I say, that lens looks awfully fishy old chap

New lens time.  Well, when I say lens I really mean a new screw on adaptor.  But whatever you call it, it is a cool purchase (if a bit fishy).  As if you hadn’t guessed by now I am the proud owner of a really cool fisheye adaptor, an Opteka HD²2 fisheye x0.20.  For only £50 it produces brilliant photos and I am sure I will be having a lot of fun with it.
The 0.2X bit in the name equates to what affect it has the focal length of your lens – you multiply the focal length by 0.2.  So at the widest end of my 17-50mm lens, 17 mm, this equates a tiny 3.4mm – and this is *very* wide indeed!  Here is what the adaptor  looks like:

Here it is next to my Canon 40D and Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens.  The adaptor has a 52mm thread so I had to buy a 67-52 step down ring to attach it to my Tamron:

Here you can see what it looks like on the lens.

Here is a series of photos showing how effective it is.  Here is a photo of the box shot at 17mm without the Opteka attached:

When I put the Opteka iin front of the lens without moving the camera you can see how dramatically it changes the field of view.

And this is the view once the Opteka has been screwed in:

Unfortunately the picture doesn’t fill the frame and you get a circular image in a square frame.  But it looks pretty cool to me and fab for only £50.
Here are some test shots I took just to try the adaptor out:
My desk at work:

Jen, one of my colleagues:

Sam, the other person who I share my office with:

Sam, larking about for the camera in the corridor outside our office (this was taken at 30mm so more of the photo filled the frame but of course there was less of a fisheye effect):

The Information Commons at the University of Sheffield:

The Hendersons Relish building (compare this one to the photo I took of the same building a couple of years ago using a normal lens by clicking here)

Jessops West at the University of Sheffield (again, a building I have photographed before, click here to see it using a normal lens)


I think I am going to have fun with this adaptor.  Can’t wait to use it at a wedding as there are so many creative ways I could use it!