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When I first saw photos taken with the Sigma 4.5mm fisheye over at Whateverland, one of my favorite photoblogs, I was instantly intrigued. I enjoy using wide-angle lenses and this one looked like a lot of fun. So a few weeks ago I rented the Sigma 4.5mm and headed out to Discovery Green in Houston and the local TAMU campus to see what it could do.

The Sigma 4.5mm f2.8 EX DC Circular Fisheye HSM lens offers a full 180 degree field of view (and an insanely long name) on digital cameras with APS-C (crop-factor) sensors. Having never used a fisheye lens before, I didn’t really know what to expect. It is a little disorienting to look though the viewfinder and see most of it black, with just a circle providing a view of what lays before you.

With everything in front of you in the frame, exposure and composition are tricky. The 180 degree view can confuse the camera’s meter if the frame has dramatic shift in light to dark. I had to constantly underexpose by almost a full stop to avoid blowing out the highlights when shooting outside. And with a lens this wide, you really have to get close to your subject to make it stand out. The lens does have a very close focusing distance (5.3 inches), allowing you to exaggerate the fisheye effect for items closest to the lens.

Exposure isn’t all that the lens’s ultra-wide POV affects. Sometimes focusing is a little difficult as well. When taking a photo with nothing prominent in the foreground, my camera had a tough time locking focus. This isn’t anything wrong with the lens’s focusing capability, just that the lens is so wide the camera has a tough time finding enough detail and contrast to lock focus. I’ve had the issue when using other ultra-wide lenses, like Canon’s 10-22mm. On my 20D, selecting the center focus point tends to increase my chances in these situations.

When there was enough contrast for the camera to auto focus, the HSM focus system performed admirably. This was the first time I’ve used a Sigma lens with HSM and it is a dramatic improvement over the non-HSM equipped Sigma lenses I’ve used in the past. My Sigma 70-300 APO sounds like it could wake the neighbors when it focuses (or tries to at least). Focusing with the 4.5mm fisheye is a much quieter affair. With HSM, I only had to worry about the 20D’s embarrassingly loud mirror slap drawing attention to my camera.

As you would expect, build quality is better than Sigma’s less expensive line of lenses. The 4.5mm is heavier than I expected it to be, and it feels solid with everything fitting together well. The focusing ring doesn’t wobble like some lenses (Canon EFS line, I’m talking to you). The matte finish is attractive and adds a little comfort to holding the lens.

On the negative side, fringing is common around the frame when in bright conditions and flare is something to be careful of. Illuminating the inside of the lens is all too easy. Most lenses take care of these issues with a lens hood, but since anything in front of the lens shows up in the frame, a hood isn’t a possibility.

I’m not someone who shoots focus charts or views my photos at 400%, but the images appear sharp with good color. I’ve linked to full-sized images converted to jpeg with no post processing so you can judge for yourself. Overall, I was impressed with the level of detail this lens could capture given how wide it is and how little of the frame it uses.

The Sigma 4.5mm fisheye is a lot of fun, but I can’t see myself wanting to have one all the time. I consider a lens this wide a novelty, even more so than a typical fisheye. Its interestingness comes from its unique perspective and isn’t something I would want to use on a regular basis. But if you’re looking to get the ‘peephole effect’ from a lens it is definitely worth checking out.

View the full-sized images taken with the Sigma 4.5mm lens over at Flickr, or download all of them at once in a zip file here (6.62MB).

Backpacks are great and all, but what do you do when you don’t want to take a time out and lay everything down to grab another piece of camera equipment? Most often you use a shoulder bag. I wanted something to give me quicker access to my camera and lenses. After a lot of research I decided on the Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home.

This bag has plenty of room for gear while still managing to be comfortable. It also looks great and won’t get picked out of a lineup for being a camera bag. Always a good thing when trying to thwart camera thieves.

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Bryan Peterson’s “Understanding Exposure” is the book I recommend to anyone looking for a comprehensive yet enjoyable introduction to photography. Peterson walks the reader through photographic elements including aperture, shutter speed, ISO and depth of field explaining not only their meaning but how they affect the image. His explanations are thorough, but do not overwhelm the reader with technicalities. The text also features color photos with exposure settings that demonstrate the points as they are explained.

I ordered this book after being frustrated with the results of shooting in Program and Auto modes with my first camera, the Canon A80. While the A80 has shutter and aperture priority modes as well a manual setting, I didn’t fully understand the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and other exposure options. After reading “Understanding Exposure” I had a solid grasp on the elements of exposure and was ready to experiment with all the settings the camera had to offer.

“Understanding Exposure” is an excellent guide to help you break out of shooting with your camera’s auto modes and take creative control of your photography. Before you know it, you will forget your camera even has an automatic setting.

And for those that prefer more of a classroom setting, Peterson also teaches online classes at the Picture Perfect School of Photography.