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Lenses

Hands on (Part 2): Canon 8-15mm f4 L Fisheye

Chris Gampat
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09/19/2011
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat the phoblographer canon 8-15mm f4 hands on review (3 of 12)

About a year ago, we had our first hands on with the Canon 8-15mm f4 L Fisheye zoom lens. Recently, we had the opportunity to try it out on the Canon 5D Mk II with a 430 EX II attached. So how did it perform?

FYI: We’re getting the lens in for a full review.

Tech Specs

Borrowed from B&H Photo’s listing of the lens

Performance
Focal Length 8 – 15 mm
Aperture Maximum: f/4
Minimum: f/22
Camera Mount Type Canon EF
Format Compatibility 35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor
Canon (APS-C)
Angle of View 180°
Minimum Focus Distance 6.2″ (15.75cm)
Magnification 0.39x
Maximum Reproduction Ratio 1:2.56
Groups/Elements 11/14
Diaphragm Blades 7
Features
Image Stabilization No
Autofocus Yes
Tripod Collar No
Physical
Filter Thread None
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 3.1 x 3.7″ (7.87 x 9.40cm)
Weight 1.19 lb (540g)

Ergonomics

The Canon 8-15mm f4 L is a very, very small zoom lens. As seen in the opening photo, the entire lens fits in my hand; and I don’t have such big hands. When cupping the lens, it feels much like a prime lens due to the way it has been constructed. However, you know that you’re holding a zoom lens because of how small the rings are. They’re small compared to my 35mm f1.4L.

That bulbous front element doesn’t protrude much when zooming. However, you do indeed need to be careful with it because a filter can’t cover it.

On the 5D Mk II, the lens feels balanced. In fact, it ordinarily is really quite light.

Image Quality Samples

At 8mm, the scene you see both through the viewfinder and in the image is a circle with a heck of a lot in it.

But when you zoom in, it changes. The distortion control for a lens like this is very, very good. But like all fisheye lenses, it all depends on how close your subject is to the lens due to the construction and nature of the lens.

At the longer end of the lens, it doesn’t seem to vignette at all either.

From a quick judgement of how this lens performs, it captures skin tones very accurately. Canon perhaps thought about event photographers that love to get super up close and personal in order to have a creative edge.

Using this lens at 8mms will be very interesting; but personally, I’m not sure how I’d use it creatively. However, that’s just me.

When shooting, you also need to be wary because you can easily get yourself in the shot.

For those of you that like to shoot in square format, the good news is that you might be able to get a great square crop image out of this lens at 15mm. Here are some more samples.

A full review for this lens is coming soon!

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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