Buzz
Fisheye lenses create an illusion of deep perspective, making objects near the center appear vastly larger while surrounding objects, like the bull's body and the hills in the background, appear to curve into the distance. Hemera/ThinkstockA single photographic technique has the power to both fascinate and confuse. It can turn a baby into a wide-eyed, gaping creature, or capture the sweeping grandeur of a starry night sky. It's adorned album covers and countless ads, and it's even being used to enhance road safety. The fisheye lens, with its memorable name, creates images that stretch our sense of reality when used effectively.
Whether you're a professional photographer or a dedicated hobbyist, the range of lenses available is nearly limitless. From long telephoto lenses that bring wildlife into view from great distances to wide-angle lenses that capture expansive landscapes in a single shot, an experienced photographer could have a different lens for almost every scenario.
Most lenses have a rectilinear design: Light entering the lens travels in almost a straight line to the film or sensor (though no lens is perfectly straight). This preserves the appearance of straight lines as they are seen in real life, no matter where they appear in the frame. Wide-angle lenses, with their short focal lengths, allow for this. The focal length is the distance between the lens's optical center — the point where light passes without distortion — and the film or sensor that records the image. Short focal lengths enable wide-angle lenses to capture a broad angle of view, stretching the edges of the image toward the left, right, top, or bottom. [source: Atkins]
While wide-angle rectilinear lenses can cover up to 100-degree angles, fisheye lenses expand that field to 180 degrees, thanks to the light-bending science they use. However, the tradeoff is noticeable: Any straight line away from the center of the fisheye image will appear curved, with the distortion growing as it moves further from the center. This effect offers plenty of artistic potential, but also serves practical purposes. Some of the earliest fisheye lenses were created by astronomers to photograph the starry sky. In the digital age, these lenses are used in security cameras to cover large areas without moving, and in cars as compact backup cameras to improve driver safety [source: Hughes].
What Is a Fisheye Lens?
The term 'fish-eye' actually predates the lens by over a century. It was first introduced by physicist R.W. Wood in his 1906 article, 'Fish-Eye Views and Vision Underwater.' The popularity of keeping fish as pets was rising due to the early development of home aquariums, and Wood used the term to describe how fish might view the world outside their glass tanks [sources: Kingslake; Lomography].
To grasp Wood's description, take a chopstick and immerse it in a glass of water. The straight stick will appear to bend where it enters the water — an illusion caused by refraction, the bending of light as it passes from air into water. This is the basic principle that allows a fisheye lens to capture scenes with extreme peripheral distortion, pulling in visual data from the edges of the frame.
A rectilinear lens functions like a window, guiding light as straight as possible through its lens elements. In contrast, the fisheye lens operates more like a funnel, bending a broad angle of light captured by its extremely curved outer element toward the camera's film or sensor. This funnel-shaped path causes the fisheye's distinct distortion: Light at the edges of the frame bends more to reach the film or sensor, leading to increased distortion [sources: Atkins; Kingslake].
Beck of London created the first fisheye lens in 1924, dubbed a 'whole-sky lens,' for use by meteorologists and astronomers. As the name suggests, it was designed to capture a wide expanse of the sky in one shot. Scientists could then apply geometric principles to correct the distortion, allowing them to measure distances and sizes of objects captured in the image. Over the following decades, other manufacturers released fisheye lenses with even wider angles and better clarity, with Nikon launching the first interchangeable fisheye lens for 35mm cameras in 1962. This 8mm lens with an F/8 aperture brought fisheye photography to the consumer market, encouraging both hobbyists and professionals to experiment with its signature distortion [source: Lomography].
Taking Effective Fisheye Photos
This image has been cropped into a rectangular shape, but you can still see traces of the dark edges from the fisheye effect in the corners. A lens flare from the sun's reflection in the building on the left was avoided by carefully positioning the shot. iStockphoto/ThinkstockAt first, using a fisheye lens can be a bit disorienting. You're accustomed to seeing straight lines in your images, but with this lens, the composition you imagine may differ significantly from what the camera captures. The only part of the scene that retains its true shape is what is directly in front of the lens. Keep this in mind when you're trying to capture subjects like a face or figure within the distorted scene.
As with any photographic technique, the distortion that might confuse your initial shots can turn into a creative advantage as you become more accustomed to the fisheye lens. Try experimenting with geometric subjects such as bridges, towers, and other angular structures. The fisheye lens distorts the image in varying degrees, and slight shifts in camera position can yield a wide range of outcomes.
Photographing with a fisheye lens on a sunny day or near a bright light source presents its own challenge. It's difficult to avoid light flares in the lens, similar to what happens when you use a rectilinear lens and aim it directly at the sun. Again, experimenting with exposure settings will help you manage this issue, and you may even discover that it adds a dramatic effect to the image you're creating [source: Dargaud].
After taking the shot, you must consider another unique feature of the fisheye lens: Even though your camera uses a rectangular sensor or piece of film, the image will be circular. Remember, you're capturing light rays that are funneled into the lens, unlike a rectilinear lens that captures light directly. You can choose to crop the image into a rectangle or square, or preserve the spherical shape to maintain the full impact of the distortion around the edges. Ultimately, your artistic vision will guide how to best present the final photo.
When preparing your final presentation, it's useful to note that digital editing tools can reverse the fisheye effect as well. Many photo editing programs have a straightening filter that corrects distorted straight lines and flattens them. Although the resulting image will still retain some distortion compared to a rectilinear shot, it will highlight the ultra-wide angle of view, which is precisely what makes the fisheye lens a staple in the gear bags of many photographers.
