Rokinon 8 mm F/3.5 Aspherical Lens For Canon (FE8M-C)

When ordering this lens I was actually scared since I had read so many bad things about Rokinon but it's affordable it features the widest field of view over any other 8mm fisheye lens offerd, and its build quality and optical construction are awesome. Though it's not built for the CMOS sensor however it's still compatible and does make up for it and if you know how to use your equipment you shouldn't have a problem. The lens produces pictures with a semi-circular or rounded image and close images appear proportionately large for a dramatic effect. It doesn’t darkens the corners or produce vignetting effect. The picture is nice and crisp even in the corners. I'm actually very impressed with this fisheye and will judge a lens by it's name no more!

I bought this lens because I was looking for a wide angle lens on my 7D that would not break the bank. This lens goes by a few names (Rokinon, Samyang, maybe a few more), but from what I have read, they are all produced by the same manufacturer. Overall it is an excellent lens and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.


The first thing I noticed about the lens when I received it is the weight. This is not a light lens-- basically all of the components are metal and it has a nice solid build to it.


The second thing I noticed about the lens was that not only did the focus scale seem way off, I just couldn't get anything in focus. Everything was blurry and soft. I was devastated. Before throwing in the towel and sending it back, I did a little bit of poking around on the internet-- not only is this a common problem, it is easily fixed!!!!


Using the LiveView and digital zoom on your camera, find a distance you can get a crisp focus at-- whether that is at 2 feet or 20 feet, then look at the focus scale and see what this reads (0.3m to infinity). Next, roll back the wide rubber grip and you'll see 4 screws (the size you'd find in a pair of glasses). Don't touch the 1 Phillips head screw, but loosen the 3 flat ("minus") head screws (you may have to carefully scrape off a little bit of glue that is suppose to keep the screws from coming loose). This will allow you to spin the focus ring freely. So, if the object you focused at a few minutes ago was 3 feet away, move the focus ring so that it reads 3 feet, then snug the screws back down. It may take a couple of times to do this, but it is dead easy, it fixes the problem and all you need is a razor blade or tiny screw driver to loosen the screws.


Once you are sure you have the focus right, tighten the screws, and a dab or clear nail polish tot he heads if you are afraid they'll come loose, and then roll the rubber grip back over.


For using the lens, everything is a bit soft at f/3.5, but turn it to f/5 or f/8 and everything is crystal clear. Until you get used to the focus scale (or adjust it as I talked about above), you may have issues focusing it just because it is such a very wide angle. I use the LiveVeiw and 10x zoom on my 7D to tweak the focus and then I am ready for shooting.


This lens obviously has a bit of the fisheye distortion, but the color and focus is surprisingly sharp even at the corners of the picture. The lens handles lens flare (from, say, having the sun in a shot) remarkably well and does not seem to lose contrast or have the sun drown out your colors.


This lens may not have all of the automatic features (focus, f-stop, etc) from other lenses, but it also doesn't have the huge price tag those lenses have. The picture quality is second to none-- it performs well for night photography, star trails, daylight landscapes and everything in between. On my 7D, viewing angle seems to be about 160-170 degrees (not quite a full 180), which is just amazing.


Except for the initial focus scale/ring issues (easily adjusted with those screws and now fixed), I have no complaints about this lens, I only wished I had bought it months ago.

I originally wanted to get a wide angle along the lines of 10mm but it was just too costly. The alternative was to settle for this 8mm fisheye lens and correct the distortion for a similar effect. I'm pleased to say that once this lens arrived, I found myself liking the fisheye effect as well as use for wide angle.

The construction of the lens feels very solid. It feels like a high quality lens and has a good balance with my Canon 500D.

There is nothing to say about what I dislike about the lens. Afterall, you're buying this for 1/3 of what Nikon or Canon lens are asking for theirs! This lens is full manual, which means there are no auto-focus, auto-exposure, or stabilization. But that does not mean a novice can't use this lens. It is very easy to get used to after a few uses. Believe me, you'll have a harder time not focusing instead of focusing. It's that easy.

The front element obviously sticks out and is prone to touching. Also it does not have thread of any sort to be able to attach some kind of filter. Compared to cheap screw-on "lenses", the glass on this 8mm fisheye is very resilient from scratches than the cheapo screw-ons. I know this because I used a cleaning cloth on a screw-on "lens" and I saw little scratches. But after using a cleaning cloth to wipe an greasy finger print off this 8mm fisheye, the glass stayed scratch free.

You certainly cannot beat this lens for what it offers for the price. And Adorama has done a great job in delivering this lens to me safely and swiftly. I could not compare this lens to anything else because it's just too good. Low price and high quality.

I'd definitely recommend this to a friend.

I've studied Photojournalism at University and been working in the field for around 18 months doing ongoing nightclub shoots, magazine shoots, motion photography, and some film. I've got a few L series lenses, but this is now my favourite indoor lense for film and tight group shots. While the lens operates entirely from manual settings (i.e., no AF, manual aperture setting on the lens only), the quality of the film captured is comparable to L series lenses. This lens is highly suited to almost any amateur endeavour especially filming in natural light outdoors on an aperture between 11 to 22. My only concern with this lens is that it is difficult to determine the specific focal point and therefore, when printing A4 or larger, the image may not be as sharp as intended. There is also some very mild, but noticable, image distortion that emerges on the very edges of the frame when printing on A3 and will intensify exponentially on larger prints. I would recommend amateurs who need to film or photograph in confined spaces purchase this lens as it is a great lens for the price.

I bought this lens because it can fit my dslr camera which is canon and it is a fisheye lens which I really wanted. It is cheaper than the real canon fisheye lens which is still better. The only differ is that this lens is using all manually while the canon lens it can be automatic. This lens really fit my camera which is great. Love the fisheye effect. This really helps me with my photography. The only thing I dislike about this lens is the focus, since it is manual. It is really hard to know or see if it is focus perfectly onto the subject. That's the only thing but anyway, it still work's. That's all. Thank you.