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.
Hi Mic. Just two things!
1: the old 8-15 mm is beyond usable on Sony cameras because of the sensor thickness. It gives a wired field planarity issue, especially if used at 15mm with high-resolution sensors. No issue if you are shooting properties (fast 11mm setting, 4 shots, white ceilings) but it’s the hell if you are shooting museums in Europe, renaissance palaces, churches, etc. Softening (going beyond infinity) corners, from a 2/3 from the center. Never tested on a Canon camera, because I forfeit DSLR since Sony A7r2 came out.
In Canon mount I still recommend a good sample of the old 15mm EF, even on a 60mp Sony/Sigma.
2: Adapters and compatibility. The flange distance is only one of the two measures to understand the possibility of making an adapter, the other super important measure is the inner diameter. Then we must examine the matte box inner protrusions, and then we are dealing with “everything by wire” lenses, so we must consider also contact pin positioning. Sony bayonet is far smaller than Canon R. It’s a NO. Nikon Z one is approximately the same size, that would be a no already, but 4mm would give a remote possibility… again a NO, because bayonet protrusion over the flange would be already eaten up, and the 4 lips of Nikon Z mount with the 3 lips of Canon R mount are rendering the thing beyond feasible.. 🙁
That said, I’d be very happy to OWN and test both when they’ll come out. 😀 And more than happy if Canon decides to make a 15mm, maybe with VFC control… 😉
Variable Field Curvature was a Minolta attempt in the end of ’70s to adress some of these issues with two wideangles dedicated to architecture. High resolution film was starting to expose some of those physical optics even in the small format. Mamiya addressed that with a correction ring on all the modern K/L lens series in RB and RZ line, something all architecture and technical photographers like me appreciated enough to kick Hasselblad on the side.