Description
Altura Photo 8MM F/3.0 Fisheye Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras (AP-8MC)
The 8MM F/3.0 Fisheye (AP-8MC) for CANON is the newest addition to the Professional Lens Series from Altura Photo. The lens features exceptional build quality and performance as well as straight forward ease of use for photographers of all levels.
With a hybrid, aspherical element and multi-layer lens coating, the AP-8MC will unlock powerful new viewing angles as well as sharply defined images. Enjoy dramatic, exaggerated perspective when used with an APS-C camera, or the iconic circular image floating in the frame when used with a Full-Frame camera. Highly advanced optics and a new and improved design make the new Altura Photo AP-8MC 8MM F/3.0 Fisheye the ultimate fisheye lens for your DSLR camera.
Features:
– Metal lens construction with hybrid aspherical element for exceptional, sharply defined images.
– Multi-layered lens coating to reduce flare and ghosting.
– Lens features multi-layer coating to reduce flare and ghosting.
– Manual focus and aperture control.
– Includes a custom designed lens protective case for safe storage.
– Lens features a 6-blade aperture with clickable stops from a f/3.0-f/22.
– Removable petal lens hood.
Specifications:
Focal Length: 8mm
Lens Mount: Canon EF
Aperture range: F/3-22
Number of diaphragm blades: 6
Optics: 11 Elements in 8 Groups with 1 aspherical element
Compatibilities:
Designed for all Canon EF-Mount APS-C cameras; including the EOS Rebel T7, T7i, T6s, T6i, T6, T5i, T4i, T3i; EOS 70D, 77D, 80D; EOS 7D, 7D MK II; SL2, SL3.
Note: Also compatible with FULL FRAME cameras but please keep in mind it will produce a circular, vignette image.
Kevin –
Canon Rebel T6i – bad experience
I was very excited to find a fisheye lens for my Canon T6i for under 200 bucks, and I even did the Amazon Credit Card sign-up to get the extra -$80 off-putting my total cost at just under $110. I was thinking I was really getting this thing for a song.The lens came this afternoon, a DAY early no less! How much more ‘right’ could this get?Then I started doing my test shots.Immediately I had problems getting a properly exposed image. Now… I am no professional photographer… and I am using a crop sensor $400 Canon Body (The Rebel T6i) which is pretty good… but it’s no 5Dmk3…But still… I was expecting more, especially after watching the Gojo tutorials and reviews on this lens.First thing – when they say it is fully manual… they are not kidding. The image feedback in Live View is waaaaay off. I went searching the interwebs for answers to correct this and after 2 hrs of dinking with it, and reading up online and watching videos of ‘similar’ camera setups (cuz there was no setup for EXACTLY my camera… closest I found was for the 70D) … anyway, the Live View is unusable with this lense. That means you are using 100% the viewfinder to get your settings right.Sadly, the T6i doesn’t even acknowledge that the lens is attached, so you have to futz around with the settings to jigger it without bad information on the screen. Essentially you cannot rely on the settings of the screen. The histogram reads hot, so you have to manually compensate if you use the histogram. The exposure meter in the viewfinder reads anywhere from 2 – 2.5 stops over… and to top it off.. the IMAGE that shows up when you review what you just shot on the camera screen is also WAAAAY off.. so the only real way to know what your image looks like is to download it to your computer and call it up on Photoshop/Lightroom (i used photoshop) and look at the Histogram there and make your notes, and then go BACK to the camera and reset your settings so you can get a properly exposed image.After doing all this, the sun was getting low in the sky and so I went ahead and got some test shots, went back to my porch, got some final shots and THEN I swapped lenses to a Canon lens so I could compare the colors and the detail.I was very disappointed.The comparison lens I used was the Canon EFS 10-22mm. It was the next Widest lens I have.The image I am including is the from the Altura FisheyeIn all the test photo’s there was terrible chromatic aberration. I’ve blown up the small red square so you can see it (hopefully it will be visible on this review) The clouds have a red edge, and there is a thick purple smear of color along the edge of the wall at the sky.The purpose I bought this lens was to stitch together 360-degree spherical images. And for that purpose, the detail at the edges of the frame are in some ways more important than the detail in the center of the frame, because that is where the stitcher is pulling common points to create the spherical image.So, to have a lense that has terrible chromatic aberration on the edges of the image… That’s a deal-breaker for me.I gave this an overall 3-star rating because the construction of the lens is good. It is solid and has the kind of weight that other similar fisheye lenses I have worked with in the past do. I am sorry to report, in my case, the Canon EOS Rebel T6i this lense is a terrible fit.[Amendment] 24 hrs later, still doing test shots, I have determined that if you use the histogram information to set up your shot, you will get a terribly dark/unusable shot. The live-view screen histogram is unusable.You have to do a test-shot, then look at the test shot in review and examine the histogram THEN.Unfortunately, because of the view-screen is SO dark during shooting (especially if you are in the sun) the only way you can see your image enough to use the viewer for framing is to bump it up 3 stops… get your framing.. then bump it back down, switch off live-view and just use the screen for data.Again, this review pertains specifically to the Canon T6i. Seems the 5D series have the ability to make the View Screen function normally with this lens. If you are shooting a T6 series (or similar, I imagine) forget relying on the view-screen. You will HAVE to go old-school on this one.
