Canon appears to be working on two fisheye lenses for the mirrorless EOS R series, according to two patents found by Canon News. Canon already has an excellent fisheye with the 8-15 f/4L, which can be used on Canon’s EOS R series (also on Sony or Nikon mirrorless, with an adapter) but now they may be working on fisheye lenses designed natively for mirrorless.
Fisheye lenses are the most commonly used types of lenses for DSLR or mirrorless 360 photos because they are easier to stitch and require fewer shots for a 360 panorama. Now Canon seems to be working on two new EF-M fisheye lenses, which could be well-suited for 360 photos if they are anywhere as good as Canon’s 8-15 f/4L.
The first lens is an 8mm f/4, which should be a circular fisheye on a full frame body, and a cropped fisheye on the APS-C cameras. The second is an 8-15mm f/4. At 8mm on a full frame, it should be a circular fisheye (180 degrees horizontally and vertically), while at 15mm, it should be a diagonal fisheye (180 degrees diagonally). It will be interesting to see if it performs as well as the 8-15 f/4L.
May be usable for Sony and Nikon
Canon EF-M has a flange distance of 20mm, which seems to mean that these lenses might be possible to use on Sony mirrorless (18mm) or Nikon mirrorless (16mm) with an adapter, although I’m not aware of any EF-M to E-mount or Z-mount adapters yet.
Time frame
When would these fisheye lenses be released? Canon Rumors showed Canon’s purported lens road map for 2021, which included 16 lenses for mirrorless but did not mention either of the fisheyes. If the roadmap is real, then these fisheye lenses might not be released until 2022 at the earliest.
This is very useful information! Thank you, Mic! Here makes gathering needed information simple. In a welcome place. Keep safe!
Please be consistent.
Are these lenses for EOS R (which you initially claim) or EOS M (which you later indicate by stating that they are EF-M lenses)?
RF and EF-M mounts are completely incompatible, and EF-M is APS-C only.
The one source you provide only talks about the 8-15/4, which is RF mount and not EF-M. It does not discuss an 8mm F4 prime anywhere.
Hi Mic, Am so mixed up with these fish eye lenses.Besides what Canon is coming out with in the RF fish eye lenses which are very expensive in the market, which other make of fish eye lens full frame would work out best considering the highest resolution and image quality on Canon EOS R body.Could you please help me to make a right decision?
Thank you for the informative website. Really very revealing!
Question: could you also use the Canon RF 15-35mm? Do you have any experience with it?
Thank you!
Hi Bruno. I don’t have the 15-35. Generally, I use fisheye lenses for my 360 photos.