The post Canon Unveils a Dual Fisheye Virtual Reality Lens, the RF 5.2mm f/2.8L appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Canon has announced a one-of-a-kind lens for EOS R cameras: the RF 5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye lens, which looks exactly as strange as it sounds:
And check out the lens again, this time mounted to the Canon EOS R5:
So what is this bizarre new lens? What’s it’s purpose?
The RF 5.2mm f/2.8L is designed for virtual reality (VR) recording; it’s “the world’s first digital interchangeable dual fisheye lens capable of shooting stereoscopic 3D 180° VR imagery to a single image sensor.” In other words, the twin fisheye lenses offer two frames covering a huge field of view in total; when processed, this footage turns into a single, 180-degree image, and with the proper equipment (the press release mentions the Oculus Quest 2), viewers can feel truly present in the scene.
It seems that, when the RF 5.2mm f/2.8L debuts, it will be available solely for EOS R5 cameras, though this could change once the lens hits the market. Such a unique lens is bound to turn heads, and Canon has certainly been hard at work, offering a product with an outstanding form factor – for filmmakers who record on the go or who simply prefer to minimize kit size – along with weather resistance, a very nice f/2.8 maximum aperture, and most importantly, Canon’s in-built filter system. The latter allows you to use neutral density (ND) filters when recording, essential for serious videographers.
Unfortunately, processing dual fisheye images isn’t done with standard editing software. Instead, Canon is developing several (paid) programs capable of handling VR footage: a Premiere Pro plugin, and a “VR Utility.” The company explains, “With the EOS VR Plug-In for Adobe Premiere Pro, creators will be able to automatically convert footage to equirectangular, and cut, color, and add new dimension to stories with Adobe Creative Cloud apps, including Premiere Pro,” while “Canon’s EOS VR Utility will offer the ability to convert clips from dual fisheye image to equirectangular and make quick edits.”
So who should think about purchasing this new lens? It’s a good question, and one without an easy answer. Canon’s decision to bring out a dedicated VR lens suggests a growing interest in creating VR content. But the day when most video is viewed through VR technology seems a long way off, at least from where I’m sitting.
That said, if VR recording sounds interesting, you should at least check out this nifty new lens. Canon suggests a December release date with a $ 1999 USD price tag, and you can expect Canon’s VR post-processing software around the same time.
Now over to you:
Are you interested in this new lens? Do you do (or hope to do) any VR recording? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The post Canon Unveils a Dual Fisheye Virtual Reality Lens, the RF 5.2mm f/2.8L appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Researchers with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and MIT have developed a new type of fisheye lens that is flat and crafted from a single piece of glass. The lens is round, according to the researchers, and it is capable of capturing sharp 180-degree panoramas. This is the first flat fisheye lens made from a single piece of glass, which measures 1mm thick.
Ordinary spherical fisheye lenses are made from multiple pieces of glass designed to bend the light in such a way that it produces circular wide-angle images. The newly developed flat lens instead captures wide-angle panoramas by utilizing ‘tiny structures’ that scatter light in place of the curved glass elements in more costly spherical fisheye lenses.
The version of the lense introduced by the researchers is made for infrared photography, but the team says that it could be modified for use as a regular visible spectrum lens, as well. The flat design is ultimately more compact and less expensive to produce than spherical multi-element lenses.
The researchers envision a variety of uses for their lens design beyond interchangeable lenses. The thin, flat nature of the design would make it possible to implement the fisheye into smartphones, for example, eliminating the need to use a third-party lens add-on. Similar implementation could be used with laptops, VR headsets and even devices like medical imaging equipment.
MIT associate professor Juejun Hu, one of the researchers on the project, explained:
This design comes as somewhat of a surprise, because some have thought it would be impossible to make a metalens with an ultra-wide-field view. The fact that this can actually realize fisheye images is completely outside expectation. This isn’t just light-bending — it’s mind-bending.
