Capturing a "Metropolis" - Fisheye

Hello everyone,

if everything goes right, this winter i will visit Paris.
I already been in France but i went on a long "camping" trip from Florence to all around France except Paris!

Now the question about the lens: my favourite "Trip" lens actually is 18-135 IS STM, choosed for a question of price and preference for the long range instead of the classic 15-85! I'm not a big fan of the "classic" wide angle perspective, i don't like the "dramatism" of that perspective (except in some contest, particular landscapes or reportage photography) and it's just a subjective preference.

But... Paris is Paris, and like the other metropolis it would be cool to capture the essence of that place using a Wide-angle lens, but... how can i shoot something "wide" without obtaining that "dramatic" effect that i don't like?

Here i thought about the Fisheye.

Pro's:
1) The results are quietly often funny, and the mood is in line with a trip experience
2) It is quite WIDE, obviously
3) It is a creative lens, so probably, a funny one!
4) I could use it also with "close" sport shoot

Con's:
1) Well, you capture a "creative" picture, but rarely a great picture! Distortion is strong in this one!
2) Very particular lens

I would like to know if any of you choose a fisheye lens for shooting in a metropolis, and also choose one for a trip!
Mainly to capture a memory instead of using it to make "great" shoots!

ps: for the specifity of the lens i'll probably will go with Samyang 8 f3.5 (on APS-C)

Thanks for replies :)

Rent a full frame camera (6D or 5D III depending on how much money you have), and rent or buy a TS-E 17mm f/4L. The 17mm on a full frame will be like an 11mm on a APS-C. Also, with the TS-E you can get rid of all the distortion that you would get with normal wide angle lens, and it is an excellent (sharp) lens.

The downside of this approach... the TS-E has a learning curve:

1. It is manual focus only (but I believe the Samyang you reference is manual focus also).
2. You need time to figure out how to use it and adjust it to get rid of the distortion.
3. It is not weather resistant (but neither is you other lens you reference)

If you go this route, then rent it for some extra time before you leave so you have time to figure out the lens and camera together.

Pat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by conropl

Rent a full frame camera (6D or 5D III depending on how much money you have), and rent or buy a TS-E 17mm f/4L.
Pat

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Thank you for your suggestions!

Unluckly, for this year (and for a discrete amount of time) my money - not too much - went invested in the new 100-400 L IS USM II which i use really more often!

The TS lens is really magnificent, but is really far away from my reach :D!

That is the same situation for me. That is, I would love to have one, but cannot justify the cost yet.

In that case, you are going to have to live with some distortion, and learn to compose the shot to reduce it.

By the way, renting a TS-E 17 here in the U.S. is $84 for 4 days. And a 6D is $59 for 4 days.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by conropl

That is the same situation for me. That is, I would love to have one, but cannot justify the cost yet.

In that case, you are going to have to live with some distortion, and learn to compose the shot to reduce it.

By the way, renting a TS-E 17 here in the U.S. is $84 for 4 days. And a 6D is $59 for 4 days.

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I'm not sure to stay confortable visiting a big city like that with 4k rented material :D!

My doubt on the fisheye was if with that distortion, all pictures will looks the same... but if i choose the Fisheye lens... i'll stay with that distortion, for other things i can use the 18-135 without problems

Then rent an EF-S 10-18 or 10-22. Some distortion, no doubt, but not a lot, and you're not stuck with the fisheye effect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peety3

Then rent an EF-S 10-18 or 10-22. Some distortion, no doubt, but not a lot, and you're not stuck with the fisheye effect.

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+1

I carried a 10-22 Sigma on a 7D around London, and it worked out OK. The Canon offerings are better though.

Yeah I will also say that the Canon 10-22 is a good rectilinear UWA lens, and I really like mine. If the fisheye effect is what you want to avoid, then this is definitely an option you should consider.

If you want to save weight, shooting multiple exposures at 18mm with your 18-135 and then stitching together in Lightroom afterwards will give you a large field of view and a nice high resolution image. But the 10-22 is a pretty lightweight lens as well!

The doubt indeed is that: i'm not disturbed by fisheye, but it is anyway a really particular effect. I like the "mood" of it, it suits well with the idea of a trip, but is not what you want if you are trying to capture a really good photo. Maybe you obtain a funny one, but not a really good one.

The point is that every corner of Paris has been photographed so the fisheye could help me to capture some "funny\strange" perspective moments, and for everything else the 18-135 would suit perfectly!

The 10-18 or 10-22 are a bit too "dramatic" and i usually prefer to use the 10-18 in a natural contest, not a urban one (just personal preference)!

