Lensbaby New Circular Fisheye Lens

Lensbaby new Circular Fisheye lens, is quite different to a regular fisheye lens, you can focus as close as 1/4" and as far as infinity.

I was anticipated the arrival on that new lens, with a lot excitation, everything about it seems amazing, but my first experience wasn't what I expected.

HOW TO USE from Lensbaby Site

1. Adjust your camera's diopter for your eyesight. 
2. Set your camera to manual or aperture priority mode.
3. Set your aperture.
4. Rotate the ring to focus.

Seems easy enough, except if you are like me using a full frame camera, as it produce a lot smaller image circle, it means for me anyway that I cannot use my viewfinder, I cannot see any details way too small.

A bit of frustration, I put it away for few days, as I am so busy preparing our move to Argentina!

Even if I wasn't happy at first, I decided to give it another try, just few shots, using my camera digital screen and using the magnification button up to x10 it is pretty easy to focus and see all the details.

I am going to do other test shots using my tripod, and I am sure that with time and practice this little piece of equipment will become a favorite not only for imagery but also for movie clips during my adventure to North and South America.

I cropped the image to give you a better view,  Jpg's at very low resolution,  my tiff high resolution images even if I cropped them and used high ISO "800" are very clear, even at f3.5

View from my window early morning, rainy day, Very low resolution image, Lensbaby Fisheye Circular mounted on Canon full frame 5D Markiii,  f3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 640

As close as I could get the lens almost touching the tomatoes, Lensbaby Fisheye Circular mounted on Canon full frame 5D Markiii,  f3.5, 1/4sec. ISO800

As you can see the possibility are amazing, from many hotel room windows to directly into different meal plates, I am positive this will be a great travel lens.

I am going to try different shooting techniques with it, and keep you updated with my results,

To get Perfect Effect 4 for Free click on the link on the right of the page

Creative Lens "Canon Fisheye 15mm 2.8"

Creative Lens "Canon Fisheye 15mm 2.8"

I used that lens before for landscape, not a fan of it for landscape work, I will give it another try next time I am in the mountains. Very different feeling when I used it in town.  

I decided to use it in DT Calgary, exploring a way to shoot the new Bow Building the new home of Encana & Cenovus, 1.7 Million sq ft, Encana sold it, and leased it for 25 years, apparently the cost of the construction was over 1.4 billion, and at completion in 2012,  it became the 149th tallest building in the world.

f9,1/640sec, ISO 200

On the plaza in front of the building rise the Wonderland, a work by the Spanish Sculptor Jaume Plensa . The sculpture is a 12-metre-tall bent-wire portrait of a young girl's head,  the key feature of the main plaza area. 

A lot of big stuff to shoot with a regular lens, and very interesting if done with Canon Fisheye lens attached to my Canon 5D Markiii, I know it's not for everyone,  the distortion of wide lenses like this one is great, and if you want straight lines this is not the lens for it, but it can be very artistic.

 f9, 1/1000sec, ISO 200

f9, 1/15sec, ISO 200

After visiting and  shooting the Bow and the Wonderland sculpture, I used the Fisheye to shoot a woman sculpture one of the Famous Five "Louise McKinney" McKinney ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1917 Alberta general election. She won the electoral district of Claresholm as a candidate for the Non-Partisan League by defeating Liberal incumbent William Moffat. She was in office  from June 7, 1917 to July 18 1921.

Shooting this sculpture with a lens that wide bring me very close and personal to it, as you can see.

On the last note, I think this little lens as a lot to offer:)