Fisheye Fever Club -- Flaunt your fisheye photos!

Racer X 69 · 11-24-2016, 08:26 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Photator

Lens: Samyang (Rokinon, Bower, Walimex) 8mm
HDR from three shots, no tripod, processed in PS "HDR Pro".

---------- Post added 11-11-16 at 03:39 PM ----------

Wow, that's fantastic.

Did anyone notice the exif on this photo?

It was shot with a Canon camera by some guy named Dan Donavan.

Not too confident that Photator is that guy.

**pepperberry farm** · 11-24-2016, 08:37 PM

you mean that he's full of it?

**WPRESTO** · 11-25-2016, 05:33 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by pepperberry farm

Thank you, even if there's a bit of finger in it...

Brings a little humanity to the image.

jcdoss · 11-25-2016, 02:47 PM - **2 Likes**

KC Streetcar on Main taken with K2 and K17 Fisheye on Lomo 800 color film by Jason Doss, on Flickr

**pepperberry farm** · 11-26-2016, 05:01 PM - **1 Like**

Racer X 69 · 11-26-2016, 06:19 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by pepperberry farm

I bet it takes a real strong player to wield the badminton racquet big enough to smack those shuttlecocks around.

gifthorse · 11-26-2016, 08:47 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by pepperberry farm

Someone with a really twisted sense of humor would procure a mannequin, remove a foot or so from the middle of the dummy and place the two parts on each side of the shuttlecock (with the appropriate fake blood and gore). But it would take a truly sick mind to do something like that. Isn't there an April's Fool day coming up?

Groucho · 12-01-2016, 11:55 AM - **3 Likes**

A water tunnel at Atlantis, on Paradise island in the Bahamas... K-1, Samyang 12mm.

I'm still trying to decide if I like the look of the Samyang fisheyes... they are notably less fishy over the center of the image. They seem to be behave more like an UWA with fishy edges. It's also incredibly easy to get the tip of your finger in the shot (see lower left, and that was cropped very slightly to try to minimize it)! If the upcoming Pentax FF fisheye zoom is weathersealed and has 7 or more aperture blades, I will probably end up going to that. The Samyang seems to be very, very good but I don't like UWAs that much but love fisheyes.

**WPRESTO** · 12-02-2016, 06:57 AM

Samyang (et al) fisheyes were specifically praised for being less "fishy" than other fish eyes. If you really like the f-e look, you might try one of the older MF Sigma or Russian-made 15~16mm fish-eyes*, or go extreme and get a full circular fish-eye and crop it to what you like, even a square Hassleblad-look.

* There is the Pentax SMCA 16mm f-e, but it's really rare to see on sale and the asking price is well above than many modern f-e lenses.

Groucho · 12-02-2016, 07:21 AM

I do have a Zenitar - bought it ten years ago for my *ist DL - but the lack of an "A" setting makes it quite a bit more cumbersome in actual practice - plus all the rubber on the focus ring fell off when I went to use it and I can't find most of it to glue back on.

I suspect the optical quality will definitely not be able to compete with the Samyang. I do still have my 10-17mm which is not too bad on the K-1 but it's for sale (see Marketplace!

) but again, the sharpness is pretty good but the purple fringing is really bad. The Samyang 12mm seems to have very, very good optics and you really need to be looking hard to find fringing.

The other thing is the aperture blades - virtually all the fisheyes for Pentax have six blades, which is IMHO not great for "starbursts" - I want at least 7 (giving you 14 points) or higher - I think that helps a lot in nighttime fisheye shots. I think your only options are the Samyang 12mm or the Sigma 15mm. I have wanted a weathersealed fisheye for a long time and assume the FF fisheye zoom that's on the lens roadmap would be sealed, and hopefully the optics will be much improved over the 10-17mm, so the only question will be the blades. If it has 7+, it will be a dream lens for me and the Samyang will go up for sale. The zoom may be a little slower, too, like F3.5 vs F2.8, but I rarely shoot fisheyes wide open, and if I have to bump up the ISO a little more, that's really not that big of a deal on the K-1.

I haven't played with the lens correction settings in Lightroom, maybe I can add a little center fishiness that way.

There actually is a profile in there for the Samyang 12mm, and it does make straight lines across the image, but the picture is so wide that things are really stretched. It's a very strange look.

**goatsNdonkey** · 12-02-2016, 07:31 AM

WPRESTO, I've never understood the complaint of people who say that some type of fish tastes too fishy either. Who would say a steak tastes "too beefy"?

As a viewer of fisheye pictures, which is still the area where I have the most experience (despite a few novice posts in this thread, the main distinction I find in fisheye pictures is between the ones that are full circles (presumably depicting 180 degrees or close to it) and ones that are some kind of rectangle, whether they come out of the camera that way or are cropped from a circular image.

The rectangular images are easier to look at, maybe because they comfortably have a more reliable top and bottom for the viewer to orient with, and, depending on the lens or cropping, the angle of view in the image will vary. However, I still want to see the fishy distortions, making the world look mutable in surprising ways -- like looking into a Thomas Hart Benton painting and recognizing that some rural landscape is about to buckle and break like ocean waves.