I will try to "test" a Samyang 8mm before the end of the year and then post some impression :)

Thank you everyone!

jamsus,

Great city to photograph. How long will you be there? What type of shots are you trying to get? I was in Paris for work this past March and added a few days with my wife before hand. Using the 5DIII, by far, most of my shots were taken with my general purpose zoom (24-70 II). It was too the point where if you wanted to travel light and take typically tourist photos, you could potentially just walk around with the one lens. My second most used lens was the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8. This was needed for closer shots of the Arc De Triumph and Eiffel tower. Then a few shots were taken with my 70-200 II. These were mostly from Sacre Couer or top of Montparnasse, trying to zoom in on specific landmarks. But the vast majority were taken with the 24-70 mm.

You might do very well with your general purpose zoom and your 100-400II (only for a few shots). As others have said, you could rent a EFS 10-18 or 10-22. The other lens I would encourage you to consider would be a fast prime for night street photography. I brought my 50 mm prime...but, honestly, never used it. But, I could see a faster prime being useful for night street photography and, potentially, inside cathedrals as I used f/2.8 and pushed my ISO on my 5DIII in those instances.

If you scroll through my flickr account, you will see several of my favorite shots.

Great place....enjoy,
Brant

I have a feeling that you are going to have an awesome time whatever you choose to do. Since you aren't going until winter, I can run downtown in Omaha with my 8mm fisheye and 7D and snap a couple of shots just to kid of show you want it will do when it comes to distortion. It is a fun lens but takes a little bit to get use to and adjust to. The focusing is the hardest part. I'll keep you posted when I get a chance.

The suggestion of the canon 10-whatever you would like would be a great option if you were able to get there. I think it may provide you more of an experience. You have to stop down the fisheye quite a bit to get sharp results...i'm thinking f/8+ range.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kayaker72

jamsus,

Great city to photograph. How long will you be there? What type of shots are you trying to get? I was in Paris for work this past March and added a few days with my wife before hand. Using the 5DIII, by far, most of my shots were taken with my general purpose zoom (24-70 II). It was too the point where if you wanted to travel light and take typically tourist photos, you could potentially just walk around with the one lens. My second most used lens was the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8. This was needed for closer shots of the Arc De Triumph and Eiffel tower. Then a few shots were taken with my 70-200 II. These were mostly from Sacre Couer or top of Montparnasse, trying to zoom in on specific landmarks. But the vast majority were taken with the 24-70 mm.

You might do very well with your general purpose zoom and your 100-400II (only for a few shots). As others have said, you could rent a EFS 10-18 or 10-22. The other lens I would encourage you to consider would be a fast prime for night street photography. I brought my 50 mm prime...but, honestly, never used it. But, I could see a faster prime being useful for night street photography and, potentially, inside cathedrals as I used f/2.8 and pushed my ISO on my 5DIII in those instances.

If you scroll through my flickr account, you will see several of my favorite shots.

Great place....enjoy,
Brant

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Thank you Brant,

before you write it, i already scrolled some of you pictures :)

The idea in fact was - General Purpose Lens (18-135) and 35 f2 old, for the cathedral\internal shots! The 100-400 is a bit big for the idea of winter holyday we had! I'll keep it for the 3-4 escursions planned for this winter (i hope Wolves around Belgian barrier and the Sanctuary of Cetaceans here in italy!)

Now i got 4 months to decide if going with a "dramatic" wide angle, which i don't like too much, or a funny fisheye... or none of them :-p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jayson

I have a feeling that you are going to have an awesome time whatever you choose to do. Since you aren't going until winter, I can run downtown in Omaha with my 8mm fisheye and 7D and snap a couple of shots just to kid of show you want it will do when it comes to distortion. It is a fun lens but takes a little bit to get use to and adjust to. The focusing is the hardest part. I'll keep you posted when I get a chance.

The suggestion of the canon 10-whatever you would like would be a great option if you were able to get there. I think it may provide you more of an experience. You have to stop down the fisheye quite a bit to get sharp results...i'm thinking f/8+ range.

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That would be great Jayson, thank you!

BTW...I looked up the statistics from my trip:

• 80% 5DIII with the 24-70 II
• 8.5% 5DIII with the 70-200 II (so I was wrong in that this was my #2 most used combination)
• 7.5% 5DIII with the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 (while it was #3, of my "favorite" shots, it was easily #2)
• 4% taken with the EOS-M system (and 1-2 of my favorite shots)

Even though I packed it, I ended up not using my 50 mm prime (but I could still see using it). The lens that I would have liked to have had would have been a TSE lens, although I did shoot wide a couple of time and straighten the lines in post.

I will "think" a bit more about that.

This weekend i tried a 15-85 and i don't find it really more useful than my 18-135 IS STM, so this option is discarded.

After the 15-85, i tried the 10-22 but... mmm, i think i will stay with 18-135 - i prefer "framing" a bit more instead than including a lot of elements with the 10-22 and it's just a matter of personal preference.

Now i need to try the 8mm just to say "ok, let's bring that" - No "classic" wide angle for me at the end :)