fisheye

Panasonic converters push Lumix lenses long and wide

Panasonic announced four converters at CES to make its Lumix G series lenses photograph subjects that are farther, closer, and wider.

The four converters increase the flexibility of the lenses--and of Panasonic's Lumix G series of Micro Four Thirds. These cameras, one of the early entrants and now strong players in the interchangeable lens camera (ILC) market, forsake SLRs' reflex mirrors for a smaller design. So far even relatively strong ILC companies like Panasonic can't match the range of lenses available to SLR leaders Canon and Nikon.

Enter the converters, which will ship sometime in 2012 for as-yet … Read more

Crave giveaway of the week: Lensbaby package

Though we haven't had a digital-imaging-related giveaway in a while, we have a good one this week from Lensbaby for all of you with dSLR cameras. We're not only offering up the Lensbaby Composer Lens but we're also throwing in the two newest additions to the Lensbaby Optic Swap System, the Fisheye Optic, and the Soft Focus Optic.

That's a pretty sweet package. The good news is that if you win, Lensbaby will send you the right products for your specific camera, whether it's a Canon EF (EOS), Nikon F, Sony Alpha A / Minolta … Read more

Fisheye camera distorts your view of the world

Designer Jian Guan is a self-professed fan of distortion caused by fisheye lenses. To him, pictures taken with these optics show more of the environment and can be useful for 3D rendering. This is probably why he formulated the Fun Camera.

Shaped like a magnifying glass, the shooter houses a 16-millimeter lens and has a mirror so you can take distorted self-portraits. While it does have its entertainment value, we see some practical use for it: Real estate agents can use the Fun Camera and snap a shot that shows much more view of the room, though the distorted walls … Read more

Sunex starts selling Superfisheye lenses

Update 10:07 p.m. PST: I added some further comment from Sunex.

LAS VEGAS--A California company called Sunex wants to make it even easier to photograph your toes inadvertently.

At the Photo Marketing Association trade show here, Sunex plans to show off its new Superfisheye lens whose 5.6mm focal length provide a view encompassing a 185-degree span.

The Superfisheye lens costs $799 for Nikon and Canon SLRs with smaller sensors. It's got a constant f/5.6 aperture. The price includes software to "dewarp" the peculiar fisheye perspective into the rectilinear view humans are more … Read more

Sigma: Two new fisheye lenses for digital SLRs

Sigma announced two fisheye lenses Wednesday, one with a 4.5mm focal length and the other a 10mm model--for Canon, Nikon, and Sigma SLR camera owners who want to photograph extreme wide angle views.

Fisheye lenses capture light from an extremely broad angle, but produce distorted views of the world with parallel lines bowing outward. That distortion can be annoying, but many enjoy it as an artistic effect--think giant bulging faces in the foreground dominating tiny trees beyond--and scientists use some varieties of fisheye for precise measurements such as the sky's cloud cover.

But the digital SLR era has … Read more