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View Full Version : Fisheye anyone!


slt
4th December 2010, 06:38 PM
Well, in addition to acquiring a BIGMA before the last trip, I also had the good fortune of picking up a 8mm circular fisheye (also a Sigma). It's obviously a limited use lens, but it's tiny, so doesn't eat up much weight or bag space, and you can do some cool things with it. The first image below is a traditional fisheye use, the Pantheon, in Rome, Italy:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/12/1617.jpg

And to stick with the Land Rover theme, the next one is actually a 5-shot panaorama, in 4 directions, plus up, using the fisheye. After stitching the pano you perform a spherical projection in Photoshop (google "little planets"):

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/12/1618.jpg
dmdigital
4th December 2010, 06:53 PM
Love the first one. I've wondered what the 8mm Sigma is like. I have a 10.5mm Nikkor DX but of course it is limited on FX unless I trim the lens hood off it.

As for little planets: Clicky! (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/camera-corner/82010-how-techniques-explained-members-tutorial.html#post880167)
slt
4th December 2010, 07:09 PM
Love the first one. I've wondered what the 8mm Sigma is like. I have a 10.5mm Nikkor DX but of course it is limited on FX unless I trim the lens hood off it.

What is it like? I'm obviousy reasonably happy with the results, but to be honest, I am a little underwhelmed. It's very slow to autofocus (and impossible to focus manually ... everything is just so tiny in the view finder!) It's also not nearly as sharp as I was hoping it would be, but maybe that's just my lens, since some of the reviews I read seem to imply it's super-sharp ... or maybe I'm just spoilt by my Nikkor 14-24!

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that for Nikon FX, the Sigma 8mm is the only circular fisheye currently in production. So i guess it's a matter of take it or leave it...
dmdigital
4th December 2010, 07:24 PM
My understand is the same as yours about FX fisheye. The other option is an older manual focus lens.

I'm surprised that it is slow to focus. Given the nature of a fisheye infinity is pretty quick to obtain. As for sharpness, have you tried calibrating the focus on the lens. I'm not sure how hard that would be with a fisheye though.