Metalens refers to a flat lens that has tiny structures for focusing light. While wide-angle metalenses aren’t new, the researchers note that a single piece of glass without any extra optics have been limited to 60-degrees. The newly published study details how the team got around these restrictions to develop an ultra-wide-angle lens capable of capturing 180-degree panoramas without extra components.
This 180-degree fisheye metalens features a single piece of transparent glass made from calcium fluoride with a lead telluride film on one side. A pattern of ‘optical structures’ called meta-atoms was carved into the film using lithographic techniques, the result of which were many ‘nanoscale geometries’ used to bend the light in specific, precise ways.
The carved structures can introduce phase delays into the scattering of the light — depending on their shape — to imitate the natural phase delays produced by the curved glass elements in spherical fisheye lenses. The light passes from the carved structures on the back of the lens through an optical aperture on the front of the lens.
Study co-author Mikhail Shalaginov said:
When light comes in through this aperture, it will refract at the first surface of the glass, and then will get angularly dispersed. The light will then hit different parts of the backside, from different and yet continuous angles. As long as you design the back side properly, you can be sure to achieve high-quality imaging across the entire panoramic view.
The study was partially funded by DARPA through its EXTREME program, which tasks experts with developing optical tools ‘to enable new functionality and/or vastly improve size, weight, and power characteristics of traditional optical systems.’ The agency goes on to explain that EXTREME will ‘explore this optical design space and aims to understand the trade-offs, and harness the possibilities, afforded’ by Engineered Optical Materials (EnMats).
The post 5 Creative Uses for a Fisheye Lens in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.
The search for that unique angle that sets your photography apart from the rest is a common aspiration for most photographers. In today’s article, you’ll learn creative uses for a fisheye lens that will give your photos the wow factor.
A fisheye lens is a unique lens with niche qualities that set it apart from other kinds of lenses. Read on and discover what you can do with this type of lens.
Kinetic light painting is one of the examples of creative uses for a fisheye lens.
What is a fisheye lens?
A fisheye lens is essentially a super wide-angle lens. However, it has more properties than this. This type of lens will cause distortion in your photo which, when correctly applied to your image, will enhance the photo. One of the key characteristics of this lens is the curved shape of the optic at the front of the lens. This means that you won’t be able to use a regular lens cap for this lens. It’s possible to get a fisheye as a prime lens or a zoom lens.
Prime lens: The majority of fisheye lenses are prime lenses. They come with a typical aperture of f/2.8 and a focal length of 8mm or 15mm, depending on whether you have a full-frame sensor or a crop sensor camera.
Zoom lens: Zoom lens fisheyes have a smaller aperture at f/4, but allow you to change the focal length. This can give you even more creative options, as at the widest focal length your photo will be circular with a black frame.
1. Create distortion on the horizon line
One of the obvious creative uses for a fisheye lens is to create distortion on the horizon line. You can use the lens to make the horizon line curve upward or downward.
In order to make the horizon line bend downward, you’ll need to aim the camera down toward the ground. This means a large portion of the photo will feature the ground, so make sure the foreground contains enough interest to do that.
Then, as you may have guessed:
To make the horizon line bend upward, you’ll need to aim the camera up and toward the sky. If you’re aiming at the sky, try to do this when the sky is dramatic as it will fill the frame.
This photo makes use of a textured foreground with the wave. You can see the horizon line is clearly bending.
2. Use a fisheye for an ultra-wide perspective
It’s possible to use your fisheye lens as a regular wide-angle lens, but even wider. This is best achieved by aiming your camera at the horizon line and keeping the angle of your camera flat.
Look to avoid objects on the edge of the frame, as they’ll still distort and aim inwards unless you use post-processing to correct this. Locations with a minimalist feel like coastlines or deserts will work best for this kind of photo.
In this photo the horizon line is kept flat, and the entire pond is captured.
3. Take photos of architecture
The fisheye lens is a real gift for architectural photographers. Its distortion can be used for creative effect to frame the scene you’re photographing. You’ll often be able to incorporate elements that are behind you, because the focal length is that wide. This all means you’ll really be able to emphasis the lines in your composition to create powerful architecture photos.
