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Going out with the Samyang 8mm fisheye lens to do Street Photography must be up there with my silliest ideas! Yet I found the experience very creative and entertaining.
It was obviously challenging, and I added some more restraints into the mix, as you will see… But I think I ended up with a few good photos that are somehow out of the ordinary. The good thing is that the sun came out when I reached the location. So, at least, I could play with my own style of Street Photography, and I wasn't entirely a fish out of water (see what I did here?).
I had this idea for a while, but I was never sure I could pull this off. I'm glad I tried because I actually shot some very interesting photos with this Samyang 8mm fisheye!
It surely pushed me to find creative ways to take street photos. And I thoroughly enjoyed the process.
And it's a very different lens from the Fujifilm 8mm, which I use mainly for real estate photography.
The Video
Here's the direct link, in case the embed below doesn't work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv_LWToOTUY
Now, this video has two parts. In the first, I talk a little bit about this Samyang 8mm fisheye and the things I will do with it. Vlog-style.
The second is all about the photos, and I try to mix them with some B-roll to not make this too boring. But there are 35 photos in here for you to enjoy, so hopefully you will find some inspiration. Most of them are shot at the famous Borough Market in London. I do like markets, so I often visit them for photo opportunities.
This has become one of my most popular videos on my channel and I'm so glad it has. It was really fun to make, and I enjoyed the shooting a lot.
Gear
The lens is the Samyang 8mm F2.8 UMC Fisheye II: https://amzn.to/3wMlYvp (available for Canon, Fujifilm, Sony and Samsung mounts).
In the US you may find it under the Rokinon brand name.
I own a few Samyang lenses because they are made to work very well with the Fujifilm system. They show beautiful colour rendition and no aberrations.
Other than this 8mm fisheye lens, I have both versions of the 12mm (AF and manual), the 50mm F/1.2, the 75mm F/1.8 and the 24mm tilt-shift lens. This last one is adapted from a Canon mount, because the Fujfiilm version is much harder to find in the UK.
Feel free to leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. And, of course, don't forget to like the video (because you obviously like it) and subscribe to the channel.
You can massively help my small channel, so thank you all for doing it.
I also made another “wild” Street Photography video with a different full manual lens at F/0.95… Watch that too!
And I'll see you next time!
Cheers.
