When I first tested the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye I wasn’t so sure it was worth the investment because it is a specialty lens. I will be honest with you guys, I find myself grabbing for it quite a bit. While the older Canon 15mm 2.8 Fisheye had a wider aperture, and was significantly cheaper, the 8-15 is more versatile. Ive been using it mostly for:

– Surface Water Photography with my Canon 7D (on the 7D, with a 1.6x Multiplication for the sensor and 1.3x for the water) it acts as~ 30mm when set to 15mm.
– Underwater photography on a Canon 5DII
– Wide angle video shots for steadi-cam video work

It is becoming an essential tool in my bag and I am finding a include it for nearly every shoot I go on.

Shot these this last week in a forest on the way to Haleakala. I decided to get a few shots at 8mm, which cases a circular vignette, but I like to crop them out. One thing that is fun to try out is to go into a forest with lots of trees and shoot straight up.

Crazy cool effect. This is at 15mm on a Canon 5Diii
This is a 8mm on a Canon 5Diii
There are some real chromatic aberration issues at 8mm, even after cleaning it up still very visible, but wow…this is a great lens.