There are lots of great lines in this photo, with the person adding perspective.
4. Use intentional camera movement
Intentional camera movement means moving the camera during the course of an exposure. The exposure length will need to be long enough for the camera movement to be obvious in your final image. An exposure of 1/15s during the day will work, and even longer exposures can be tried at night when using a tripod. Whether you’re photographing during the day or at night will lead to two distinct types of photography.
Radial blur: This effect is produced handheld, and involves rotating the camera around an imaginary central point. The result is best when you keep the camera steady as you rotate, and an exposure of around 1/15s is often needed.
Kinetic light painting: This is the nighttime variant of the radial blur, but taken from a tripod. This type of photo is a form of kinetic light painting, with the camera pivoting on the head of your tripod.
This photo is an example of radial blur (taken handheld).
5. Interesting portrait photos
The fisheye lens can be a great lens for portrait photography, as well. It has some versatility, even though it’s a niche wide-angle lens. If you choose to get close to your model you can distort their appearance for an interesting effect, though make sure your results are okay with the subject!
A popular approach is to make one body part especially large, perhaps the person’s eye or a hand stretched out toward the camera. Another approach is to emphasize the architecture around the model. In this case, they’ll be smaller in the frame, with perhaps a tunnel surrounding them.
Fisheye lenses can work very well for portraits, where they capture more of the scene.
The fisheye effect in a lensball
A cheaper alternative is to buy a lensball or, as many people know it, a crystal ball. The optics of a lensball, with its spherical surface, replicate those of a fisheye lens. The effect is different, but this can be a great introduction to the perspective offered by a fisheye lens with its distortion. If the composition works for a lensball, the composition will also work for a fisheye lens.
A lensball is the nearest you’ll get to the fisheye effect without buying a fisheye lens.
Try out creative uses for a fisheye lens!
There are lots of creative uses for a fisheye lens; have you tried any of the methods mentioned in this article?
If you have any thoughts on fisheye photography, then please leave them in the comments section! As always, we encourage you to get out and practice your photography. So if you have examples of creative fisheye photos, then go ahead and share those in the comments section, too!
The post 5 Creative Uses for a Fisheye Lens in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.
For $ 39,000 USD, you can now purchase a 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens for Sony’s full-frame E mount. This wild lens offers a 270-degree field of view, meaning that it can photograph the area behind the focal plane. For the curious photographers and videographers without nearly $ 40,000 burning a hole in their pocket, the lens can be rented from Lensrentals for around $ 1,250 a week.
The 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens has unique origins. Back in 2015, Roger Cicala and the Lensrentals team announced the launch of C-4 Precision Optics as an April Fools’ Day prank of sorts. There were various lenses discussed in the article, including a 66.6mm F0.666 Micro Four Thirds lens, a 150mm F1.0 full-frame prime lens and a full-frame 4.9mm F3.5 270-degree fisheye lens.
The lattermost lens was nicknamed ‘The Light Bender’ by Cicala and the C-4 Precision Optics team. Unlike most April Fools’ Day pranks, however, this one is no longer a laughing matter. Of the lens, Cicala wrote on the Lensrentals blog, “That means this lens not only shows everything from one side to the other (for the mathematically challenged among you, that would be 180 degrees), it actually shows stuff that’s behind you.”
In February 2019, Cicala and the Lensrentals team including Aaron Closz, Brian Caldwell and Wilfried Bittner, assembled a prototype version of the fisheye lens. You can see a video of this process below.
The lens is now out of prototype stage and available for preorder and rental. This specialty manual lens for Sony E mount delivers a 270-degree field of view and weighs a hefty 12.97 kilograms (28.6 pounds). Optically, it includes five extra-low dispersion lens elements. To help put into perspective what a 270-degree field of view looks like, you can see a sample image via Lensrentals below.
Sample image captured using the C-4 Precision Optics 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens. Image credit: Lensrentals.
