Conclusion
Pros
- Extremely small lens that is lightweight and easy to handle
- Generally decent build quality given the price with a nice feeling aperture ring and well damped focus ring
- Images are sharp across the frame stopped down
- Unique stereographic projection makes for a less severe fisheye look and wider horizontal and vertical field of view
- Good control of chromatic aberration
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Plastics on the lens hood are extremely prone to scratching and scuffing
- Quality control could be improved
- Only average in control of flare
- Very long minimum focus distance for a fisheye
The Rokinon 8mm f/2.8 fisheye for APS-C mirrorless cameras (available in Fuji X and Sony E mount) is a very unique lens. It is inexpensive, pretty good optically, versatile, small and is one of the few stereographic fisheyes in existence. The result is quite a good bargain. Fisheyes are not an everyday lens, but when used in the right circumstance, they can be really powerful. There’s just no way to achieve this sort of width any other way. Most fisheyes are rather expensive little buggers, but the Rokinon 8mm comes in at a very reasonable $329 and you get a lens that performs very well for the price and is sized right for mirrorless cameras.
Image Samples
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