If you’re a photographer who’s not content with traditional ultra-wide lenses, AstrHori has something that’s sure to pique your interest – the AstrHori 6mm F2.8 Circular Fisheye lens. When the news of this lens came across my desk, I was instantly smitten with the idea of a fisheye lens made for today’s modern full-frame camera systems. This 6mm F2.8 Fisheye has a lot of potential to help creative photographers get new and interesting perspectives.
AstrHori 6mm F2.8 Full-Frame Circular Fisheye Key Features
- Frame Size: Full Frame
- Focal Length: 6mm
- Mount: E/L/RF/Z
- Aperture Range: F2.8-F16
- Focus Range: 0.08m-∞
- Lens Construction: 10 Elements in 8 Groups
- Angle of View: 220°
- Aperture Blade: 8 pcs
- Weight: 340g
- Focus Mode: MF
Right off the bat, the extremely short minimum focus distance and extreme angle of view are two features that I find to have the most potential use cases for photographers. As an event photographer, I’m thinking of ways to use such a wide angle of view to create unique atmospheric shots (or simply pay homage to some of my favorite music videos from my childhood). The AstrHori 6mm Circular Fisheye’s fast f2.8 aperture would also easily lend itself to low-light shooting that I typically find myself in during paid gigs. Additionally, I think it would be an awesome callback for many concert photographers. For me, I equate fisheye lenses with both nostalgia and creative photography – both of which I’m very keen on.
If you’re unsure if the circular (fishbowl) effect that this lens gives, you can still take advantage of the AstrHori 6mm F2.8’s ultra-wide focal length by simply cropping in. With many of today’s high-resolution cameras, like a Sony a7R V, Canon R5 II, or Nikon Z8, you could easily crop in on the center of the image and still have plenty of detail in the final image, giving you access to compositions that just are not possible with other lenses.
Sample Images Provided by AstrHori
The World Needs More Fisheye Lenses
Through my teenage years, there were two constants in my life – skating magazines and Hype Williams videos. Both visual media used fisheye lenses to create a signature look that not only altered the visual plane of the images but also added a certain level of intrigue and whimsy. In the late 90s, I would spend hours looking at the photos published in Skateboarder Magazine, just mesmerized by the images captured by some of the sport’s best photographers.
At the risk of making this sound like a “hot take,” I’m just going to go ahead and say it with my whole chest: A lot of photography today is too clinical to be interesting, and that’s why the world needs more fisheye lenses. As I scroll through Behance project pages, I’m often drawn to the offbeat, unconventional, and yes, downright weird projects. Some of these are probably not commercially viable, but they fill me with joy. In fact, at ThePhoblographer, we’re not shy about our love of imperfections when used to push creativity in photography. The AstrHori 6mm F2.8 definitely has the potential to inject some whimsy and joy into creative photography projects, and I’m all for it.