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 Yes, I do have a love affair with semi-fisheye lenses. But I have no truck with those who only use them to create weirdo perspectives of bulging buildings falling over backward.
As I’ve previously shown, 180- degree semi-fisheyes covering a full 35mm frame are terrific for cramming in an incredible amount of material, from right in front of your nose to as far as your eye can see. No other lens provides such sweep and depth.
First, let’s straighten out fisheye nomenclature. Lens manufacturers muddy up the optical waters by referring to both true fisheyes (producing full-circle photos) and full-frame fisheyes (covering the whole 24x36mm format) as simply “fisheyes.” We will call full-frame fisheyes “semi-fisheyes,” which is common parlance among photographers.
Part of semi-fisheye fun is trying to arrange the picture area so the curved linear distortion (actually barrel distortion, which increases as you get closer to the edges of the frame) is minimized and the subject material dominates.
I’ve been surprised at how many readers, after seeing my pictures, bought semi-fisheye lenses and proudly sent me their 180-degree results. (14mm, the greatest true wide-angle lens generally available for 35mm SLRs, covers only a puny 114 degrees.) I compliment all those readers who were ingenious in hiding much of the semi-fisheye barrel distortion.
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How does the semi-fisheye compare with true rectilinear 14mm coverage?
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| 14mm f/3.5 Sigma rectilinear lens: Widest available 35mm SLR lens, focal length provides accurate imaging in center, but typical wide-angle flattening of buildings at edges. Coverage is 114 degrees. |
16mm f/2.8 Zenitar semi-fisheye: Linear curves of buildings increase away from center, producing amusing, otherworldly perspective. Coverage is an immense 180 degrees.
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