Oh, man, my husband spoils me AGAIN!

[Blue_In_AK]

I don't know what I'm going to do with him.

I'm really terrible about making Christmas lists, especially since I've got pretty much everything I need photography-wise, but I did finally spend some time at B&H online and zeroed in on a new tripod, the Vanguard 263 AGH with the pistol grip ball head which does all kinds of cool stuff, so I wasn't too surprised to find it under the tree, but then...

He also gave me the Canon 8-15 f/4.0 fisheye L lens. TOTALLY unexpected. I'm completely intimidated by it, but I think it's going to be really fun to play around with. Does anybody here have experience with fisheye? Tips? Clues?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Oh, my dear Blue!

Wow, what a Merry Christmas!

You know, JeffR took a bunch of pics for Facebook, with a fisheye lens. I don't recall which type it is, but you might ask him about techniques.

Have Fun!

[NYC_SKP]

2. Fish eye lenses aside, I'm reading the nicest letter just received today...

Crisp and folded in a card just unzipped.... I haven't until now had the presence of mind to open my cards.

Our wish back to you, joy for these holidays and prosperity and true happiness for the New Year!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Glad it got there!

I have fun doing the card......every year it's my big art project. Next year we'll be in Rome and Tuscany!

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Oh, that's a good idea.

He's a FB friend of mine, so I'll get in touch. The wonderful F. Gordon, too. I sure do miss those guys around here.

And, Peggy, it was so nice to hear from you this Christmas. Meeting you was a real treat.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Wasn't that a blast?

And I finally got to eat at a SoCal institution, In N Out!

Oh, I'm glad you know Jeff on FB. He is so cool! Yeah, I miss him and F. Gordon too......*sigh*

Glad you enjoyed the card! We loved yours.

[Speck Tater]

6. I love the depth of field with a fisheye

Here's a fisheye photo, but zoomed just far enough to fill the frame instead of getting the circular frame.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Nice!

Yes, I was so surprised to see the rounded sides on my first couple of shots... I wasn't expecting that. From what I understand, if I use it on my full-frame camera, it will be a complete circle at the 8 mm end. That will be fun to try out with the landscapes around here.

[Major Nikon]

19. Mine isn't a circular fisheye

[justiceischeap]

8. The Vanguard looks exactly like the Manfrotto I just bought myself

Except the Manfrotto doesn't have the leg wrappers.

You'll have to let us know what you think of the pistol grip, they look interesting to me. I'm using a ball head for the first time and I'm not sure if I like it.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. I have a pistol grip ball head on my other tripod

so I'm used to it. The other one (and the other tripod) isn't nearly as fancy or sturdy as this new one, which is a lot more flexible since the legs go down really low and the center column swings down and out. The head is easy to turn vertical, straight down to the ground, or at a good angle up to the sky, and it has a nice feature for doing panoramics which I'm going to try to get into a little more. My other tripod, you popped it up and it just stood there doing nothing and my other pistol grip didn't turn all the way vertical and didn't lock into level for doing the panoramics, so I was kind of limited.

It just works best for my purposes, although I see why pan heads are useful, too.

[justiceischeap]

13. Plus, I imagine it's easier to operate

with gloves on.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Definitely!

I can do it in mittens.

[NV Whino]

9. I used a fisheye once for a photo shoot I had to do of an office situation

I rented it from a big store in SF. Can one even rent lenses anymore? Great way to test one out.

Anyway, it was fun to use, and certainly did the job it needed it for.

[justiceischeap]

10. There are actually quite a few lens rental websites

So, yeah, you can still rent them.

[NV Whino]

11. Thanks!

[SouthernDonkey]

18. There is one that rents online

that is located in Cordova on Trinity Drive in Memphis not far from me. I didn't know if I could give the name on here without getting whipped, but its a pretty straight forward name for a lens rental place. There is no shipping charge for picking them up and returning them if you are local. I have a friend who has used them but I never have. He really liked them, and the fact that you can try out a lens before buying it, or just rent one for a shoot if you need it. I have looked at their prices and they offer discriptions and reviews by the owner of all of the lenses he rents. And they rent some pretty expensive ones. Howevery, they seem very reasonable to me.

[ManiacJoe]

15. Tip: When hand holding,

check the bottom of the frame to make sure your feet are not in the picture.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. Yes, I've been warned.

.

[Richard D]

17. You certainly deserve to be spoiled!