John Allen –
Makes Taking Photos Fun
Update 06/25/2021: I have had the 8MM F/3.0 Altura Lens for a little over six months and decided to update my review. Among other things, I’ve learned that there are at least two ways to flatten the horizon: (1) Use the LCD monitor and move the camera low and straight until the horizon flattens. (2) Use software like Photoshop (expensive) or GIMP (free) to remove lens distortion. There are several good Youtube videos that walk you through the steps concerning the removal of lens distortion and changing the photograph’s perspective, among other things. I have added two photos of the sunset over the ocean. One shows the distortion and the other shows the distortion removed using GIMP. I don’t use this lens every time I go out, but it definitely adds a degree of fun and creativity when I do. I have added a few more photos after the sunset photos so you can see what I have done with this lens.Original Review: I have a Canon T7 camera with three interchangeable Canon lenses (regular, zoom, and portrait). I’ve been taking nice photos with this set-up and started looking for a wide-angle lens that would give me even more flexibility. Canon lenses are quite expensive, but in my search, I noticed the Altura fisheye lens for a more reasonable price. It fits nicely on the camera and is completely manual which the advertising says you might have to get used to. I watched a few Altura 3.0 YouTube videos to get an idea of what the lens was all about and then started shooting. You attach it just like any lens, set the camera to manual, and make settings for f-stop and distance on the lens (infinity is good for most things) and start shooting. After a few shots and realizing you can see clearly on the camera screen what the shot will look like before you click the shutter button) I was getting impressive results. All the photos you see here have NOT been edited in any way although you can adjust them if you like using Photoshop, GIMP, Lightroom, etc. The lens is made from metal and is durable as a result. Highly recommend this product.
J. Hall –
Nice, Inexpensive, but inconsistent fit cross platforms
I received my Altura 8mm Fisheye lens for my Nikons and found that the learning curve for use was about 5 minutes. The easy to understand videos for the lens had me shooting and enjoying the lens quickly.I found the lens to be a bit loose on my Nikon D3300. When mounted, it did not lock into place and, turning the bezels of the lens to the left tended to loosen the lens. It moved while mounted, (rattled) but once held steady was ok. It was easy, however to simply support the camera by holding the lens in place while using the on-lens bezels, so that it did not loosen up between shots.I tried this same lens on my Nikon D3500, and the looseness disappeared, and the lens locked into place like a lens should! Apparently, the mounting hole on the D3000 is a bit larger than that on the D3500. So, with a little care it is usable on both cameras, but you’ll want to watch for loosening if used on a Nikon D3000.This is a MANUAL lens. No auto focus, no monitoring, so you have to set your camera to “M” and adjust your lens by hand. Set your ISO on the camera and your shutter speed too, take a couple of test shots and go for it!The reasonable price of this lens outweighs any minor inconvenience that the looseness on the D3300 presents. It comes with a n interesting zip-open lens case that is BIG, so you’ll need to make room in your camera bag. All in all, it’s a keeper and I’ll be using it often.Edit! BONUS! The skies were blue and the sun was bright and in the photo. The lens presented with a natural, sharp sun flare that’s a great accent point!
Jack Tup –
Close to Nikkor
I am a snob with lenses. I usually buy Nikkor lenses but found this for really cheap. I have the 10.5mm 2.8 which does all I need. However, I wanted an 8mm manual to get back into the old days of film and manual everything. I found a trick with this lens. You can move the focus ring until you see the out of focus indicator in your viewfinder. Then move it either way until the focus dot stops dithering out of focus. With this lens, it is near impossible to see if anything is in focus through the viewfinder. I found that if you use the focus dot indicator and focus on the edge of out of focus on your subject, it is pretty close. I am using a D500 and a D90. Hope this helps. It is really a sharp lens and comes really close to the Nikkor 10.5mm performance when you take your time.
Tim M –
Fun lens. Worth the price.
