Member of the Month

partyandBS
December, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Bower 8mm f3.5 fisheye

profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,403
so im in the market for a new lens to cover some shots of skiing/biking. after browsing B&H i came across the bower f3.5 8mm fisheye seen here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/635178-REG/Bower_SLY358C_SLY_835C_8mm_f_3_5.html

as far as pricing goes, i dont have a huge budget to work with so that is one thing that drew me to this lens. ive read a few reviews on it and only read good things(on both the canon and nikon version, i shoot canon btw) so if anyone has an experience with this lens or a very similar one please post your opinions
Dec 13 2009 10:09PM
0 0
profile picture
jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
With most things in photography, you get what you pay for. Considering how cheap that is I can't see the glass quality being that great. But I have never worked with this lens, so sorry I can't give you a first hand opinion.
Dec 13 2009 10:23PM
0 0
profile picture
skinnylove
Posts: 6807 - Karma: 167
Ditto.
Dec 13 2009 11:33PM
0 0
profile picture
no_steeze
Posts: 23992 - Karma: 4,274
it's a seriously limiting lens and i'm guessing the glass quality won't be very good. fisheyes are so specific that i advise getting something to expand your lens quiver, which from what i know about your quiver, you need some more lenses, not just add something you won't use all the time

look into a UWA, you can still get distorted shots at 10mm but it's more fun and looks sick for a broader range of things
Dec 14 2009 12:01AM
0 0
profile picture
.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
^ x2

We both have the sigma 10-20 4/5.6 and I love the lens and I believe he does as well (correct?) My only complain about it is that it is a slow lens. Shooting at 5.6 can be kinda depressing since you know there are 10-20 2.8's.

But, fuck it. If you want a fish eye I say go for it. I always see people say "dont buy that lens, buy nice or buy twice, third party lenses suck" but then there is always that last sentence that says "but Ive actually never tried the lens."  You can buy it, play with it for a few days and then you can determine if its up to your par, if you see nothing wrong with it, then keep it.

**CHECK THE RETURN POLICY FIRST PLEASE.
Dec 14 2009 11:43AM
0 0
profile picture
*Fujative*
Posts: 8554 - Karma: 183
use google.
scroll to the bottom, someone posted pictures. looks good. it is manual focus though.
Dec 14 2009 12:27PM
0 0
profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,403
ya i saw that site and those pics are whats drawing me to the lens. im fine with manual focus, i much prefer it over auto
Dec 14 2009 1:31PM
0 0
profile picture
SeanTom
Posts: 7936 - Karma: 1,747
I more or less have this same lens. I bought this guy http://www.fotopolis.pl/obrazki/samyang-fisheye.jpg for cheaper than the bower. it's a fine lens and you really do get what you pay for. the focus is a piece of cake and it has a nifty clip on lens cap. Only thing that was strange was the aperture setting. It came up on my Nikon as a scale of 0-5 (with 0=F3.5 and 5=F22) but other than that it's fun.
Dec 15 2009 6:58PM
0 0
profile picture
Alex=God
Posts: 2422 - Karma: 139
I have the lense. I do like it. Its pretty sharp.

Click for larger image


Click for larger image
Dec 15 2009 8:52PM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-5)