Comparing the 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens to other fisheye lenses, Cicala says it most closely resembles Nikon’s legendary Nikkor 6mm F2.8 fisheye, which is very rare and can sell for upwards of six figures (USD). The Nikon lens captures images with a 220-degree field of view.
Physically, the lens is very different from most other lenses. It includes built-in extendable tripod legs and you mount the camera to the lens inside the tripod array. The lens has been designed with immersive video applications and specialty applications in mind. Accordingly, it cannot be set up and used as simply as other more traditional fisheye lenses.
The C-4 Precision Optics 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens shown with an attached Sony mirrorless camera. As you can see, the camera mount to the lens inside of the built-in extendable tripod legs. Image credit: LensAuthority.
For those interested in learning more about the lens, we recommend heading to Lensrentals to read a full recap of the prototype assembly process, which includes dozens of detailed images. It’s very neat to see a hand-built lens come to life.
The C-4 Precision Optics 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens is available for Sony E mount and can be ordered via LensAuthority for $ 39,000 USD. You can also rent the lens from Lensrentals. This will cost $ 1,246 USD for a week.
In addition to DPReview receiving confirmation that Venus Optics is working on a new ultra-fast F0.95 ‘Argus’ lens lineup, Venus Optics has also announced it’s adding new mount options for its 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens.
Now, in addition to Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras, the 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens will be available for Canon M-, Fuji X- and Sony E-mount camera systems. The updated models will feature the same optical design constructed of seven elements in six groups. The lens features a 210-degree angle of view, 8cm (3.14in) minimum focusing distance, seven-blade aperture diaphragm and weighs just 135g (4.7oz).
Below is a gallery of sample images, provided by Venus Optics:
The new Canon M-, Fuji X- and Sony E-mount versions of the 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens are currently available on Venus Optics’ website for $ 200.
Venus Optics adds Fuji X, Sony E & Canon M options to the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye Lens
Anhui China, Aug 7, 2019 – Venus Optics, the camera lenses manufacturer specializes in making unique camera lenses, add new Fuji X, Sony E and Canon M variants to the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye Lens.
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens is an 8mm equivalent fisheye prime specially designed for mirrorless cameras with APS-C and MFT sensors. On the contrary to the Laowa ‘Zero-D’ wide angle lenses, the new 4mm fisheye lens is designed to create an extremely distorted circular fisheye perspective.
210° angle of view The lens features an ultra-wide 210° angle of view. Photographers can take advantage of the dramatic field of view to capture more than what your eyes can see. A full 360-degree panorama can also be done using just 2 images as opposed to shooting 6 or more images with conventional fisheye lenses. This lens is also particularly good for VR photography, shooting virtual tour, skateboard shooting and spherical panorama.
Fast f/2.8 aperture The ultra-fast f/2.8 aperture makes it an ideal option for astro-photography and shooting in lowlight condition.
Focus as close as 3.14” (8cm) from sensor Photographers can take advantage of the super close focusing distance to capture some heavily distorted & impactful shots.
Drones friendly The MFT version of the lens can be mounted on DJI Inspire X5 drones to create some epic ‘God’s vision’ shots.
Outstanding sharpness Houses with 7 elements in 6 groups, the new 4mm has an outstanding sharpness throughout the frame. Along with the 210o ultra-wide angle, photographers can either ‘de-fish’ the image in post-processing or crop to transform the image into a rectilinear image.
Super Tiny & Lightweight The lens is extremely tiny and lightweight. Measuring only 1.77” (45mm) long and weighing 4.7 oz (135g), the lens is so small that can be put into pocket for shooting anywhere, anytime.
Huge Depth of Field The depth of field of this lens is so deep that no focusing operation is required. Simply park the focus ring at infinity focus and stop down the lens to around f/5.6, everything will be in focus.
Pricing & Availability The lens is currently available to order from authorized resellers and in Venus Optics official website (http://www.venuslens.net/). It is ready to ship now. The ex-VAT retail price in US is USD 199/pc. Pricing may vary in different countries.
