Fisheye

The main advantage of owning a DSLR—or even a micro four-thirds camera—is the ability to use interchangeable lenses to suit different occasions. The main disadvantage, however, is not having enough of them! Heck, I don’t even own a prime lens. I mainly rely on the two zoom kit lenses that came with the camera, and I do struggle with them at times. I’d love to have more, but at my age, it’s madness to spend on nice-to-haves rather than must-haves. That said, I do own an 8mm fisheye lens—more of a novelty than a serious tool.

I mention this because last night, in sheer frustration, I found myself struggling with my 14-40mm zoom kit lens. It simply refused to focus when aimed at the dark sky—lacking contrast, it couldn’t lock onto anything. I wanted to capture the moon, Venus, and Jupiter, which spanned a wide section of the sky, requiring multiple shots to stitch together. Out of desperation, I swapped in the fisheye lens and hoped for the best. And what do you know? It worked! Despite the gross distortion, I managed to capture the sky from west to overhead, and there they were—Venus, the moon, and Jupiter, perfectly aligned!