What Are the Characteristics of Fisheye Camera Lens?

Ⅰ. What is a fisheye camera lens?

A fisheye camera lens is a special type of ultra-wide-angle lens. It is small and super wide, showing a distorted spherical world view, most obvious in the curved outer corners of the photo, known as the fish-eye effect. The fisheye camera lens works well underwater.

1. There are few straight lines underwater.

2. The use of a very wide lens can be very close to your subject, making your photos clearer and more colorful when illuminated by strobe lights.

3. Behind the dome port, the optical performance of the fisheye camera lens is better than that of the ordinary wide-angle lens. The fisheye lens has a close focus and wide-angle of large macro subjects, suitable for shooting various objects, including reefs, divers, models, large wrecks, manta rays, whale sharks, very close sharks, large frogfish, rhinos, large seahorses, and so on.

Ⅱ. The main advantages of the fisheye camera lens

1. A fisheye camera lens allows you to get very close to the subject.

2. When shooting wide-angle, you benefit from a large depth of field.

3. When you are very close to a large subject, you can get excellent color and clarity.

4. Fisheye Small size, lightweight, and relatively cheap.

Ⅲ. The characteristics of the fisheye camera lens

1. Fisheye camera lens and focal length

Although people generally think that fisheye camera lenses are wider than linear lenses, it should be noted that at the same focal length, the center of the fisheye camera lens will be magnified by the same amount as the linear lens.

2. Barrel distortion

When you understand fisheye camera lenses and ordinary wide-angle lenses, you will hear a term called barrel distortion. This distortion can cause curves to appear on the edges of the photo. The barrel distortion is the disadvantage of a straight wide-angle lens in the widest setting. Although it is adverse for wide-angle lenses, it is the main feature of fisheye camera lenses. This is why they are called fisheye and barrel distortion should not be viewed negatively.

3. Distortion correction post-processing

Land photographers sometimes use software to correct the distortion of the fisheye camera lens. However, this is rarely done underwater, because the slight curvature of a fisheye camera lens is generally considered an ideal effect. The easiest way to correct distortion in post-processing is to use Lightroom. In the lens correction section, select profile correction. Lightroom should automatically read the specifications of the lens, but if not, select it from the drop-down menu. You can choose to keep the automatic distortion correction or use the slider to adjust it manually.