Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 Circular Fisheye Review

Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 Circular Fisheye Performance

As far as sharpness is concerned, the performance of this lens is similar to what is typical of high-end fisheye optics, with excellent sharpness in the centre of the image circle from maximum aperture. As the aperture is stopped down, sharpness towards the edges of the image circle improves steadily from fairly poor levels at maximum aperture, to very good levels at f/11.

MTF
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D600 using Imatest.

Typically, for fisheye optics, chromatic aberrations can be a feature along high contrast edges towards the edges of the image circle with fringing exceeding 1.75 pixel widths at f/4.

CA
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimise the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D600 using Imatest.

Distortion is as you might expect from a fisheye. Using a fisheye lens will always be a creative choice, where the distortion is used to enhance your image.

As is common with fisheye lenses, strong point sources of light can cause flare and loss of contrast, even so, this lens isn't anymore, or less susceptible to flare than most other fisheye lenses.

Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 Circular Fisheye Sample Photos

Sharpness is excellent in the centre of the image circle from maximum aperture | 1/200 sec | ISO 280 High-Res	Stopping down further improves performance across the image circle | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 High-Res
The angle of view provided by this lens is 185 degrees | 1/200 sec | ISO 100 High-Res	Closest focus is 10cm, which makes this lens suitable for the occasional close-up image, as well as for shooting in claustrophobic environments | 1/200 sec | ISO 320 High-Res
1/200 sec | ISO 200 High-Res	1/500 sec | ISO 100 High-Res
1/500 sec | ISO 100 High-Res	1/200 sec | ISO 160 High-Res
1/200 sec | ISO 140 High-Res

Value For Money

The £210 price of this lens is a little cheaper than the closest circular fisheye equivalent from Samyang. Their 8mm f/3.5 AS IF MC CS II lens costs between £220 and £270 depending on the mount.

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