Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Customer Reviews & Product Details

When used on a camera with a crop factor , the 15mm lens isn't as extreme as it seems. For example, on my EOS 20D the "35mm equivalent" is 15mm * 1.6 = 25mm. I do plan on getting a full-frame body in the next few months, and plan to enjoy the lens even in its full super-wide-angle glory.

This lens does have barrel distortion inherent in all fisheye designs BUT these can be enhanced, diminished or completely removed by commonly-available plugins. (I use ptlens, dxo, and to a lesser extent, the ones built into Photoshop CS2 and CS3.) Here's the important part: if you're willing to deal with barrel distortion in post-processing (and you should be), the 15mm is the best super-wide lens available. It's lighter, much cheaper, and, to my eyes, equal in image quality to the 14/f2.8L.

Bottom line: Excellent lens, excellent value. The total cost of the lens plus post-processing software is much less than the more expensive rectalinear 14mm lens. This lens is one of my favorite possessions. You will not regret owning it!

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I have since did as I promised and purchased a full-frame body, and would like to "revise and extend" my remarks. Basically, at full-frame the 15mm starts to show more flaws. The chromatic aberrations in the corners are pretty bad (not as noticeable with a cropped body), and the fisheye effect is much more pronounced. The CAs can be cleaned up somewhat in CS3, but beware stark contrasts in the corners; those purple fringes are really tough to get rid of! You can still "defish" the images using ptlens, but dealing with corner perspectives is tougher.

It's still a great lens, but just for a more limited use. I wound up getting a 16-35 II zoom as its complement (and to replace the 10-22 EF-S lens that won't work on full frame cameras).

Just as the title states. Canon makes the best lenses on the market. The 15mm fisheye is very sharp. It is my primary lens for shooting surfing in the water. For the price, you can't go wrong.

I bought this lens as I was walking out to Africa for a month and a half safari. I didn't own a true wide angle lens and I had just spent most of my budget on a 70-200mm USM "L" lens and a 1.4x extension.

I wanted to get the widest lens I could get but I didn't have the big bucks to get the 16-35L or the 14mm L so I got this lens figuring I could correct in Photoshop CS2 later.

This is what I found:
1) I have a 20D and it doesn't barrel distort anywhere near as bad as I had thought it would....I imagine it distorts quite a bit more on a 5D or other full frame sensor but on the 20D, 10D, 30D, or Rebel it is not that bad.

2) It does distort enough even on the 20D that its noticable on every single inside shot and on many panoramic shots....to the experienced professional, you'd notice it even in panoramas.

3) For the computer person: I find it very easy to correct the barrel distortion in Photoshop CS2 very easily....I use a plugin (there are several on the web)

4) I tend to like the barrel distortion look on some of my pictures.


Pros
1) Image Quality is superb. For not being an L lens, this lens has some amazing color, sharpness, and saturation. They spared very little in grinding this lens. Some of my best African pictures, daytime and nightime were taken with this lens and they were fabulous.

2) Build pretty well, metal mount, metal integrated hood...but not up to L standards by any means....to its credit, it survived 14 days by vibration ridden truck treking across the Kalahari desert with all its dust, mokoro canoeing in the okavango delta for over a week, hiking, elephant riding, and the five diamond resort at victoria falls (the last one was easy for the fisheye)...

3) It is a Fisheye lens and if used properly, it can create some amazing pictures and views...for example In Botswana in the Okavango, I knelt down next to a Gigantic Baobab tree and pointed it up towards the sky, The fisheye captured not only Rex the guide standing next to the tree but the entire massive trunk of the Baobab AND ALL of the canopy of the tree way above. Everything! I know of few lenses that would let me do that. It was an amazing shot only possible with a Fisheye.

4) It focuses to about 12inches.

5) f/2.8 makes it very good in low light situation.

6) The integrated hood comes complete with a nice metal cover.

Cons
1) Its not built like an L:
a) no USM motor so you can hear the whir as it tries to focus
b) no moisture seals etc
c) It does have a metal mount

2) It is a fisheye lens -- I found out after a month and a half what this meant....it doesn't stay on my camera much. I take it out when I need a certain effect or when I plan to retouch in Photoshop. It distorts visibly on a 20D and I imagine quite a bit more on a full frame.

3) Integrated Hood...can't put screw on filters...but it does have a gel filter holder.

4) No bag.

My veredict:
1) I've purchased a 16-35mm Canon "L" and that lens stays in camera most of the time when I want wide-angle but when I need a special look or I really want to capture everything, I bring out my 15mm Fisheye. I won't sell it, I don't regret buying it. I learned what a specialty Fisheye lens is and its staying in my arsenal for those special shots.

2) I can't compare against non-canon lenses but I can say that Canon quality here is extraordinary. I would knock them on the construction but the lens is built well enough and the "glass" itself is spectacular so 5 stars.

3) I ordered from Amazon 3 days before my trip --- it arrived the next day. Great Service. Thx Amazon.

For anyone who wants to make their photos different, this is the lens! With 180 degree capacity and fabulous auto focus capability, this lens takes an ordinary photo and turns it into something extraoridinary. I shoot for magazines and many of the photos that are selected for publication are taken with the lens. It's an expensive toy, but worth the money when you see the results. I highly recommend it.

The fisheye lens is a lot of fun, and I enjoy using mine. However, I find that the practicality of the lens is minimal. I don't usually want my "serious" photographs to have fisheye distortion.

I don't tend to like the 1.6x crop on Canon's lower-end digital SLR cameras, but with the fisheye this has an interesting benefit: it's reasonably easy to use the fisheye as a standard wide-angle lens, since most of the distortion is removed by the 1.6x crop. You can still get distortion, but it's a lot easier to compose a shot without it using a 1.6x camera than a full-frame camera.

Either way, lots of fun. Buy one for the enjoyment, or even for professional assignments if your work calls for it, but think about if you really want the distortion before getting one of these.