Of all the lenses available, the fisheye lens ranks low on most people’s priority list. The uses of this lens are limited and it is rather expensive. However, it can be very effective in the right situation.
It makes sense to rent a fisheye lens from a professional photographic dealer and try it on before you decide to buy one. If it seems like there are many really worthwhile uses, then just consider buying.
Most people who look through a SLR camera with a fisheye lens for the first time find it very interesting to see the world through a 180-degree angle of view. Objects look severely distorted, and it’s easy to get carried away by the eye-catching shots of people’s faces close to the lens, but when used carefully, a fisheye lens can produce uniquely stunning images. The art of lens exploitation is to make the image look as if no fisheye lens was used at all. Great care is needed in choosing a point of view and in framing the subject for best effect.
Due to the extremely wide angle of view, fisheye lenses cannot be used with lens hoods. Filters can be attached, but they are special to be installed at the back of the lens. Graduated filters cannot be used.
There is difficulty when using flash. Even when the flash gun has a wide-angle flash attached, the area it illuminates is no wider than the field of view of a 28mm lens. This is much less than what is needed for a fish eye. If flash had to be used, at least two, or even three or four flash heads would be required.