some images w/ this lens I thought I would add another one.

But I think it shows you what it can do and what you may find is limiting. Clearly close elements loom very large which can be both good and bad. I find fish eye lenses to be very useful, and actually use my other two fish eye lenses a lot--a no.3 on my Q, and especially a FF fisheye on my cropped sensor dslr (which really does not look like a fish eye once pp w/ fisheye-hemi).

[Lowell Goudge]

Hi all..I've not been on here for years and I've had to reregisiter so I suppose I'm a newbie.

I'm off to California inc yosemite, kings canyon,sequoia np and the big sur next summer and I'm looking for some lens advice to aid my landscape photography. I'm also planning on trying a bit of astro/night photography.

My current widest lens is a tamron 17-50 f2.8 which I use with my ks1
I'm looking at getting something wider and equally fast

The range of samyang lenses seem to get good reviews and are well priced..just can't decide which one

Looking at;
12mm f2.8 as ncs fisheye
14mm f2.8
10mm f2.8 ed as ncs vs
8mm f3.5 cs

Which one would you choose.

Also i believe they are all manual focus..any tips on how easy they are to use?

Thanks in advance

I have the 14/2.8 and the 8mm fisheye, but don't use them for landscapes, I prefer longer lenses for landscapes because they will make the background mountains look insignificant.

The one thing I do use ultra wides on is for looking up both in forests and in cities with skyscrapers,

Also note that while the 14mm is quite wide on full frame it exhibits a good amount of barrel distortion

Both lenses are quite good on lens flare which is important considering how wide they are.

P.s. I also have a zenitar 16mm full frame fisheye that is a lot of fun to use on a crop sensor, I haven't tried it yet on full frame

[dms]

Also, manual focusing is very easy w/ such a very wide angle lens. Just look at the lens and set the distance. And the distance need not be very precise. (on the 8mm FE lens) I would just set it at two values: midway between 5 ft and infinity, or infinity, depending on the scene. Some reviewers said the 8 mm FE has a poorly calibrated distance scale, I find it to be fine (on mine).

On the other hand to use focus thru the viewfinder is not easy, but IMO (excepting close ups) it is better to zone focus wider angle lenses .

[reh321]

What body are you using?

Its a Ks-1

I have found my Sigma 10-20 to be a very valuable lens on my K-30 when taking landscape photos - it allows me to get "close and personal" with the landscape - to put everything not of interest {such as fences and walks} behind me while retaining a rectilinear ambiance.
The Marsh - PentaxForums.com
The Swamp - PentaxForums.com

[Soggy75]

I really misread this. I kept trying to figure out how Oakland Rob and Samantha Decker were the same person. Finally I read this right. LOL.

Likewise l..I was just about to post congratulations to Oakland Rob for a fantastic picture

[Oakland Rob]

Likewise l..I was just about to post congratulations to Oakland Rob for a fantastic picture

Doh! but hey, at least I can spot a good picture when I see one. Even if I can't capture it.

And I agree with Lowell about the wides for landscapes; often they make dramatic stuff too small. Use one in Yosemite Valley and it can look like the Central Valley, more like a big plate dinner plate than a soup bowl, the latter being more what we often want in the classic Valley shots.

[Soggy75]

Think I've narrowed if to samyang 14 f2.8 or pentax 10-17 f3.5