SERIES 1 Vivitar 8mm F3.5 Fisheye

[rpcrowe]

Here's another question. Has anyone had experience with the SERIES 1 Vivitar 8mm F3.5 Fisheye?

I am not a great wide angle enthusiast but, have several ideas for using an extreme w/a or fish eye lens but, the price of most fish eyes are beyond what I desire to spend for a lens of this type. However, I have found this SERIES 1 Vivitar 8mm F3.5 Fisheye for only $150 USD with free shipping on Amazon.com. This lens is available under multiple rebranded names...

My last acquaintance with a Vivitar Series One lens was with the 90mm f/2.5 Series One Macro in a Pentax K mount. I was exceptionally satisfied with this lens so I am not really worried about buying Vivitar although I realize that Vivitar doesn't manufacture any of its products.

I also realize that on my Canon cameras, there is no electrical connection to stop down from viewing to shooting aperture, meaning that I will need to work at my shooting aperture. I also realize that this is totally a manual focus lens. No sweat with a lens of this focal length!

Perhaps, if I was considering this as more than "an occasional use lens" the above facets would bother me. However for my usage, and the lens price; I can live with these restrictions. If I cannot, or in the unlikely event that I absolutely fall in love with using the fish eye, I can always sell it and get another more sophisticated lens without incurring any great financial loss...

I know that I am bucking the trend, buy I expect to sell both my 5D2 (which I purchased used as an experiment) and one of my 7D cameras and use the proceeds to buy a refurbished 7D2. I am very happy with my 1.6x crop frame Canon DSLR cameras and plan to continue shooting the crop format...

[ionian]

I haven't used it but the 7.5mm fisheye by Rokinon/Samyang/Vivitar is the next lens on my m43 wish list. From what I understand it is acceptably sharp, manual focus but that's hardly an issue on uwa, exhibits some chromatic aberration especially in the corners, and is easily "de-fished". For the price it seems a steel, especially as an occasional use lens. You can't go wrong at $150, you'll get your money back in a second hand sale if you decide it's not for you.

[Manfred M]

I have the lens (at least the ProOptic branded one - Samyang seems to sell this lens under quite a few different brand names), but use it quite rarely, mostly because I don't shoot with the APS-C camera very much any more.

The lens is well built mechanically, but as others have noted there is no electronic connection to the camera, so not only does one have to focus manually, the same is true for metering. Optically, I can't complain either, especially given the price.

[John 2]

I have the Samyang. It might be the later version. My version has the fixed lens hood. Optically you will have no complaints. It is tack sharp. You can forget focus. It just isn't an issue due to the extreme DOF. Brightness might be an issue with an optical view finder but on a mirrorless, the EVF gains up and there isn't really a problem. I generally set mine at f8 and aperture priority then let the shutter/auto ISO take the strain. The camera will happily meter in this mode. At 8mm, camera shake is rarely an issue. I've posted a few images from it on here such as this one last month:

Taxi Rank

[rpcrowe]

One shot I have always wanted is of a night University of Southern California football game at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. I would shoot from the top of the stands along the length of the football field. The crowd is usually decked out in the school colors of Cardinal and Gold...

There is a local school that has a flagpole surrounded with a circle of bronze statues of students saluting the flag. Shooting straight up might be a shot. This might be best with a full frame camera giving a circular image...

I have ordered one from Amazon...

I am also thinking that the San Diego County Fair might be a great place to play with this lens.

https://www.google.com/search?q=san+...iw=960&bih=473

I think that I should limit myself to this lens if it arrives in time for my San Diego Fair visit. The lens is scheduled to arrive between June 20th and 25th. The Fair doesn't end until July 4th... But, I don't want to attend on a weekend.

[inkista]

I haven't used it but the 7.5mm fisheye by Rokinon/Samyang/Vivitar is the next lens on my m43 wish list.

It's a different beast, though. dSLR version on the left, mft version on the right.



The dSLR version maps stereographically, so feels a little less fishy, and the mft/mirrorless versions are the more traditional equisolid mapping for fisheyes, and has much better flare control, as well as being hecka more compact.

From what I understand it is acceptably sharp...

More than, if we're talking about the mft version. The crop SLR version is no slouch in this department, either.

manual focus but that's hardly an issue on uwa

Umm. Yes, and no. This is ultra-ultra-wide. And one of the more entertaining uses is to go up-the-nostril close. Which means that while, if you set it on f/8, everything from 3-feet to infinity will be in focus, the chances are also really really good you're going to be a lot closer than 3-feet from a subject (see this fisheye thread). Having a body with focus peaking is a really good thing with this lens.

exhibits some chromatic aberration especially in the corners

Actually, I've never noticed any. The performance across the frame is insanely good compared to my Sigma 8mm full-frame circular fisheye. But then, it's not nearly as extreme.

and is easily "de-fished"

Depends on your definition of easily and defished. Yes, you can simply use a lens profile in Lr. But defishing always smears your corners horribly, and you must crop. If you plan on using it as a cheap rectilinear UWA, not a fisheye, I'd recommend saving up the pennies and getting a proper UWA, like the m.Zuiko 9-18 or one of the many 7-14 lenses instead. It will be worth the money. I have both the 7.5 fisheye and the 9-18, and have distinctly different uses for the two.

But yeah, it's a sweet, sweet little fisheye.



And it's probably as good as my old Sigma 8mm f/3.5 on my 5DMkII (well, except for mft noise performance vs FF) and better than the Sigma on my 50D for shooting 360x180 panos:


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