MS PELENG 3.5/8A (8mm f/3.5 fisheye) with M42 to EOS Adapter
(Click for more photos…)

Hmm, it looks like there is actually a version of the Peleng lens which comes with a dedicated EOS mount, not the M42 to EOS like ours have. I think this is both a good and bad thing. Good because then these lenses can easily be used on any other camera for which an M42 adapter is available. Bad because it’s not as dedicated and perfect as it could be.

If you are curious, this auction has one of the dedicated EOS mount Peleng 8mm lenses for sale. The price is also quite a bit more than we paid, though. Looking at the English side of the Peleng 8mm box one can see that there are two variants available. It appears ours are the Variant 1.

I might try and acquire some of the proper EOS mounts, although I’m not sure how possible that will be. I also don’t know if there really is a reason to, as the M42 adapter (barring the set screw issue) works just fine.

UPDATE: I emailed an eBay seller asking if they have the dedicated EOS mounts for Peleng lenses available. Hopefully they do, and they aren’t too expensive. I think at $15/each I’d probably snag one. Not for any particular reason, more just to be a completest.

Peleng 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye (MS PELENG 3.5/8A)
(Click for more images and samples…)

Well, the Peleng 8mm f/3.5 (photo gallery retired) lenses have arrived. I’ve only opened the one used in the photo above, but this one looks pretty good. The lenses appear to be completely metal and glass and the bits move pretty smoothly. The aperture ring has a very nice, solid action to it, and except for its English markings (I think this is an export version) the whole lens has a very Eastern Bloc feel to it. Focus is a little rough, but nothing to cause any concern. Overall I really like the feel of it.

The lens is also a lot smaller than I expected. With front and rear lens caps and M42 to EOS adapter fitted it weights 470g (~1 pound .5 ounces), is ~72mm in diameter (aperture ring), and 78mm in length. It easily fits on a 20D and doesn’t stick out very far, and except for the large inverted bowl-like of glass, doesn’t look much bigger than a ‘normal’ lens.

I only ran into one problem, and that is that the set screw to hold the M42 to EOS adapter (yes, the lenses are natively M42 mount) to the lens doesn’t really work. The entire body of the set screw isn’t threaded, so it can’t actually be screwed in. Since the set screw was small enough that it may have fit anyway, I attempted to screw it in anyway, but ended up chewing up the head of the screw. Fortunately friction holds the adapter on plenty well, so I’m not using the set screw. I may add a small drop of a Loctite thread locker compound to the adapter, a drop of cyanoacrylate adhesive (super glue) to the edge of the adapter, or just leave it.

When the lens arrived the front element was a bit dusty, but most of the dust blew off with a bulb blower. I then cleaned it with some lens paper and cleaning solution and it looks great.

Image-wise, the Peleng 8mm f/3.5 (photo gallery retired) seems pretty nice, although I haven’t tested it out much yet. With the camera on a tripod right in front of my workbench (approximately the same distance at which I was taking the other photos with the 24-70 f/2.8L (photo gallery retired)) I was able to capture the entire workbench, floor to ceiling. There is a bit of lens flare from the floods, but I figure that this is very difficult to avoid on such wide lenses.

Two other interesting things to note about the lens: It comes in what can best be described as a patent leather case I’d swear this is the same vinyl used to make all manner of club pants and fetish wear.

The lens also can be used with filters, and ships with a total of four of them. The filters are small threaded metal discs attach to the rear of the lens, inside of the mount. The lens ships with a clear filter fitted, and packaged separately are UV-1^x, YG-1,8^x, and O-2,8^x filters.

So, that’s about it. The total cost for each lens is US$239 when purchased in bulk as we did. After I have a chance to check over the lenses I’ll email everyone who is getting one with cost including postage and such. And yes, this will probably be expanded into a page on my site too. I figure more information about such a strange, interesting lens will be rather worthwhile.

If you would like to see more photos of the lens, including the boxes they shipped in, mounting on a 20D, sample images, and other such things, take a look at the Peleng 8mm f/3.5 (photo gallery retired) album in my photo gallery.