Panasonic LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 Review

The Panasonic LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 is a fisheye lens for the Micro Four Thirds system. Offering a diagonal angle of view of 180 degrees, the LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm is comprised of ten lenses in nine groups, an inner focus system with a closest focusing distance of 10cm, and a stepping motor which makes the focusing action smooth and silent for use in both photo and movie recording. Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings, and a sheet filter such as a gelatin filter can be inserted in the rear of the lens. The Panasonic LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 lens is available for £729 / $799.99 in the UK and the US, respectively.

The LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 lens attached to a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

The LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 is a tiny lens that easily fits in the palm of your hand, measuring just over 5cms long, and it offers a 35mm equivalent focal range of 16mm.
Front of the lens

It's also remarkably light at only 165 grams, and therefore well-suited for use on any Micro Four Thirds body.

Front of lens, isometric view

In terms of features, the lens has little to offer (aside from its unique view, of course). There is no distance scale, no focus limiter and no image stabilisation, either. This is no big deal really as camera-shake is much less common at such a wide focal length.

Alongside the DMC-GH2

The LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 lens may have a lot of plastic parts, but the lens mount is, thankfully, made of metal. Panasonic does not claim any sort of weather resistance for this lens, and indeed you cannot see a rubber seal around the mount (note that no current Micro Four Thirds camera is weather sealed anyway).

Rear of lens, isometric view

The lens comes with an integrated hood which can't be removed. You can still fit filters to this lens via the rear sheet filter holder, which accepts 22mm filters.

At 8mm the lens has a diagonal angle of view of 180°, equivalent to that of a 16mm lens in a 35mm system.

Field of view at 8mm

The LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 lens offers virtually silent focusing which is internal, so the lens never changes length. In use, we have also found the system surprisingly quick on the DMC-GH2, though not quite as zippy as the GH2 and 14-140mm lens combo.

Manual focusing is possible in a focus-by-wire fashion. This should not put you off using it as it feels pretty natural in use, and actually enables the camera to display a magnified view of the subject automatically, i.e. without your having to press a dedicated button or enter the menu. The focus ring is slim but adequate for the job.

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are not too much of a problem with this lens, as shown by the 100% crops below.

With the lens set to its maximum aperture, you can see a little light fall-off in the corners, but nothing very excessive. You will likely only notice this when photographing a subject with large homogeneous surfaces.

Although Panasonic does not call this a macro lens, it actually puts up a pretty good close-up performance, as demonstrated by the example below. The LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 has a closest focusing distance of 10cm / 0.33ft at all focal lengths and a maximum 0.40x magnification rating.

Close-up performance

In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following page.

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5 Ways to Get Creative with a Fisheye Lens

Using a fisheye lens is a surefire way to boost creativity and fun while taking pictures. Here's 5 tips on some of the many different uses for a fisheye lens.

by James Brandon

A fisheye lens is easily one of the best ways to get creative and have a blast with photography. As far as lenses go, a fisheye is relatively cheap (around $650) making them accessible to a wide group of photogs. It’s important to know what a fisheye lens is, where it came from, and where the uses of a fisheye lens begin and end.

Originally used for meteorology to study the sky and cloud formations, fisheye’s were originally called “whole-sky lenses.” These lenses quickly became popular in the general photography field because of their fun and unique uses, and of course their incredibly distorted lines. They can be used for many different purposes, both professional and for fun (but mostly for fun). Here are 5 creative ways to use a fisheye lens that you can implement immediately…

Shooting a wedding reception with a fisheye lens can be an absolute blast. These receptions are usually in low light and are a challenge to get great images out of. When I’m shooting a reception, I get right in the middle of the dance floor and just shoot away. To get this radial-blur effect, simply slow down your shutter speed to around 1/25th of a second. Next, you need to spin the camera 90 degrees counter clockwise. To do this, simply cradle the lens with your left hand while using your right hand to pivot the camera body around. Not every image is going to come out, but you can almost always walk away with a few keepers.

One thing to note when using a fisheye lens is this: The further you move an object or line to the edge of the frame, the more distorted it becomes. If you place the horizon in the middle of the frame, it will be perfectly straight across the entire image. The exaggerate this distortion, place the horizon dangerously close to the top of the frame. Just be careful, you might get home and find your legs in the bottom of the frame .

