Panasonic's new 8mm fisheye lens brings a 180º field of view to the Micro Four Thirds camera range, allowing photographers the opportunity to shoot both the sky and their own feet at the same time.
On the MFT-system, with its half-frame sensor, the 8mm ƒ3.5 wide-angle is the equivalent of a 16mm fisheye on a 35mm camera. And these ultra-wide lenses are one of the few kinds of glass that don't really need a super-wide maximum aperture: even an ƒ2 fisheye wouldn't give you a super-shallow depth of field here, and because you aren't zoomed-in on one detail far away as you would be with a longer lens, you don't have to worry about camera shake, either. Just slow the shutter a little to get enough light at night.
Other than just being wide, the lens also lets you slide in a piece of gel-filter into the rear for creative, Lomo-like effects, and the seven-bladed aperture should shape any out-of focus highlights you manage to achieve into pleasing blurs. The stepper-motors used for focussing are silent (for movie making) and the lens can focus as close as 10cm (four inches).
The UK price has been announced as £730 ($1,060), which should probably bring it in at under a grand in the US, possibly in July.
Panasonic Introduces World’s Smallest and Lightest Digital Interchangeable Fisheye Lens [Panasonic]
See Also:
- Olympus Collapsible Wide-Angle Zoom for Micro Four Thirds
- Noktor ƒ0.95 Lens for Micro Four Thirds Cameras
- Panasonic Micro Four Thirds 'Rangefinder' with Leica Lenses ...
- Panasonic Announces Micro Four Thirds Camcorder
- Micro Four Thirds
- Adapter Puts Leica Lenses on Micro Four Thirds Cameras
- Adapter Puts Nikon and Pentax Lenses on Micro Four Thirds Cameras ...
