Which full-frame fisheye lenses work on 35mm film, and what matters for close-range depth of field?
Asked 3/9/2011
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I’m looking for a fisheye lens that covers a full 35mm film frame, not a crop-only digital fisheye. I’m especially interested in lenses that can focus very close, around 1 foot (30cm), and give enough depth of field to keep subjects from roughly 1 to 5 feet acceptably sharp. Which currently available full-frame fisheye options should I look at, and is maximum aperture actually important for this kind of close-range depth of field?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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No camera brand was specified but here is the complete list of full-frame fisheyes. It's an easy search from the lens finder and you can use the Refine Result column (orange box) to get results for your mount. Note that there are not that many choices, only one for some mounts.
What you need to pay attention to is the row called Min Focus for these lenses, since you want focus at 1 feet (= 30cm) and some lenses cannot focus that close at all (EDIT: I see that all those actually do). You can use the refinement column again to narrow your results.
For more depth-of-field, you want to stop the lens down to a small aperture (represented by a big number such as F/11 or more), so the maximum aperture won't matter. Another point is that fisheyes have (because of their ultra-short focal-lengths) a huge depth-of-field compared to other lenses.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
15y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For this, the key specs are full-frame coverage and minimum focusing distance for your camera mount. There aren’t many full-frame fisheye options, and availability depends heavily on mount, so it’s best to filter a lens database or retailer search by mount and “full-frame fisheye.”
For your 1–5 ft sharpness goal, maximum aperture is not the deciding factor. Depth of field increases when you stop the lens down, so you’ll typically want a smaller aperture such as f/11 or smaller, especially for very close subjects. With fisheyes’ very short focal lengths, depth of field is naturally large, which helps.
So the practical advice is:
- choose a full-frame fisheye for your mount
- make sure its minimum focus distance reaches about 30 cm / 1 ft or closer
- plan to stop down rather than rely on a fast maximum aperture
One example mentioned was the Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye, which was praised as very sharp on full frame. But the best choice overall depends on your camera mount and whether the lens focuses close enough for your intended shots.
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