Fish Eye Lens Tests

HansK

HansK

Veteran
Here are a few grabs from my first test with my new $110 fish eye lens. I followed the instructions from Neil Slade's site: http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/DVXlens.html. Very simple to follow and easy to do.

I shot these in the default F6 setting, 1/64ND, and ~5.4 iris. Placed the camera on my monopod, turned it on, and started walking through China Town. The street shot with the cab driving past was a static shot.

It's a little tricky getting the focus correct. I'll need to practice a bit more with that.

The center of the images look good but there is some softening on the edges.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with the results so far.

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Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

Did you just stand in the middle of the street while traffic drove around you?

Nice grabs. You picked a good area to do tests as you've got a whole aray of colors. The effect works well.

I like the middle of traffic one best!
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

This is the reason that I don't really like using different lenses. They always distort the image. It is all soft-looking now and there is some blur and no detail in the picture. I have two fisheye lenses for my other camera and they have blur all around the edges and the video quality drops by a crapload. Are there any GOOD fisheye lenses?
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

[quote author=Ptpiz link=board=Clips;num=1090825247;start=0#2 date=07/26/04 at 06:43:15]This is the reason that I don't really like using different lenses. They always distort the image. It is all soft-looking now and there is some blur and no detail in the picture. I have two fisheye lenses for my other camera and they have blur all around the edges and the video quality drops by a crapload. Are there any GOOD fisheye lenses?[/quote]
A fisheye lens is designed to give you a wider field of view.  By design, they give you a distorted (read: different) perspective.

The quality of your fisheyes is probably fine; you should experiment with when to use them.  For example, if you were sitting right behind homeplate at a baseball game, you might get more of the whole field in one shot with a fisheye, but you might not want to use the same lens to try and get a closeup of a batter.

I think fisheyes are commonly used to photograph commercial real estate.
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

[quote author=Stabb Films link=board=Clips;num=1090825247;start=0#1 date=07/26/04 at 00:25:21]Did you just stand in the middle of the street while traffic drove around you?[/quote]

Yup. Actually, there's a tiny little island I stood on so I wasn't worried about traffic. This is the corner of Broadway and Columbus in San Francisco. Looking behind me would show the Transamerica Pyramid and Coppola's building.

Would like to try a time lapse on a busy night at that corner.
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

[quote author=Gabe link=board=Clips;num=1090825247;start=0#3 date=07/26/04 at 07:26:04]I think fisheyes are commonly used to photograph commercial real estate.[/quote]

My plans are for action cycling shots. Fish eye's are used often in sporting events (as you also mentioned in the case of baseball). Skate videos have overused the fisheye. But, there are still some good uses for the lens.
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

[quote author=elrosten link=board=Clips;num=1090825247;start=0#7 date=07/26/04 at 16:37:59]When did you shoot this footage? I.e. what date? [/quote]

Last weekend.
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

[quote author=HansK link=board=Clips;num=1090825247;start=0#5 date=07/26/04 at 07:41:15]Skate videos have overused the fisheye.[/quote]

VERY true!
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

Oh, I was in SanFran TWO weeks ago and i saw a guy with a DVX when I was walking through ChinaTown. Thought that maybe it was you.
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

[quote author=elrosten link=board=Clips;num=1090825247;start=0#11 date=07/26/04 at 23:10:59]I was in SanFran TWO weeks ago and i saw a guy with a DVX[/quote]

Well, it might have been. I live in the city and take the camera out for various shots about town. I don't recall if I was out that weekend.

I do see the DVX more and more now. Also, our local Film Arts Foundation "www.filmarts.org" now rents the DVX.
 
Re: Fish Eye Lens Tests

I love it and I am looking on ebay for the materials at the moment! Thanks for the info. Does anyone know of a DIY 2x lens? That would be sweet. I even need zoom through, just something to give me the reach when it is very necessary.
 
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