Nikon 10.5 mm fisheye Worth having ?

[davespics]

I've had this lens for about 3 years - I took it with me to Africa with a shot like this in mind... I've used it many times since and have never tried to 'de-fish'. Its a great lens and you can be really creative with it.



--

In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice, theory and practice are different.
http://www.intouchimages.com

 

[Norm Ullock]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment and post images. I now have a much better feel for what this lens can do

 

[samjNC]

So, the FOV in this lens is essentially wider than the 10-20 lenses?

I would only get this lens with the intent to produce fisheye images; dont know why you would want to defish, when there are great UWA for those kinds of images

 

[minim3]

It needs a bunch of creativity and i've never defished it...(i got a wide angle for that).

I love this lens, i had the 10,5DX and swaped it against the 16mm for FX, DX have a closer focus distance, that makes it even more creative!

But a lot of people get bored very soon, you must know what you're buying and what for...

--
My flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/_gman_/

 

[Anh Bi]

The 10.5mm fisheye is my personal favorite lens over the 14-24, 16-85 or 30.

It's wide, way wider than a 10-20. Then there is the size, it's small, tiny and balance perfectly well on my D300.

I find the fisheye to be a double edged sword. It can be extremely picky to frame with if you are shooting landscape, but for portrait and close up, it allows you to be extremely sloppy with framing.



--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anh-bi/

 

[mageshh]

All the NYC shots are awesome. Thanks for sharing. My fav is the empire state building and NYSE views. Nice composition and different angle.
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://stills-n-stance.blogspot.com

 

[sean000]

I find the fisheye to be a double edged sword. It can be extremely
picky to frame with if you are shooting landscape, but for portrait
and close up, it allows you to be extremely sloppy with framing.

Agreed. When photographing people it doesn't matter so much, but when photographing landscapes or architecture it takes care to get the framing exactly as you want it. I usually use the tripod so I can get things lined up when framing is critical and you want the distortion to look symmetrical.

 

[jb_va2001]

I am intrigued by the 180 degrees that this lens can do. It gets good
reviews and the images can be defished.
I am interested in hearing from people who have or use one. Is this
lens worth having? Do you use it very much?

Thanks for any input on this

 

[Aaron@Utah]

that's almost 2x the FOV for the fisheye
--
Mac OS X: Because making UNIX user friendly was easier than fixing Windows.
http://www.pimshots.com

 

[Odd Erik Garcia]

It is great on FX as well ;-)





Best regards,
Odd Erik

 

[calson]

I used mine quite a bit with a DX camera but never "defished" as I don't like the distortion that results. When I got the D3 I also added a 16mm f2.8 fisheye which I now use as a fisheye on the D3 and as a 16mm ultra wide angle rectilinear lens on my DX cameras. Since getting the 16mm fisheye the 10.5 has stayed in its bin.

The 16mm f2.8 is half the size, weight, and cost of the 14mm f2.8 which makes for a very lightweight rig when mated to a DX camera. It is roughly the same size and weight as the 10.5mm fisheye.

 

[ron_9]

Calson if you haven't tried the image trend hemi plug in($29) you may be missing a very viable alternative and expansion of this lens. I believe they also will work with the 16 and 14mm, at least I have three programs that are part of that plugin but I haven't used it since I don't have those lenses

Part of that program if for this lens only(10.5 on DX) and works very well and even minimizes distortion. Some programs don't give a good coversion and I could understand what you are concerned about--give it a try---------ron s.

I used mine quite a bit with a DX camera but never "defished" as I
don't like the distortion that results. When I got the D3 I also
added a 16mm f2.8 fisheye which I now use as a fisheye on the D3 and
as a 16mm ultra wide angle rectilinear lens on my DX cameras. Since
getting the 16mm fisheye the 10.5 has stayed in its bin.

The 16mm f2.8 is half the size, weight, and cost of the 14mm f2.8
which makes for a very lightweight rig when mated to a DX camera. It
is roughly the same size and weight as the 10.5mm fisheye.

--
Keeping it sane in an insane world is an inconvenience at an inconvenient time!!
http://www.pbase.com/ron9ron

 

[ron_9]

All raw file no PP except Image trends Hemi 2(for full frame 10.5) and there is a Hemi 1(for circle) and Hemi 3 (cropped) that comes with the plug-in

Calson if you haven't tried the image trend hemi plug in($29) you may
be missing a very viable alternative and expansion of this lens. I
believe they also will work with the 16 and 14mm, at least I have
three programs that are part of that plugin but I haven't used it
since I don't have those lenses
Part of that program if for this lens only(10.5 on DX) and works very
well and even minimizes distortion. Some programs don't give a good
coversion and I could understand what you are concerned about--give
it a try---------ron s.
--
Keeping it sane in an insane world is an inconvenience at an
inconvenient time!!
http://www.pbase.com/ron9ron

--
Keeping it sane in an insane world is an inconvenience at an inconvenient time!!
http://www.pbase.com/ron9ron

 

[filthypuppydog]

Hi

I don't own it but I've rented it for a weekend on occasion. Its a great fun lens that can take some amazing images as you've seen in this thread, but shots have to be composed very carefully. (also, from personal experience, remember that warning on car side mirrors that "objects may be closer than they appear" and don't get too close to a moving subject, especially an animal...)

I've also found the effect gets tiresome and cliched after a few shots. For the money, I'd rather have a crazy wide rectilinear prime (which, unfortunately, nobody makes) or a wide prime that tops out at 10 or 11mm, which I'd use a lot more often.

 

[fraserj1]

I've also found the effect gets tiresome and cliched after a few
shots.

100% agree.....its probably fun to use for awhile, but if there are any other lenses that you've been considering, buy those lenses first. The highly distorted effect of the 10.5mm gets old pretty quickly.