Fisheye, or fisheye, is a separate type of wide-angle lens. Its peculiarity is that the viewing angle in this optics is 180 degrees. Thanks to this, with the help of the fisheye lens, you can take unusual landscape, genre or portrait shots. Typically, photographers are particularly attracted to this lens by optical distortion.
Determine why you need a fisheye lens
If you already have a camera, then choosing a fisheye lens for it will most likely not be difficult, since their variety is relatively small. Browse the range of models available specifically for your brand of camera.
Your choice will be influenced by why you need such a lens. Usually, fisheye is used to shoot either landscapes and interiors, where the widest possible angle of view is required, or scenes where optical distortions come to the fore (in other words, barrel distortion), they are used as an artistic technique.
For landscape photography, you can buy a mechanical lens. This will significantly save on its cost. The disadvantage of this choice is that you have to set all the parameters manually, but since you will have time for this, this will affect the quality of the shooting in the best way. For portrait, subject and especially reportage photography, you should not buy a lens without autofocus, you risk missing out on interesting moments.
Frame shape
It should be understood that fisheye, due to the fact that it accommodates much more space in the frame than a regular lens, will still greatly reduce the size of the entire content, so it may turn out that the details on which you focus will be too subtle.
In a fisheye lens, or fisheye, the angle of coverage is 180 degrees, the focal length is 8 mm. There are two types of fish, diagonal and round. A diagonal lens allows you to get 180 degrees along the diagonal of the frame, while for a round one, as a result of shooting, you will get a circle inscribed in the frame - this will be a fisheye shot.
The choice of a fisheye lens is not affected, whether you have a whole matrix or a crop. Unlike a wide-angle lens, which turns into a standard lens on a cropped sensor, a fish-eye remains a fish on any sensor. But the choice can be influenced by the very shape of the lens: if it is not suitable for matrices with a crop factor, then it is better not to use it, otherwise you risk damaging the trigger.
Mechanical fisheye lenses
Mechanical fisheye lenses are often purchased in order to save money. For example, you can buy a Soviet lens for Zenit "Zenitar", the quality of the optics of which is not worse than that of modern electronic counterparts. Its cost is an order of magnitude lower, usually it is only a few thousand rubles, while a proprietary fisheye lens will cost several tens of thousands. A mechanical lens, if it is not a "native" camera, must be put on a special adapter.
