Samyang 7.5mm fisheye

It has been quite a while since I have added anything to my blog - yep, I am still alive and taking photos - maybe not at quite the same rate.

My latest acquisition is a Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5mm fisheye for my Olympus MFT cameras. It is a lovely little lens and well scaled to the Olympus E-P3.

The proof is always in the photographs and here are a couple...

The first is a fairly standard street scene, the second, I am up close to some flowers. The crimson waratah flowers are about 15cm (6") each. There is a spiral staircase that tapers to look like a rocket and the top-right corner shows part of a dome that is overhead. On the left, an arch takes on an s-shape. Quite interest.

The lens is easy to use but is is manual focus and requires stop-down metering. Neither of these are issues with the fisheye on the Olympus Pen. For focusing, just set to an aperture of f/5.6 or more and focus about midway between the infinity marking and the 0.8m mark and all will be fine. Of course, a depth of field marking for say f/5.6 and f/11 would have been nice and also very easily engraved on the dress rim next to the focus scale. The Olympus Pen cameras work perfectly with stop-down metering and require no fancy electronic connections or menu settings. Just use aperture priority or manual exposure and away you go.

In conclusion, the Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 is a joy to use, and loads of fun. Outstanding value for the $299 including express courier postage.