Zenitar 2.8/16 MC Lens for Canon EOS Camera

This lens is about as good as it gets at this pricepoint, and the optics at worst are no more than a stop & a half softer than the sharpest fullframe fisheye (a couple of older lenses, a Canon & Sigma).Fisheye lenses are meant to be stopped down in order to maximize DOF, and as such they're best used in bright, open scenes such as landscapes. The old Sunny 16 rules applies here, and since everything's manual, we learn to recognize metered scenes, and shoot long exposures with a tripod.To that end, grab a sheet of Lee ND4 & Rosco ND16 gel filters to use in the lens rear filter barrel, and learn black card exposure control.16mm is the also longest FE lens you can find on 35mm-land & still retain 180° AOV (diagonal). Any Zoom FE w/ a longer focal length will crop the scene beyond 16mm.But 16mm pulls in just enough detail in the field to render the detail you want. Ken Rockwell squares it off vs. a roughly equivalent Nikkor, & the Zenitar performs better overall.IDK how well it shoots vs. the new Fullframe Samyang FE, which goes for 2x the price, but like any FE, they aren't without their idiosyncrasies either: Soft corners, chromatic aberration, fringing & soft wide open.All caveats about budget lenses apply here ... test it right away & check for decentering, glass bubbles, loose screws, wobbly mounts & misaligned lens hood. These issues are all standard fare, the first two sufficient cause for a return.[Edit: This is annoying but workable, but I was finally informed by the Amazon vendor that the Red & Yellow filters are no longer supplied, although the *clear* "filter" is still mounted in back. Keep that "filter," it'll serve to place a Neutral Density filter in its stead, Lee or Rosco gel filters will serve well. ]

Cheap lens, but you need to stop down to f11 to f16 for usable sharpness. I had one of these on a Pentax crop sensor several years ago and it worked better on a crop sensor than on my Canon 6D full frame sensor.Other than that it is just OK. It will probably not be used as much as I planned on, due to the lack of sharpness at image edges. Also my copy has some decentering - one side is consistently fuzzier than the rest of the frame.Stick to the Rokinon/Samyang/Bower versions for much better sharpness.

This is a very nice fisheye for full frame or film cameras, but yoy have to make some adjust before using, you need a little screwdriver to move the lenshood and the focus ring, a lot of explanations are avaliable on the web.

Due to the recent earthquake in Japan I have been unable to buy the Tokina 11-16mm that I'd been dreaming of for over a year. The ebay price and even the Amazon price have gone up. The lens has been unavailable at retail. This was my substitute. I figured it was inexpensive enough to risk it. I've been pleasantly surprised. The picture is wonderfully clear without chromatic aberration. You should be aware that this sized lens is for a crop sensor only if being used as a wide angle. If you have a 5D or ful sized sensor, you will see the intentional barrel distortion associated with the fisheye look. I shoot on a Canon T2i. If you are shooting video you will relish the f/2.8 aperture maximum. For examples, visit my vimeo page vimeo/dume41.Be aware of the fact that the lens is manual everything. There will be no digital contact between the lens and camera. Also there will be no filters for the lens. If you shoot HD video these problems are not insurmountable, as you'd most likely be taking your time to construct every shot. If you are mostly a photographer, you will find that the wide aperture isn't too relevant. You'd rather have auto focus and digital aperture control, because you can always change your shutter speed. With Video you must use a fixed shutter speed to avoid the video look. That speed is 50 if shooting at 24p.Overall the product is decent. It does everything it promises to do and it shouldn't have a star knocked off for the manual controls. To get a 16mm with auto controls you'd have to spend triple the cost of this lens, without really improving the optics much.A strong value.

No complaints for a full frame fisheye under $300. I only wish there was an even wider lens at this price for full frame without vignetting. few glitches with the lens occasionally but nothing to deter my recommendation for this lens.

I could not get a sharp image on a Canon 5d MkII. From other reviews I've seen, you have to stop down to f8 to make it usable. So it's all but useless in anything but bright conditions. It's really a shame because the photography world really needs this lens at this price point - if only it were remotely sharp at wider apertures!!!

lens scratches very easily, too easily.

I lived in the former Soviet Union for the first half of my life so normally I would stay away from anything "Made in Russia" because I know too well how it was manufactured. Still after long research I was stupid enough to buy this glass on eBay for $140 with free shipping. There is more of them out there. The lens I bought was brand new sealed in the box. First surprise - the cap for the back of the lens just fell off. Totally didn't match. No way to attach it to the lens. OK, second surprise - took my first shot on my full frame Canon 6D and got 2 dark diagonal corners. That was weird. Having 4 wouldn't surprise me but 2 ... after some thinking and playing with this masterpiece I realized that you can screw off the top part. I mean completely, with the top glass. Ouch. So now I am thinking that probably it was not aligned properly and that's why I am getting those dark diagonal corners. So I put it back on the camera, set the glass to 2.8 so it's bright, pointed at something white and started turning the top unit back in till the corners were gone. After that it was fine. Very sharp especially if you shoot around 8, 9 or 11. Good luck.