Fish Eye Lens,fisheye Lens,wide Angle Lens
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| Fish Eye Lenses: Viewing Photos from a A Different Perspective
What you see is what you don't get with most camera lenses. That's certainly not a problem for today's photographers; even a third-grader armed with a digital camera can shoot decent, if not interesting, photos ready for publication in the school newspaper. But for tech-savvy amateurs and professionals alike, point-and-shoot cameras are fine for family albums, but don't offer the challenge of serious photography.
It's likely you'll find a telephoto lens in most camera bags, and for more creative shots, most photographers also carry a wide angle lens. But often left off a camera-bug's list is one of the more interesting attachments available: the fish eye lens. If you've viewed a photograph that seems to capture the entire night sky, including every star the naked eye can shoot, you've seen the results of fish eye lenses. At the other end of the spectrum, if you've chuckled at someone's portrait because of its unflattering distortion, you're most likely seeing a different use of fish eye lenses. |
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| What photographers are finally realizing is that the lesser-used fish eye lens offers intriguing effects of a 180-degree viewpoint. Though the fish eye was initially designed for shooting cloud formations and other meteorological curiosities, the lenses now come in two formats: circular and full-frame lenses. Circular fish eyes were developed for scientific purposes (and in fact, are the standard in IMAX theaters), but as they grew in popularity, the full-frame fish eye lens was manufactured, offering everyday photographers the chance to focus on a broader array of subjects.
The appeal of fish eye lenses vary from the desire to capture images from a bug-eye's view to producing panoramic images to composing artistic views of everyday life. Planning the right composition can create images that include everything the eye sees, with a dynamic perspective not commonly seen. As long as the photographer keeps straight lines that appear in the center of the shot, a fish eye will avoid the extreme distortion often associated with the lens -- still providing a full-view of the subject. For example, the cliffs surrounding a beautiful coastline and a lighthouse sitting atop a rocky crag will appear in a properly aligned fish eye photo. |
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| Once the decision to purchase a fish eye lens is made, it pays to shop carefully -- fish eye lenses are often more expensive than more-familiar types. If you're planning to shoot close-ups of skateboarders in the air vs. capturing the colorful views of underwater wildlife, you'll need to research the specifics of these lenses. Though Nikon pioneered the consumer fish eye market, several other companies -- Canon, Sigma, Minolta and Pentax -- provide a variety of focal lengths and sizes.
Though it seems as if anyone can take good photos today, more creative types wanting to look outside the box -- and typical viewfinder -- will find that fish eye lenses will give their photos a whole new look. |
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