Photography 24/7

The fisheye look is not to everyone’s taste and I have always been a bit unsure about the look myself. However once I found out Lensbaby had introduced a $149.95 Fisheye Optic for the Lensbaby Optic Swap System I was sold.

Until the other day I had never used a fisheye lens before, so this is definitely new territory for me.

Any fisheye lens requires a bit of visual training if you’ve not used one before. This really is quite a different type of lens.

I’m used to ultra wide angle lenses, but a fisheye lens takes in an enormous amount of information and obviously in a very distorted view, so it does require some practice to find subjects and compositions that work. However, at the same time this is of course also what makes a fisheye lens so interesting, fun and challenging to use.

'Locks' (Fisheye Optic with the Composer on a Canon 5D MKII)

So far I have only had about an hour worth of shooting time with my new Lensbaby Fisheye Optic, so my thoughts are very preliminary indeed, but I have to say that I’m very impressed. After shooting just a couple of images my initial reaction was “this is a fun lens to use”.

In fact “fun” is probably the best single word I can think of to describe this lens.

While I was perfectly aware that the Lensbaby Fisheye Optic could capture a fisheye view from infinity all the way down to one inch away from the front of the lens, it was not until I actually held the lens right in front of a flower myself, and the flower was in sharp focus and only taking up about one third of the view, that this whole fisheye concept really sank in. It’s simply quite amazing. You have to try it for yourself.

If you already have a Lensbaby please note that the Fisheye Optic is designed for use with the Composer, but that it can also be used with the Muse with the purchase of a special adapter.

'Cat and Gate' (Fisheye Optic with the Composer on a Canon 5D MKII)

One of the things on my wishlist for the Fisheye Optic, though, is some kind of lens cap or other contraption to better protect the front element of the lens from getting scratched. This would give me more peace of mind if I wish to leave the Fisheye Optic in my Composer after use. I know it’s not a thousand dollar lens, but still. However I can easily overcome this small “problem” by simply not being lazy, and just return the lens to its dedicated plastic container after a shoot (the plastic container ships with lens). Problem is, of course, we humans are lazy by nature!

Anyway, all in all the Lensbaby Fisheye Optic is a really fun lens to use and I can’t wait to share some more pictures and thoughts on this lens over the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Roger over.

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