In the art of photography, there are many interesting and unusual solutions and tricks that allow you to not only accurately and beautifully display the whole beauty of the world, but also create real masterpieces. Some of them are so fantastic and wonderful that they look like fabulous magical paintings. But the real art is not to change the image beyond recognition, but only to give it a special charm with the help of small tricks.
The fisheye lens is a wonderful find for both amateur and professional photographers. It has a maximum angle of view of 180 °, and the distortion that is present during shooting gives an interesting and original effect.
The principle of operation of the lens, its varieties
The fisheye lens got its name in 1906. Robert Wood noted that the way an image is obtained using it, a fish sees the surface of the earth from under water. We see a similar picture in the peephole. Distortion (distortion) occurs very strongly, only a small zone in the center more or less meets its real parameters. Used it before in meteorology, only to see the entire celestial sphere.
It is interesting that even now such a lens is used in scientific works, when there is a need to increase the maximum viewing angle. And for amateur photographers, he became a wonderful find, with which you can create original landscapes or architectural works, funny portraits and much more.
The fisheye lens has two different types. The first of them is called circular, or circular. It gives a complete picture in the form of a circle, creating the original image. The angle of his vision is 180 °. But, in fact, it works the same way as other lenses, capturing only part of the sensor - a rectangle that fits into the diameter of the lens itself. This rectangle then becomes a round image. Usually produce such a plan accessories for 35 mm format. Their focal length is 8 mm.
What else can a fisheye lens be? The second option is called the diagonal, or full-frame lens. In this case, the entire sensor area is used, and the angle of view is 180 ° only diagonally. It will be approximately 147 ° horizontally and 95 ° vertically.
The types of lenses are divided relatively arbitrarily - it all depends on which part of the sensor to use. Therefore, the standard fisheye lens can give any kind, the difference will only be in the size of the sensor itself. These accessories are quite expensive, and sometimes they try to replace them with simple converters. The converter is worn on a regular lens, dramatically changing its viewing angle. They allow you to take wide format pictures on any camera. At the same time, in order for the image quality to be good, it is necessary to shoot with a small aperture.
How to shoot with a fisheye lens - the basics of competent photography
A big plus of this type of lens - there is no problem with the focus of the image. Due to the large area of contact with light, the picture is very clear and expressive. The center lines (horizontal and vertical) are not distorted.
The fisheye effect looks very nice when photographing the sky. In the forest, between houses or just the sky dome itself can be removed with a circular type lens.
A wide image format allows you to take pictures of objects of architecture near. To get the picture harmonious, you need to try to comply with its framework - to connect horizontal or vertical lines with smooth building elements.
Funny portraits or just funny photos are obtained when shooting with a fisheye lens. The central zone is least distorted, so this is where the main subjects should be placed. Four corner zones are areas of maximum distortion.