Is the Panasonic 8mm too expensive? Get the Samyang 8mm f/3.5 for $300

12 Responses

1. This can be a good thing for video, but if you want the fisheye for vr photography the samyang-m4/3 combo is not the best solution, the samyang lens have a particular proyection and its angle of view is narower than in a standar fisheye and with the 2x crop sensor of a m4/3 you would need some more photos for a spherical pano.

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2. Except that the field of view is no longer 180º and the picture is barely fish-eye (only the center of the frame is used).

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3. Does the Samyang provide 180 degree view?

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4. I use the Samyang 85/1.4. If the fisheye has the same quality, it’s well worth its price. Even if it doesn’t cover 180 degrees. Autofocus with this class of lenses is really not necessary. Some even maintain that it is best to use zone focusing.

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5. Interesting. Probably good enough for the limited number of times that a person really needs a fisheye. I used to have one on my old film SLR – used it like mad for a month and then it gathered dust in a drawer.

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6. !!! Was that an awesome video or what?? Superb.

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7. Minimum focusing distance with the Panasonic is 0.33 feet, as opposed to the Samyang, which has a min focusing distance of 12 feet, if that’s important to you.

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8. I have a Spiratone 8 mm f/8 t-mount with a Konica adapter. (Obviously, many years old) I got a Konica to m43 adapter, and they work fine together on my PL1.

   Cost: $50.

   I can also use my other Konica AR lenses: Tamron 35-200 zoom (push-pull, as zoom lenses should be), Konica 40mm f/1.8, and Soligor 100mm f/2.
   The last two are great for available light. Of course they are all manual focus, but with the VF-2 I can focus fine.
   I use shutter priority and auto ISO, manually set the aperature, and the PL1 chooses the ISO – make it easy.

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9. What about the Vivitar 7mm 3.5 fisheye? It has 180 degree angle of view, is made for various mounts and can be purchased for between $325 and $350.

   I don’t know much about the lens truthfully, just did a random search for options.

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10. A lens that has 180 degrees angle of view in a 35 mm mount (doesn’t matter which one) will NOT have 180 degrees in micro Four Thirds because the dimensions of the film/sensor governs the angle of view.

    The only way to have 180 degrees in micro Four Thirds is to have a lens initially designed for that — today, the only option is the Panasonic fish-eye.

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11. There seems to be some misunderstanding in previous comments.

    approx. 8mm Fisheye lens will be:
    a circle fisheye lens for a 35mm mount,
    a diagonal fisheye lens for a 4/3 or m4/3.

    I have experience of using SIGMA 8mm (OM mount) on 4/3 camera a few years ago, and the results were almost identical to 15mm Fisheye lens on a 35mm mount.

    I hope the new Panasonic 8mm had better picture quality.

    Anyway it is smaller fisheye and that is the most important point for me.

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12. I just watched this again. Great editing, shooting and audio. Amazing what someone with talent can do. I want to try this now too!!

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