Chinese lens company TTArtisan has announced the availability of its new 11mm F2.8 fisheye lens for Sony E-mount camera systems.
The lens’ optical formula consists of 11 elements in 7 groups. It’s constructed of aluminum and brass and features an aperture range of F2.8-F16 with clicked aperture points.
It has a minimum focusing distance of 17cm, a ten-blade aperture diaphragm and weighs in at 485g. It is currently available to order for $ 215.
Smartphone lens manufacturer Moment has announced its new Fisheye 14mm Lens, an add-on lens that Moment claims ‘is the widest, crispiest shot you can have on a phone.’
The lens features an all-new optical design made specifically for the latest smartphones from Apple, Google, OnePlus and Samsung. It features a bi-aspheric design that Moment claims uses 15-percent more of the image sensor than its existing Fisheye 15mm lens.
This design results in a 170-degree field of view that’s 30% wider than the 120-degree field-of-view found on most ultra-wide-angle lenses in newer smartphones, such as the iPhone 11 Pro.
The resulting image can be de-warped using a new distortion correction filter in Moment’s Pro Camera app (Android, iOS). The de-warping feature is available in the iOS app today and the feature will make its way to the Android app ‘in the next few weeks.’
Below is a sample video captured with the new Fisheye 14mm lens:
The Moment Fisheye 14mm lens costs just $ 89.99 for the first 48 hours, after which it will jump up to $ 119.99. It will work with Moment’s line of M-series cases, which include options for a handful of iPhone, Pixel, OnePlus and Galaxy devices. You can order yours now and find out more information on Moment’s website.
In a post on Sightron Japan’s website, it has announced that the Laowa 4mm F2.8 Fisheye lens for Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera systems has been postponed.
In a very brief notice (translated) on its information page, Sightron says the lens, which was set to be released this coming Friday, has been delayed. The machine-translated version of the notice reads ‘since there is a possibility that a problem individual was mixed, we decided to postpone the release.’
Based on that translation, it seems as though a number of lenses had issues, but Laowa couldn’t pinpoint down exactly what lenses were affected and are therefore going back through and testing the units that have already been produced.
Sightron, says ‘details regarding the release date will be announced as soon as they are determined.’ It ends the post by thanking interested parties for their understanding and patronage. We’ve contacted Venus Optics for additional details and confirmation on what regions are affected by this delay. We will update this article accordingly when we hear back.
Update (September 11, 2019): This article originally mistated the relationship between Sightron Japan and the Laowa brand. It has been updated accordingly.
Japanese fisheye specialist Entaniya has introduced a new fisheye lens in a PL mount that’s aimed at large format video camera users, and which can offer a range of effective focal lengths using different sized spacers. The Entaniya Fisheye HAL 220 is designed to cover Super 35mm and full frame sensors and can provide focal lengths between 6.14mm and 8.03mm through 15 increments via the included set of zoom spacers.
The lens has a maximum aperture of T2.9 and uses 17 elements in 12 groups to provide a maximum angle of view of 220°. The depth of the spacer used has an impact on the size of the covering circle of the lens, so when the thinner spacers are used—or no spacer—the lens has a smaller covering circle. This is useful for those who want a circular image, but doesn’t leave out those needing the whole recording area covered.
No pricing or availability details have been released so far. For more information and to see how the lens covers different formats go to the Entaniya website.
Chinese optical manufacturer Kamlan Optical has announced its next lens will be a 7.5mm F3.2 fisheye for the Micro Four Thirds system. The lens joins an existing line-up of manual focus primes for APS-C and MFT systems, and will be shown at the CP+ show later this month.
The FS 7.5mm f/3.2 will provide an angle of view of 160° with a construction that consists of seven elements in six groups. It will focus as close as 10cm and will have a minimum aperture of F16. The manufacturer says the lens will measure 48x58mm, will weigh 250g and it will be impossible to mount a filter in the conventional way because of the shape of the built-in hood.
According to DC Watch, the price in Japan will be about 25,000 yen, which is approximately $ 230. For more information see the Kalman website
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