Sometimes, a fisheye can be used simply to capture everything you want in a scene. Sometimes, you don’t want distorted lines but still need that super wide angle. If you have a landscape without straight lines (buildings, trees, telephone poles, etc) you can sometimes position the lens in a way that it simply looks like a wide angle lens. Just make sure your horizon is towards the middle of the frame. Doing this will allow you to capture a nearly 180 degree view of a scene while avoiding the distorted, crazy look of a fisheye lens.

There’s no way you could capture this much of a ceiling with a normal lens. This was taken at the Gaylor Texan in Grapevine, Texas and this ceiling is absolutely massive. With symmetrical architecture like this, a lot of times there will be a clear marker on the ground to signify the exact middle of the room. When I looked up and saw this site, my fisheye was the only lens that crossed my mind!

The most important thing is to have fun Whether you’re shooting for fun, or for clients (as pictured above). A fisheye is a prime lens, meaning that you can’t zoom in or out with it. Therefore, it’s up to you to act as the zoom for the lens. Be sure to change perspectives and experiment with different angles and lines. Get down low to the ground, even if it means laying on your stomach in the gravel on a railroad track. Lean up against a wall and use the distortion of the lens to wrap the wall around the frame. Just have fun!

If you have examples of fisheye photography that you’d like to share, be sure and leave a link in the comments below!

View the original article here

5 Ways to Get Creative with a Fisheye Lens

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A fisheye lens is easily one of the best ways to get creative and have a blast with photography. As far as lenses go, a fisheye is relatively cheap (around $650) making them accessible to a wide group of photogs. It’s important to know what a fisheye lens is, where it came from, and where the uses of a fisheye lens begin and end.

Originally used for meteorology to study the sky and cloud formations, fisheye’s were originally called “whole-sky lenses.” These lenses quickly became popular in the general photography field because of their fun and unique uses, and of course their incredibly distorted lines. They can be used for many different purposes, both professional and for fun (but mostly for fun). Here are 5 creative ways to use a fisheye lens that you can implement immediately…

1. Radial Blur

Shooting a wedding reception with a fisheye lens can be an absolute blast. These receptions are usually in low light and are a challenge to get great images out of. When I’m shooting a reception, I get right in the middle of the dance floor and just shoot away. To get this radial-blur effect, simply slow down your shutter speed to around 1/25th of a second. Next, you need to spin the camera 90 degrees counter clockwise. To do this, simply cradle the lens with your left hand while using your right hand to pivot the camera body around. Not every image is going to come out, but you can almost always walk away with a few keepers.

2. Exaggerate the Curvature of the Earth

One thing to note when using a fisheye lens is this: The further you move an object or line to the edge of the frame, the more distorted it becomes. If you place the horizon in the middle of the frame, it will be perfectly straight across the entire image. The exaggerate this distortion, place the horizon dangerously close to the top of the frame. Just be careful, you might get home and find your legs in the bottom of the frame .

3. Shoot Super Wide Landscapes Without The Fisheye Look

Sometimes, a fisheye can be used simply to capture everything you want in a scene. Sometimes, you don’t want distorted lines but still need that super wide angle. If you have a landscape without straight lines (buildings, trees, telephone poles, etc) you can sometimes position the lens in a way that it simply looks like a wide angle lens. Just make sure your horizon is towards the middle of the frame. Doing this will allow you to capture a nearly 180 degree view of a scene while avoiding the distorted, crazy look of a fisheye lens.

4. Capture Entire Ceilings

There’s no way you could capture this much of a ceiling with a normal lens. This was taken at the Gaylor Texan in Grapevine, Texas and this ceiling is absolutely massive. With symmetrical architecture like this, a lot of times there will be a clear marker on the ground to signify the exact middle of the room. When I looked up and saw this site, my fisheye was the only lens that crossed my mind!

5. Change Your Perspective and Embrace Those Lines!

The most important thing is to have fun Whether you’re shooting for fun, or for clients (as pictured above). A fisheye is a prime lens, meaning that you can’t zoom in or out with it. Therefore, it’s up to you to act as the zoom for the lens. Be sure to change perspectives and experiment with different angles and lines. Get down low to the ground, even if it means laying on your stomach in the gravel on a railroad track. Lean up against a wall and use the distortion of the lens to wrap the wall around the frame. Just have fun!

If you have examples of fisheye photography that you’d like to share, be sure and leave a link in the comments below!

Post from: Digital Photography School

View the original article here