Questio about Rokinon Digital 8mm Fisheye

I just purchased one of these lenses. I mounted it on my Rebel XS and took a few test shots. My question: The lens doesn't appear to change focus when I turn the focus ring. Of the pictures I took, none appear to be out of focus, so is this basically a "set it and forget" lens, or do I need to return it for replacement?

I know this is not a quality lens, I purchased it only as a fun to own lens.

Thanks for any input/feedback.

There is so much DOF with that lens, you may not see the focus change much. Try something up really close. It is a good lens, don't knock it.

gasrocks wrote in post #12032196
There is so much DOF with that lens, you may not see the focus change much. Try something up really close. It is a good lens, don't knock it.

Thanks. And I am not knocking it at all. I think from the photos I took, they appear to be very bright and sharp.

I have one. It is indeed an excellent lens. The focusing scale tends to be off on the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower et al 8mm and 14mm lenses (meaning the infinity stop is well beyond infinity), but many people just set the lenses at the 2 feet mark, stop down to F 8 or F 11, and be good to go. If you are shooting a scene with a large close object against a sweeping background, you can use live view to crtically focus on the main subject (use 10x magnification) if you wish that object to be maximally sharp.

I have not yet encountered a shot where the set the scale at 2 feet and F8/F11 method has produced a poor result.

With an 8mm lens, anything from 3 feet away and farther will be in focus at f4 and anything farther than 1.5feet at f8. So it is pretty close to being a lens that doesn't need to be focused.

Cool Beans!!! Thank you all so much for the info. I've not tried anything really close up yet, I'll try just to see if there really is a difference.

Again thanks. One just can't beat a forum like this full of knowledgeable folks

One time I took a photo of my wife from 1 ft. away with this lens. She came into my sanctuary when I was looking at my work and laughing softly at the results. She threatened me with starvation if I didn't delete the photo and me being a person who likes to eat her cooking I deleted it. Our 2 cats are nosy so they are perfect candidates for close up photos and they don't use any undue leverage against me.
Pets can be perfect candidates especially if they are inquisitive. I'm waiting for the opportunity to photograph my neighbors bulldog.

J Bruja wrote in post #12033969
One time I took a photo of my wife from 1 ft. away with this lens. She came into my sanctuary when I was looking at my work and laughing softly at the results. She threatened me with starvation if I didn't delete the photo and me being a person who likes to eat her cooking I deleted it. Our 2 cats are nosy so they are perfect candidates for close up photos and they don't use any undue leverage against me.
Pets can be perfect candidates especially if they are inquisitive. I'm waiting for the opportunity to photograph my neighbors bulldog.

That is absolutely too funny. Obviously your wife knows a bit about photography as she made sure the photo was deleted. I still have a few that I maintain in an unshared folder. Who knows maybe one day I'll use it as blackmail for one of her wonderful pot roasts!!!!

Back to the lens: I am in no hurry to return it as I think this type of lens requires little to no focusing. Which also makes me wonder how many of these lenses have been returned for no reason.

Again thanks for the input.

I spoke with Rokinon tech support a few minutes ago. The gent told me that with this type of lens, one may not notice a change in focus looking through the viewfinder. He said the focus is so minute that it is almost impossible to detect, except by comparing photos.

He also said there is a one year warranty on the lens and if I determine it to be defective they will replace it for me. So at this point I am satisfied.

Thanks for the input.

anscochrome wrote in post #12032737
I have one. It is indeed an excellent lens. The focusing scale tends to be off on the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower et al 8mm and 14mm lenses (meaning the infinity stop is well beyond infinity), but many people just set the lenses at the 2 feet mark, stop down to F 8 or F 11, and be good to go. If you are shooting a scene with a large close object against a sweeping background, you can use live view to crtically focus on the main subject (use 10x magnification) if you wish that object to be maximally sharp.

I have not yet encountered a shot where the set the scale at 2 feet and F8/F11 method has produced a poor result.

tkbslc wrote in post #12032743
With an 8mm lens, anything from 3 feet away and farther will be in focus at f4 and anything farther than 1.5feet at f8. So it is pretty close to being a lens that doesn't need to be focused.

Hey a big thanks to both of you guys for this information. Very useful info. I'm already enjoying this lens especially for the price.

May I ask how much you guys got this lens for? I'm looking to pick up a used one for poo and giggles.

rishu_pepper wrote in post #12072283
May I ask how much you guys got this lens for? I'm looking to pick up a used one for poo and giggles.

http://cgi.ebay.com …43a5a58f24#ht_4​614wt_1141

Ordered it Friday got it today!

Oops I looked at the wrong one. Is there a similar equivalent for FF?

rishu_pepper wrote in post #12072707
Oops I looked at the wrong one. Is there a similar equivalent for FF?

You might consider the very affordable Zenitar 16mm fisheye. It's just as wide as the 8mm on a 1.6x (180 degrees diagonal).

http://photonotes.org/​reviews/zenitar-fisheye/

I have one as well. Just use the distance scale on top and pretty much assume that it will focus from that distance to ∞