Learning Surf Photography

7artisans 7.5mm fisheye – budget friendly diagonal fisheye for Sony e-mount

Summary: If you’re on a tight budget, keep an eye out for reviews of the $139 7artisans 7.5mm fisheye

Since I bought my inexpensive Meike 6.5mm f2 circular fisheye for my Sony a6000 I haven’t used my Samyang/Rokinon 8mm f2.8 fisheyes at all.

I love the extreme circular image I get with the Meike and I’ve been very happy with the images I get when I correct the distortion to make a more traditional rectangular image from them.

I even had one printed in the June issue of UK surf magazine Carve, as subscribers to my newsletter will have already seen:

A circular fisheye image which was corrected in photoshop so it appears similar to the results of the 7artisans 7.5mm fisheye

But, I didn’t go as far as recommending the Meike over the Samyang/Rokinon 8mm f2.8 diagonal fisheyes.

I think most surf photographers would prefer the simplicity of shooting with full diagonal coverage of their sensor. Even though the Meike costs half of the price of the Samyang/Rokinon, I think a diagonal fisheye is probably the best option for most surf photographers.

The best value fisheye for Sony e-mount cameras

So far the best value fisheye for surf photographers who use the Sony a6xxx range of bodies has been the Samyang/Rokinon 8mm. But now you have another option that’s about half the price of the Samyang/Rokinon and gives you a very similar field of view across the whole sensor.

The 7artisans 7.5mm f2.8 fisheye

The 7artisans 7.5mm fisheye

At just $139 US the 7artisans 7.5mm fisheye is now the most inexpensive diagonal fisheye for the Sony e-mount.

Here are the details:

  • Price: $139 US
  • Manual focus
  • Manual aperture
  • f2.8
  • 7.5mm
  • 180 degrees field of view
  • Diagonal fisheye – covers the whole APSC sensor
  • Lens hood (is it removable? probably not, but maybe)
  • Length (with lens hood): 63mm
  • Diameter: 63mm
  • Aluminium body, copper lens mount
  • Minimum focus distance: 0.12m

The manual aperture and focus shouldn’t worry you at all, you don’t need to autofocus on a fisheye for surf photography, and setting up the aperture to get decent shots whatever the light conditions is very easy too.

The brand 7artisans is relatively new, but they’ve got a few all manual lenses available and I’ve been pretty happy with my other all manual Chinese lens purchases, so I’ve got high hopes for the quality being pretty good.

Ideally the lens hood would be removable, so you could use it with more of the smaller dome ports. Some sites even seem to list a “foldable lens hood”, which offers a ray of hope, although there are no pictures of it without the hood in place…

All the rest looks pretty standard so it just remains to be seen if the image quality compares to the Samyang/Rokinon 8mm diagonal fisheyes and the Meike Circular fisheye.

Because it’s only just been announced, there aren’t any reviews available yet. It’s likely to be a bit like the Meike 6.5mm fisheye and take a little while before people start receiving them from China and putting samples up online.

I’ve already placed an order for mine, so as soon as I get it I’ll do the usual unboxing and first impressions videos.

Is anyone else thinking of picking one of these 7artisans 7.5mm fisheye lenses up for surf photography?

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Ben Pascoe

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Comments

12 responses to “7artisans 7.5mm fisheye – budget friendly diagonal fisheye for Sony e-mount”

  1. Jeff Beardall Avatar
    Jeff Beardall

    Lens hood is removable…screws on. I have one. And the image quality is great with the exception of CA on the frame edges.

    Reply
    1. Ben Pascoe Avatar
      Ben Pascoe

      Thanks Jeff, that’s great news. I’m still waiting for mine to arrive, it sounds like it will fit in my housing and offer a comparable alternative to my Samyang/Rokinon 8mm.

      Reply
      1. Philippe Chevodian Avatar
        Philippe Chevodian

        Let us know if it fits in your V1 dome port Ben!
        thank you :-)

        Reply
        1. Ben Pascoe Avatar
          Ben Pascoe

          It definitely does fit in the V1 dome, I’ve used it a couple of times now.

          I unscrewed the lens hood each time, not sure if it would fit with the hood on, but it’s very easy to remove the hood.

          I’ve now sold my Samyang 8mm fisheyes and just use this if I need a diagonal fisheye.

          Here’s an unboxing which shows some example photos using this lens in the Liquid Eye C6000 with V1 dome port:

          https://youtu.be/ZxzmhzBpADI

          Reply
          1. Philippe Chevodian Avatar
            Philippe Chevodian

            very good news then!!! Thank you Ben! :-)

          2. Christopher Lott Avatar
            Christopher Lott

            Hi Ben, I’m almost ready to order this 7artisans 7.5mm lens. As you use the a6000 housing, I was wondering if you could confirm that it will fit in the Sony a6500 Liquideye housing and which of the V1 or V2 dome / ports to use? Thank you sir!

          3. Ben Pascoe Avatar
            Ben Pascoe

            Hi Chris,
            I use the 7artisans 7.5mm fisheye in the Liquid Eye C6000 housing with the S-LD-4310 dome port: https://liquideye.net/product/s-ld-4310/

            It’s the port designed for the V1 Samyang 8mm fisheye. It works great, I just unscrew the lens hood before putting it in the housing.

        2. Dave Yamaya Photos Avatar
          Dave Yamaya Photos

          Hi Philippe,
          What’s the V1 dome port? I have the S-LD 4910 for my C6000 and the there is slight vignette with this 7artisans 7.5mm

          Reply
          1. Philippe Chevodian Avatar
            Philippe Chevodian

            Yes Dave it is quite normal as the 4910 is for the 8mm Samyang V2. For this new fish eye lens you will need the S-LD 4310 (originally designed for the 8mm Samyang v1) which is a little bit shorter.

  2. Chris Hubbard Avatar
    Chris Hubbard

    As the hood is removable will it fit inside the Meikon housing? Obviously their will be a degree of vignetting etc. I can source a Samyang secondhand for around the same price as the 7artisans… you mention image quality is virtually the same…which would you recommend as price isn’t an issue and I would also like to use it for Astro photography. I also have one eye on the new meikon housings with dome port which I assume would fit both lenses. Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    1. Ben Pascoe Avatar
      Ben Pascoe

      I haven’t tried it in the Meikon housing, but I will do when I get back home on Sunday. I expect it would fit, but it would have some severe vignetting as you point out.

      They’re both f2.8, manual focus, and offer a very similar field of view, so neither has an advantage for astro photography.

      If the price isn’t an issue then the Samyang might be a better option, but there’s not much in it. The most important factor is whether your water housing will work with it…

      I have the V1 dome port for my Liquid Eye C6000 (as discussed in these comments) and it works perfectly with the 7artisans (with hood removed) and the Samyang V1.

      If you have a V2 dome for a Liquid Eye housing, or you have a Salty Surf Housing, you’ll be better off with the Samyang V2.

      The new Meikon housing looks like it has a relatively long dome port from the pictures, so there’s a chance the Samyang V1 and the 7artisans (and my favourite – the Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye) will be too short.

      If you can wait a couple of weeks I’m hoping to get the new Meikon housing as soon as I can (release date is start of February), and the first thing I’ll do is try my lenses in it and take some measurements of the ports so I can see which fisheye I’d recommend.

      Reply
      1. Chris Hubbard Avatar
        Chris Hubbard

        yeah sweet I look forward to it, I really miss shooting with a dome port it always gives an added dimension to photos.

        Reply

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