I finally got a chance to try capturing some lightning! Used my fisheye, tripod and bulb mode. The long exposure noise reduction (or dark frame subtraction) made it a bit frustrating and I missed a few bolts, but did manage to get 3 in the few minutes it lasted. Posted here for your amusement.

I was on my front step under a bit of an awning, which you can see in the second and third photos.










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dbh - having fun.

wow... never seen that before. Very interesting effect. I like it. Really like the 3rd one...

[Peter Zack]

Yeah, the third is very cool. I've not seen anyone use this lens for this and I'm surprised you got such detail. The lighting must have been very close.

[Ash]

Powerful stuff.
You needed the FE to get the whole bolt in that third one!

[mhertel]

Very cool shots! Can you post your settings? No exif data in the pics..

[scott-devon]

Very cool shots Dbh, love the use of a fisheye for this.

[dbh]

Thank-you for all the comments. The camera was pointed up at about 45 deg angle which really curved the street out front but pretty much covered the visible sky north of my tiny house. That 3rd one lit up the whole sky. I had a bit of luck as the shutter had been open for 13s by then and I nearly missed it.

Odd that you can't see the EXIF, as I had made sure it was there. Must be the small size that picasa provides for previewing. Here's how you get it - click the photo then on the picasa page you can click Download Photo which will get you the full size jpg with all the EXIF data. You can also get to the album these are in where I posted some crops just for grins. They were all at ISO 100
#1 - f/13 and 16 s
#2 - f/8 and 18 s
#3 - f/13 and 13s

I too was surprised at the detail this strange lens resolves. Panning around the 1:1 views of the lightning bolts reveals the intricate and circuitous route they trace across the sky. All in a flash. These 3 results got me quite encouraged. Can't wait for the next chance to try again!
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dbh

[maxwell1295]

Yeah, the third is very cool. I've not seen anyone use this lens for this and I'm surprised you got such detail. The lighting must have been very close.

Peter, I'm assuming these were shot with the 10-17FE. If so, it might be the sharpest lens I have. Only the FA50 is as sharp. IQ on that lens is very, very good. Only PF issues at wide apertures keep it from being a perfect lens. At F8, it's a dream...

[maxwell1295]

BTW, the 2nd image is my fave, but they're all really good. I'd crop a little off the top and flip it horizontally to lead the eye into the image from left to right.

[Morbo]

3rd one is total dankness.
too bad you caught just a tad of the roof in the top right corner, then it would have been complete and total dankness.
(awesome)

[dbh]

Peter, I'm assuming these were shot with the 10-17FE. If so, it might be the sharpest lens I have. Only the FA50 is as sharp. IQ on that lens is very, very good. Only PF issues at wide apertures keep it from being a perfect lens. At F8, it's a dream...

Yep, that's the lens. EXIF says 11mm but I swear I had it zoomed all the way back.
One thing this lens gives you is no worries about depth of field or camera shake.

BTW, the 2nd image is my fave, but they're all really good. I'd crop a little off the top and flip it horizontally to lead the eye into the image from left to right.

Yep. There are plenty of pixels to play with. I might just chop out a few interesting sections.

3rd one is total dankness.
too bad you caught just a tad of the roof in the top right corner, then it would have been complete and total dankness.
(awesome)

What I needed to do was poke my nose out further into the rain, but was afraid of getting even more dank. ;-)

You know it was rather too dark to see through the viewfinder what all was going to end up in the frame and I decided to not worry too much about framing since I had no clue as to what, where, when, or how big was going to happen anyway.

That bolt was a gift from the heavens and I was almost prepared to capture it perfectly. But hey, it's like fishing - the big one is still out there. Waiting.

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dbh

[mel]

These are pretty cool. I've never seen lighting with an FE before. Did you have a star filter/cross screen on there too or is the star effect of the streetlights from the aperture blades?

[Eastern Shore Charlie]

very creative....

[Ex Finn.]

Very nice, like them all.

Cheers.
Mike.

[gpaual]

whoa !.......thats some pretty impactful imagery.....\