Monday, May 11, 2026

Circular fisheye lens

The following photo was taken during the afternoon on 08 May 2026 using my Fujifilm X-T3 camera and a Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens. The camera was facing in a northerly direction. Low level cumuliform clouds were moving across the sky for most of the afternoon.

08 May 2026. 1:51 PM. (4160 x 4160 pixels.)

This was my first field test of the Meike lens. I'm encouraged by the quality of the photos that I shot. Maybe next time I'll remember to set the camera to record RAW images. Fog of war. That being said, a sample size of one proves nothing. I look forward to testing the lens more thoroughly in the near future.

Panorama Photos

The following panoramic composite images were taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The iPad was mounted on a tripod located in the shade of the tree shown at the top of the preceding fisheye photo.

08 May 2026. 1:32 PM. Panoramic view. (15711 x 3934 pixels.)

08 May 2026. 1:35 PM. Panoramic view. (15210 x 3688 pixels.)

The midday Sun in late spring is high in the sky, making it difficult to shoot photos of the sky that don't show the disc of the Sun, given the 190° field of view of the Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens. Direct sunlight can cause damage to the camera lens and sensor. Both the tree and a passing cloud blocked direct sunlight when the fisheye photo was taken.

Camera Settings

The camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. The Meike lens features a "clickless" aperture ring. The Aperture was set for the f/8 mark on the aperture ring. The manual focus ring was set near the infinity (∞) mark. The Shutter Speed was set for 1/1,600 s. 

The camera was set to record JPEG only (L Fine), in L 1:1 format (4160 x 4160 pixels). I thought the square format might be better for photos that could be used to create time lapse videos.

In retrospect, it might have been better to record the images in 3:2 format (6240 x 4160 pixels) in order to allow more flexibilty for cropping and annotating images. Warning: 16:9 format (6240 x 3512 pixels) results in an image that is cropped at the top and bottom for this camera/lens combination.

Tech Tips

The Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens is a manual lens -- completely manual, as in there are no electronic contacts that enable the lens to communicate with the camera. In order to take photos using the lens you must set the camera to "SHOOT WITHOUT LENS," as shown in the following video.


There's one caveat: You can use the Fujifilm "XApp" to shoot photos without setting the camera to "SHOOT WITHOUT LENS." My recommendation? Set it and forget it. That way your camera will work with or without tethering to the "XApp."

The preceding "how to" video was recorded using HDMI out from my Fujifilm X-T3 camera. A micro HDMI cable was connected to the HDMI port on my camera, and tethered to my Apple iPad mini 6 using a MavisLink Video Capture Card (HDMI to USB) and Apple OTG adapter (USB to USB-C). "Dongled," a free Apple iOS app, was used to display HDMI video from the camera; the iPad display was captured using screen recording.

The Backstory

I own a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (RPi). I bought it to use for capturing images from polar-orbiting weather satellites. Well, that was the plan but it never worked as well as I hoped.

I haven't used my RPi since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decommissioned all of its Automatic Picture Transmission polar-orbiting weather satellites. I've been thinking about repurposing the RPi as an "all sky camera" by adding a camera/lens and installing free open source software for controlling the camera.

As I was researching cameras and lenses that can be used with my RPi, I noticed some information and videos related to fisheye lenses that are used for capturing all sky imagery with APS-C cameras like my Fujifilm X Series cameras. I realized a wide angle "circular fisheye" lens is perfect for my needs.

I started shopping online and quickly discovered the Meike MK-6.5mm f/2 Circular Fisheye Lens for FUJIFILM X seemed to be one of the better lenses on the market, and its $130 price point made it very attractive. I bought the lens from B&H Photo on Wednesday, 29 March 2026; it was delivered on Friday, 01 May 2026. 

The lens was supposed to come with a "lens pouch"; the pouch wasn't in the box. By the time I contacted B&H on Thursday, 07 May 2026 the lens had been "Discontinued" by B&H. I asked Marvin C., the B&H product specialist with whom I chatted, "How do we make this right?" Marvin suggested I contact Meike. Good luck with that, Marvin! Meike is a Chinese company whose "Contact Us" Web page doesn't include a link for resolving issues like mine.

I didn't buy the lens from Meike -- I bought the lens from B&H Photo therefore I think the missing lens pouch is a B&H problem. The old B&H Photo that I grew to know and love would have offered to provide a lens pouch for similar sized lenses, free of charge. But that didn't happen.

B&H Photo has been my go-to store for photography gear. Over many years I've purchased a lot of gear from B&H. As a result, I expect better customer service than I received. Are you listening B&H? This is how businesses lose loyal customers.

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Copyright © 2026 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
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