Groucho · 12-02-2016, 07:57 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by goatsNdonkey

The rectangular images are easier to look at, maybe because they comfortably have a more reliable top and bottom for the viewer to orient with, and, depending on the lens or cropping, the angle of view in the image will vary. However, I still want to see the fishy distortions, making the world look mutable in surprising ways -- like looking into a Thomas Hart Benton painting and recognizing that some rural landscape is about to buckle and break like ocean waves.

I think I'm agreeing with you - I've never felt a strong urge to get a circular fisheye lens and while the 10-17mm is close to that on the K-1, it's not compelling enough for me to keep it, even with the fairly low resale value of the lens.

What I'm seeing with the Samyangs is less of the extreme fish look, which is what appeals to me. Here's a few examples from the 10-17mm of the look I like, with the fisheye effect across the entire image. The same photos on the Samyang would look a bit different, although whether for better or for worse is purely opinion.

**goatsNdonkey** · 12-02-2016, 08:55 AM

Groucho, I'm not at all against the circular images, but they do seem to call on the viewer to turn them slowly around and look at them from all sides, even if there seems to be a more prominent up-down orientation in the subject matter. I can do that if the picture is in a book, but not if it is on my laptop computer or on a museum wall. As for the rectangular versions, I'm happy to see all the fishy distortions that can be packed into them. If there are no fishy distortions, it starts to look, well, like wide-angle and not fisheye.

I like those pictures of yours.

simon_199 · 12-20-2016, 08:16 AM - **2 Likes**

HDR with DA 10-17 @10mm

Groucho · 12-20-2016, 12:40 PM - **2 Likes**

A few more with the K-1 and Samyang 12mm...

Despite the "stereographic" setup, there is still a good bit of distortion with the Samyang, which is a good thing in my eyes. This shot has an example of the many-pointed starbursts that you can get with it that you just can't get with the current Pentax fisheyes... hopefully their upcoming FF fisheye zoom will be able to.

Another example...

Since the ocean horizon in this thread generated some discussion...

Better shot of just water and sky:

11-26-2016, 05:01 PM - 1 Like	#2720
pepperberry farm amateur dirt farmer Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 41,756	K-3 with Rokinon 8mm f3.5 FE

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11-24-2016, 08:26 PM - 1 Like	#2716
Racer X 69 Moderator Man With A Camera Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: The Great Pacific Northwet, in the Land Between Canada and Mexico Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,073	Originally posted by Photator Lens: Samyang (Rokinon, Bower, Walimex) 8mm HDR from three shots, no tripod, processed in PS "HDR Pro". ---------- Post added 11-11-16 at 03:39 PM ---------- Wow, that's fantastic. Did anyone notice the exif on this photo? It was shot with a Canon camera by some guy named Dan Donavan. Not too confident that Photator is that guy.

11-24-2016, 08:37 PM	#2717
pepperberry farm amateur dirt farmer Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 41,756	you mean that he's full of it?

11-25-2016, 05:33 AM - 2 Likes	#2718
WPRESTO Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Massachusetts Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 59,137	Originally posted by pepperberry farm Thank you, even if there's a bit of finger in it... Brings a little humanity to the image.

11-25-2016, 02:47 PM - 2 Likes	#2719
jcdoss Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,794	KC Streetcar on Main taken with K2 and K17 Fisheye on Lomo 800 color film by Jason Doss, on Flickr

11-26-2016, 06:19 PM - 2 Likes	#2721
Racer X 69 Moderator Man With A Camera Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: The Great Pacific Northwet, in the Land Between Canada and Mexico Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,073	Originally posted by pepperberry farm I bet it takes a real strong player to wield the badminton racquet big enough to smack those shuttlecocks around.

11-26-2016, 08:47 PM - 2 Likes	#2722
gifthorse Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Nevada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,945	Originally posted by pepperberry farm Someone with a really twisted sense of humor would procure a mannequin, remove a foot or so from the middle of the dummy and place the two parts on each side of the shuttlecock (with the appropriate fake blood and gore). But it would take a truly sick mind to do something like that. Isn't there an April's Fool day coming up?

12-01-2016, 11:55 AM - 3 Likes	#2723
Groucho Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 416	A water tunnel at Atlantis, on Paradise island in the Bahamas... K-1, Samyang 12mm. I'm still trying to decide if I like the look of the Samyang fisheyes... they are notably less fishy over the center of the image. They seem to be behave more like an UWA with fishy edges. It's also incredibly easy to get the tip of your finger in the shot (see lower left, and that was cropped very slightly to try to minimize it)! If the upcoming Pentax FF fisheye zoom is weathersealed and has 7 or more aperture blades, I will probably end up going to that. The Samyang seems to be very, very good but I don't like UWAs that much but love fisheyes.

