Canon Fisheye help

15mm would be correct for a fisheye on a full-frame camera, but not for yours. It won't be wide enough for the effect I suspect you're after.

The sensible buy would be the 10-22 which is a versatile range - but bear in mind that if you were to upgrade to a full-frame camera, you would need to replace the lens as it will vignette on a full-frame model such as the EOS5

hongo134 said:

So... i've got a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and wanted to buy a Canon Fisheye...
Right now i'm considering the following options
a: EF-S 10-22mm
b: 15mm Fisheye
c: 8-15mm

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Canon EF-S 10-22mm is NOT a fisheye lens, it's a rectilinear super-wide angle zoom lens.
Canon 8-15mm Fisheye has not been released yet, it has recently been officially indefinitely delayed ...

hongo134 said:

a: EF-S 10-22mm

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That's not a fisheye, that's an ultrawide angle zoom. If you look for that barrel effect that is characteristic of fisheye lenses, this is definitely the wrong lens (as are all other ultrawide angle zooms).

hongo134 said:

b: 15mm Fisheye

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This is a fisheye for full frame cameras and not ideal for a APS-C sensor dslr. Yet, you will still get the fisheye effect.

hongo134 said:

c: 8-15mm

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That'd be closer to what you want. There are also other options that haven't been mentioned yet:
- Tokina makes a 10-17 mm fisheye zoom (the test concerns the version with Nikon mount, but it is of course available with a Canon mount as well). Do not confuse this with the excellent 11-16 mm ultrawide angle zoom Tokina also makes.
- Sigma makes a 8-16 mm lens which is not a fisheye zoom lens.
- Samyang makes a relatively cheap 8 mm fisheye which is manual focus. Since fisheye lenses have a huge depth of field, I don't think this will be an issue in practical applications.

Probably the best option would be the Samyang that Oreo mentioned, the 15mm is stunning but it wouldn't be as good on a cropped sensor.

Only problem is Samyang have delays due to the 'lens parts' production being halted in Japan because of the problems (Samyang lens are from South Korea, but some parts are from Japan)

OreoCookie said:

- Samyang makes a relatively cheap 8 mm fisheye which is manual focus. Since fisheye lenses have a huge depth of field, I don't think this will be an issue in practical applications.

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My Rokinon 8mm fisheye copy came last week. Haven't had a chance to really use it, but so far it looks like it will be a fun lens. Just a couple test shots around the house w/7D.

I'm assuming the Rebel T2i has an APS-C sensor.
If so, here's a comparison test of the 15mm Canon fisheye.
Both shots were taken from directly between the headrests of my car. One with my EOS 20D (APS-C), and one with my EOS 1D MkIV (not exactly full-frame, but near enough).
Hope this gives you some indication of what the 15mm will provide.
As has been mentioned elsewhere, 15mm will be effectively 24mm (15 x 1.6 crop factor) on an APS-C camera, which makes the lens overpriced if you're not going to benefit from it's real fisheye capabilities.
As you mentioned that you're new to photography, I presume you won't be moving on to a full-frame sensor anytime soon, so I second the advice of the 10-22, which will be effectively 16-35mm on your camera.
The most desirable lens there is the 8-15mm, but Canon can't seem to get a release date confirmed on this, and I believe that it will only take rectangular photos, and not circular ones with an APS-C sensor. Having said that, if you have the cash, and you could get hold of one, you'd be future-proofed for upgrading your camera at a later date.

gameface said:

My Rokinon 8mm fisheye copy came last week. Haven't had a chance to really use it, but so far it looks like it will be a fun lens. Just a couple test shots around the house w/7D.

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So Samyang lenses are sold under the moniker Rokinon in the States?

lensbay sells a 12mm fisheye lens that looks ok.

OreoCookie said:

So Samyang lenses are sold under the moniker Rokinon in the States?

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Yes, they are the same lens from Korea but marketed under many different manufacturers names (Rokinon, Samyang, Vivitar, Walimex and Opteka).

If you need fisheye I can recommend the Tokina 10-17 it will give you real fisheye effect on APS-C. I use it with 7D and also with 5D (from ~15mm).

Lemme clear it up for you.

Fisheyes are defined as being lenses that intentionally distort the image a great deal. These are the lenses you see producing the pictures where the horizon seems to curve around like a ball. Generally speaking all fish eye lenses are extremely wide (think at least 15mm in full frame (35mm) terms).

Fisheyes break down into two types: circular and full frame. Don't confuse this with the its format (crop or full frame/APS-C vs. 35mm). Circular fisheyes produce a circular image with black all around the border, while a full frame fisheye fills the frame. Circular fisheyes are the ones you see coming in at 8mm or so, while full frame fisheyes are the ones you see at 15mm.

However, there are ultra wide lenses that have a rectilinear projection, i.e. they do not intentionally distort the image. For example the EF-S lens you brought up (10-22) is one such lens. The 35mm equivalent of this lens' focal length is 16-35, which is ultrawide.

The question for you becomes, how much do you use a fisheye? The most I personally could justify for a fisheye the way I currently shoot is the Canon 15mm. The 8-15 is interesting in that it is both a circular and full frame fisheye, not to mention is L level pro build. But it's simply too expensive for an image style that becomes cheesy fast.

The 10-22 is a great lens. I love using ultrawides, and rectilinear projection is certainly the most common (and tolerable). If you were to get an ultrawide lens, my top recommendation would be the a lens like the 10-22. There are comparable offerings such as the Sigma 10-20 and Tokina 11-16 should be considered.

Untitled by Tinman00, on Flickr

A friend put me onto this lens a few weeks ago (currently borrowing it). It's a Sigma 8mm f4 I think. It's the previous Sigma fisheye lens (the current one is f3.5).

However, you do find them occasionally on Ebay for £200/$300 apparently. But they are fairly rare though.

It's a great lens, but you need to handle it properly to get the best out of it. Really is taking some work to get it just right.