I bought this lens to use on a first generation Canon 7D. It’s all manual, so I put the camera dial on M and adjust ISO where needed for lighting. Then I fiddle with the f-stop and shutter speed to get the exposure and depth of field desired. I find it helpful to put the metering in “spot” mode to get an exposure for the most important part of the image, then adjust f-stop or shutter speed up or down a bit to make sure that other interesting bits of the image are usable. I always under-expose a bit when in doubt since that’s easy to correct in post, but blown out highlights are never recoverable.Since the field of view is so wide, using exposure metering modes than the “spot” can result in a less than optimal exposure if something off center flaunts itself when using the other metering methods. Play with it and figure out which metering method works best for your kind of shots. For what I do, the spot metering works best for most shots. I purchased the lens mainly for night sky shots, so I went out to test it at night on the day I received it. The included images where shot in RAW and adjusted in Photoshop.Since the field of view is so wide, it is difficult to focus through the viewfinder. Everything is so small that unless your subject is just a couple feet in front of the lens, focusing through the viewfinder for general wide shots isn’t really practical. I won’t be doing much close up with this lens, so the focus assist and live mode combo works well for me. By putting the camera in Live Mode so you can see the image on the screen instead of the viewfinder, and then using the focus assist button to magnify the screen 10X, focusing is relatively easy to do. Not quick, but easy to accomplish.For the price, it’s a great lens and will do what I want to it to do.
Brettm –
Fun Fish Eye Lens/ affordable!
I do social media for a local theatre company and wanted a fish eye lens for some action shots. I’m a beginner photographer still, and wanted to try something new. This lens did the job for me! It was a lot of fun, and crazy how close you actually have to be to the subjects based on the distortion effect. Highly recommend this lens if you’re looking for a quick alternative to the pricier options.
Jim Rossi –
At 10% of the Canon lens price, what is not to like ?
$200 against $2000 is hard to compete against. Yes, it is manual focus. But I learned photography on film cameras.I know what that is . Picture is from” Wonder of The Seas” cruise .
Lucky –
DO IT DO IT DO IT
Wow this thing is amazing like truly phenomenal. I can’t even begin to explain how this lens changed my life. I was filming skateboard clips for the past year with a long lens, I wanted to be more diverse with my filming so I picked this guy up. When you open the box and see that super rad lens case you literally can’t run fast enough to get your camera and throw it on there. The lens cap is so well built and it’s also super sleek and clean looking. This lens can make some of the most simplistic subject pop like crazy. That barrier picture was taken With this lens and it just gave that shot so much flair. It supports so many different options in photography and filming. It’s well priced GREAT QUALITY. Packaged beautifully I honestly can’t think of One thing I’d change with this lens. If you’re considering buying this I’d say do it. I was hesitant but when I finally saw it in person it spoke for itself. Beautuful!
illinialumni –
Very impressed with Digital Goja
I have recently run into Digital Goja, and honestly wish I had found them earlier, if for no other reason that they are quasi-local to me in South Florida. Regarding the fisheye lens, it arrived on time, well packaged, and seems exactly like it should be. I still have a huge learning curve for this lens, so I can’t honestly give the final verdict. However, it is a MANUAL lens that requires one to do all the settings on their own, and the great thing is that Digital Goja has a great video on youtube that talks you through this, and what to expect from the lens, and HOW to use it on each camera type.I took a few shots with it, and they seemed as sharp as I would expect, but I need to learn fisheye techniques before I get the full value of the lens. Although to me, the purpose of this particular lens was to really find out if fisheye is something worth exploring further. To get a Canon fisheye is going to cost a lot of money. Altura clearly took the tact of putting decent glass on the cheapest mount possible (no electronics), which to me is a great idea and lets me dabble in this extreme form of photography.
fatcat –
nice lens well built
Manual focus and aperture, but they all seem to work well. (its not as difficult as I thought it would be) I had questions and the dealer called me at home personally to help with any questions I had. This is a very fisheye lens, and works the way I thought it would, but allows for idiots like me to make it work well somehow with every shot.(excluding the one I under exposed) he gave me an exercise to focus on live view at 2 ft away, then on to infinity and check them out on download. Surprisingly, the DOF is SO VAST, that it focused well on all of them. This lens is going to be fun with creating artistic shots, and landscapes that are so beautiful that you have to get it all in one picture to get the effect. The amt of (for lack of a better word) fisheye effect is going to be fun and creative, what else can I say. It comes with a nice fitted case. I will try to add some photos later when I have more time. For the price, the manual isn’t that big of a deal, esp with digital photography, if it looks bad, erase it and do it over, right? I highly recommend this lens for a fun way to get a good quality wide angle fish eye lens at a very low price point.