12-02-2016, 06:57 AM	#2724
WPRESTO Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Massachusetts Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 59,137	Samyang (et al) fisheyes were specifically praised for being less "fishy" than other fish eyes. If you really like the f-e look, you might try one of the older MF Sigma or Russian-made 15~16mm fish-eyes, or go extreme and get a full circular fish-eye and crop it to what you like, even a square Hassleblad-look. There is the Pentax SMCA 16mm f-e, but it's really rare to see on sale and the asking price is well above than many modern f-e lenses.

12-02-2016, 07:21 AM	#2725
Groucho Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 416	I do have a Zenitar - bought it ten years ago for my *ist DL - but the lack of an "A" setting makes it quite a bit more cumbersome in actual practice - plus all the rubber on the focus ring fell off when I went to use it and I can't find most of it to glue back on. I suspect the optical quality will definitely not be able to compete with the Samyang. I do still have my 10-17mm which is not too bad on the K-1 but it's for sale (see Marketplace! ) but again, the sharpness is pretty good but the purple fringing is really bad. The Samyang 12mm seems to have very, very good optics and you really need to be looking hard to find fringing. The other thing is the aperture blades - virtually all the fisheyes for Pentax have six blades, which is IMHO not great for "starbursts" - I want at least 7 (giving you 14 points) or higher - I think that helps a lot in nighttime fisheye shots. I think your only options are the Samyang 12mm or the Sigma 15mm. I have wanted a weathersealed fisheye for a long time and assume the FF fisheye zoom that's on the lens roadmap would be sealed, and hopefully the optics will be much improved over the 10-17mm, so the only question will be the blades. If it has 7+, it will be a dream lens for me and the Samyang will go up for sale. The zoom may be a little slower, too, like F3.5 vs F2.8, but I rarely shoot fisheyes wide open, and if I have to bump up the ISO a little more, that's really not that big of a deal on the K-1. I haven't played with the lens correction settings in Lightroom, maybe I can add a little center fishiness that way. There actually is a profile in there for the Samyang 12mm, and it does make straight lines across the image, but the picture is so wide that things are really stretched. It's a very strange look.

12-02-2016, 07:31 AM	#2726
goatsNdonkey Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Fulton County, Illinois Posts: 3,736	WPRESTO, I've never understood the complaint of people who say that some type of fish tastes too fishy either. Who would say a steak tastes "too beefy"? As a viewer of fisheye pictures, which is still the area where I have the most experience (despite a few novice posts in this thread, the main distinction I find in fisheye pictures is between the ones that are full circles (presumably depicting 180 degrees or close to it) and ones that are some kind of rectangle, whether they come out of the camera that way or are cropped from a circular image. The rectangular images are easier to look at, maybe because they comfortably have a more reliable top and bottom for the viewer to orient with, and, depending on the lens or cropping, the angle of view in the image will vary. However, I still want to see the fishy distortions, making the world look mutable in surprising ways -- like looking into a Thomas Hart Benton painting and recognizing that some rural landscape is about to buckle and break like ocean waves.

12-02-2016, 07:57 AM - 2 Likes	#2727
Groucho Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 416	Originally posted by goatsNdonkey The rectangular images are easier to look at, maybe because they comfortably have a more reliable top and bottom for the viewer to orient with, and, depending on the lens or cropping, the angle of view in the image will vary. However, I still want to see the fishy distortions, making the world look mutable in surprising ways -- like looking into a Thomas Hart Benton painting and recognizing that some rural landscape is about to buckle and break like ocean waves. I think I'm agreeing with you - I've never felt a strong urge to get a circular fisheye lens and while the 10-17mm is close to that on the K-1, it's not compelling enough for me to keep it, even with the fairly low resale value of the lens. What I'm seeing with the Samyangs is less of the extreme fish look, which is what appeals to me. Here's a few examples from the 10-17mm of the look I like, with the fisheye effect across the entire image. The same photos on the Samyang would look a bit different, although whether for better or for worse is purely opinion.

12-02-2016, 08:55 AM	#2728
goatsNdonkey Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Fulton County, Illinois Posts: 3,736	Groucho, I'm not at all against the circular images, but they do seem to call on the viewer to turn them slowly around and look at them from all sides, even if there seems to be a more prominent up-down orientation in the subject matter. I can do that if the picture is in a book, but not if it is on my laptop computer or on a museum wall. As for the rectangular versions, I'm happy to see all the fishy distortions that can be packed into them. If there are no fishy distortions, it starts to look, well, like wide-angle and not fisheye. I like those pictures of yours.

12-20-2016, 08:16 AM - 2 Likes	#2729
simon_199 Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 614	HDR with DA 10-17 @10mm

12-20-2016, 12:40 PM - 2 Likes	#2730
Groucho Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 416	A few more with the K-1 and Samyang 12mm... Despite the "stereographic" setup, there is still a good bit of distortion with the Samyang, which is a good thing in my eyes. This shot has an example of the many-pointed starbursts that you can get with it that you just can't get with the current Pentax fisheyes... hopefully their upcoming FF fisheye zoom will be able to. Another example... Since the ocean horizon in this thread generated some discussion... Better shot of just water and sky: