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Step 7Tips on Using the Adapter
Assuming you have followed safe protocol and are using a protective filter over your lens, or the camera model is one that lets the adapter rest without touching the glass, you are ready to experiment with your budget "fish-eye lens". Here are a few tips for getting started:
- The camera seems to focus best when the lens is extended out to its longest focal length; this also allows the largest area to be filled with the view from the "fish-eye"
- If you have a digital zoom option, you may want experiment with that, too, as certain settings allow for even more viewing area to be filled
- Since you will only be getting about 1/2 to 2/3 of the total area of a frame filled, set your camera to its highest resolution, as you will probably want to crop your images to a better fit later on
- Focusing can be a bit of a challenge, especially in automatic mode; if you have an option to override the auto focus manually, try using it
- If you have a manual setting on your camera, you may find it easier to work with for this
- Depending on how you aim your camera in relation to the sun, the curvature of the door viewer may lead it to picking up more light and creating a white spot where you do not want one; try focusing the camera and setting its light balance without the fish-eye, and then cap the adapter and lens over the shot on those settings
- Always cap the adapter/fish-eye over your lens, rather than slide it up against the glass to reduce the risk of scratching it
- If your camera has a "mosaic" in the middle of the manual focus screen, try to pick a contrasting scene (as in Picture 2) to help you with focusing
- A trip can be helpful, as you may find yourself trying to focus, hold up the adapter, and aim the camera all at the same time in many instances
- Don't try to rush when you are first getting the feel of this
Photo 1: Looking directly up at a satellite dish on a roof corner. I used the camera on "auto" with a 140mm focal length (equivalent to 135mm in film) with no digital magnification. The photo was cropped and rendered a greyscale in GIMP.
Photo 2: Treetops photographed at sunset. This was taken on "manual" at ISO 100 with a 140mm focal length (equivalent to 135mm) with a 1.4X digital magnification. The photo was cropped and brightened in GIMP.
- The camera seems to focus best when the lens is extended out to its longest focal length; this also allows the largest area to be filled with the view from the "fish-eye"
- If you have a digital zoom option, you may want experiment with that, too, as certain settings allow for even more viewing area to be filled
- Since you will only be getting about 1/2 to 2/3 of the total area of a frame filled, set your camera to its highest resolution, as you will probably want to crop your images to a better fit later on
- Focusing can be a bit of a challenge, especially in automatic mode; if you have an option to override the auto focus manually, try using it
- If you have a manual setting on your camera, you may find it easier to work with for this
- Depending on how you aim your camera in relation to the sun, the curvature of the door viewer may lead it to picking up more light and creating a white spot where you do not want one; try focusing the camera and setting its light balance without the fish-eye, and then cap the adapter and lens over the shot on those settings
- Always cap the adapter/fish-eye over your lens, rather than slide it up against the glass to reduce the risk of scratching it
- If your camera has a "mosaic" in the middle of the manual focus screen, try to pick a contrasting scene (as in Picture 2) to help you with focusing
- A trip can be helpful, as you may find yourself trying to focus, hold up the adapter, and aim the camera all at the same time in many instances
- Don't try to rush when you are first getting the feel of this
Photo 1: Looking directly up at a satellite dish on a roof corner. I used the camera on "auto" with a 140mm focal length (equivalent to 135mm in film) with no digital magnification. The photo was cropped and rendered a greyscale in GIMP.
Photo 2: Treetops photographed at sunset. This was taken on "manual" at ISO 100 with a 140mm focal length (equivalent to 135mm) with a 1.4X digital magnification. The photo was cropped and brightened in GIMP.
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