Macro wide with a fisheye lens, Canon FD 7.5mm f/5.6

dickb · Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Posts: 821

I went out and tried my Canon 7.5/5.6 FD fisheye as a macro lens. I used an FD to M39 adapter, an M39 to M42 ring and an M42 to Sony E helicoid on my Sony A7. This way the lens can be focussed, it doesn't have a focussing mechanism of its own. The friendly bee almost touches the bulbous front lens:

This way of getting a wide angle macro image is easier than the indirect method with a relay lens. You get no flipped viewfinder image but the large front lens does create problems with shading your subject and not being able to get in real close as easily.

This test was intended as a comparison to Klaus's Fuji 2.7mm f/1.8 fisheye lens but he wants separate threads for the different lenses. Looking forward to his macro wide angle images.

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

Yes, fully correct Dick, it wasn't the right place. Now you have one...

Nice shot btw. Wink

dickb · Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Posts: 821

To give an indication of the maximum magnification you can get with fisheye lenses for macro, two more images of the Canon 7.5mm FD, wide open and at f/16, buttercup touching the front lens:

Another fisheye, the Samyang 8mm f/3.5, I forced into macro mode by mcgyvering an EF to Sony E adapter slightly longer than the regular adapter (Novoflex Eos-retro, 58mm distance ring, 58mm reverse ring for Sony E). Obviously it wasn't intended for full frame use. At f/3.5 and f/11, subject touching the front lens:

And finally a lens with an even shorter focal length, a Yashinon 6.5mm f/1.4 D mount lens. At f/8, with a Schneider Cinegon 8mm f/1.4 (2.0) as a relay lens. This results in a nice and compact setup, but it may be improved upon. Certainly the Yashinon being taped onto an extension ring doesn't guarantee a perfectly parallel setup. Still, it gives you an idea about maximal magnification and how much of the background you can see this way: