The 15mm Canon Fisheye Lens is a full-frame 180-degree diagonal fisheye lens designed for Canon’s full-frame sensor cameras such as the 1Ds Mark III, 5d Mark II, and all previous full-frame models. Canon’s 15mm lens is a prime autofocus lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Unfortunately, this lens has been discontinued and replaced with a newer model.
Should You Still Buy a Canon 15mm?
Until very recently, the 15mm Canon lens was the only Canon fisheye lens you could get, leaving Canon owners with 1.6x and 1.3x crop cameras out in the cold. Canon has now replaced the 15mm lens with the 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye Zoom Lens. As I’m writing, it’s not yet for sale, but the Canon 15mm is still available new and I suspect once the 8-15mm zoom is released to the public, you’ll see more and more 15mm fisheye become available on the used lens market.
As a Canon 5d Mark II shooter, I was very disappointed that Canon didn’t upgrade my current 15mm fisheye. I understand the need for the new 8-15mm fisheye zoom, and can appreciate why mid-range Canon users are excited about the new fisheye zoom. But for full-frame photographers, the new lens doesn’t offer much unless you want to create circular fisheye images. According to Canon, the new 8-15mm fisheye zoom should allow full frame users to go from diagonal (15mm) to round (8mm) with a simple twist of the zoom ring. Great, if you like circular images! If you don’t — and you fall into that category — the new zoom really has nothing to offer since the maximum aperture of the new fisheye zoom is a mere f/4.
I currently own a Canon 15mm and don’t think I’ll be getting rid of it anytime soon even when Canon’s new fisheye zoom finally makes its way out. Of course I will do a test run when the time comes and hope this lens will be around again when I was still shooting with my Canon Rebel. Undoubtedly, the new 8-15mm fisheye would be a fine lens; But will it fulfill Canon’s complete shooter? Let’s take a look at Canon’s 15mm fisheye lens.
Image quality of Canon’s 15mm fisheye lens
The Canon Fisheye 15mm is the sharpest lens I’ve ever seen on a fisheye. If there was a sharper fisheye lens out there, I’d love to see it. Most of my photography buddies shoot with Nikon and none of them will question the fact that the Canon 15mm is extremely sharp compared to any of the fisheye lenses Nikon has made. Even wide open at f/2.8, this lens is sharp as nails. With a close focus distance of up to 8 inches, you can get close to this fisheye lens from Canon for extremely exciting eye-popping shots.
Auto focus is very fast on this lens even though it has the old AF motor. There is no hypersonic motor on this lens as it was originally designed in 1987. Canon has made almost no changes to this lens since that time.
chromatic aberration could be better; And here Nikon is clearly the winner, but nothing that can’t be easily handled if you shoot in RAW format so you can still digitally shoot it. I often get exposed to the sun in my fisheye shots and rarely have to deal with any serious issues with shadows and explosion. Color saturation and contrast are just as good with this lens. The 15mm Canon Fisheye lens translates to great images and you’ll really appreciate this lens when you’re making large prints like I do.
Like other quality fisheye lenses, the Canon 15mm has a rear gelatin filter mount. At 11.6 ounces, it doesn’t weigh much and you can easily carry it in a jacket or jacket pocket without it being too noticeable.
So even though Canon’s 15mm is not an “L” series lens, it is a prime lens and can hold its own for a zoom even if it’s an “L” series lens.
is 15 mm Canon Fish eye for you?
If you have a full frame Canon shooter and love a fast prime lens that creates beautiful images, I highly recommend the Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens even if you have to buy it used. If you like the idea of being able to take diagonal and circular fisheye images with a single lens and don’t mind using a slow f/4 maximum aperture, you might want to go with the 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye Zoom lens. Whenever this is out!
As for me, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive Canon for discontinuing the Canon 15mm Fisheye. But I will definitely give it a try.