Product Description

The AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED an important addition to the DX Nikkor lens lineup the first fisheye lens designed specifically for digital SLR photography is also the first to achieve a full-frame 180 degree picture angle. The ultra-wideangle focal length of 10.5mm brings digital camera users a picture angle equivalent to that of a 16mm fisheye lens on a 35mm [135] format camera.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22419 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Nikon
• Model: B000144I30
• Released on: 2008-03-09
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x 9.00" w x 9.00" l, .67 pounds

Features

• "DX-Nikkor reduces the diameter of the lens' image circle, allowing a range of lenses with practical size and excellent performance"
• "DX-Nikkor lenses offer compact and lightweight design, fast aperture and fast autofocus via NIKON's Silent Wave Motor design"
• 180 degree diagonal angle-of-view
• Close range focusing up to a near 5.5 inches
• "Innnovative Close Range Correction ( CRC ) technology ensures consistently crisp, sharp images"

Manufacturer's Description
The first fisheye lens developed exclusively for use with Nikon DX Format. Ultra wide picture angle of 180� on DX sensor achieved by producing a smaller image circle (the size of the image that is projected by the lens on to the sensor) enables smaller lens diameter, lighter weight and optimal image quality from center-to edge-to-corner on the image. The lens is equivalent to 16mm focal length on 35mm. Minimum focus distance of 0.14m (5.5 in.), or 0.03m (1.2 in.) from the lens front, makes extreme close-ups possible. Close-Range Correction (CRC) provides high performance for sharper images when taking pictures up close. Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass element minimizes chromatic aberration. Design enables a combination of wider angle-of-view with optical characteristics that are optimized for Nikon digital SLR camera sensors. Nikon D-type design provides precise distance information for flash and ambient light exposure processes. Rounded diaphragm to make out-of-focus elements appear more natural. G Type DX Nikkor is designed exclusively for use with Nikon Digital SLR models.

Customer Reviews

Extraordinary lens made useful by digital
This is a made-for-digital fisheye lens with rapid focussing, incredible depth of field even at f/2.8, and relatively low chromatic aberration. Owners of Nikon Capture who shoot raw NEF footage can convert fisheye images taken with this lens to ultra-wide pan shots, although there is a trade-off of quality and size.

I've owned the DX fisheye for about a year now. Digital technology has now rescued what would traditionally be seen as an effect lens. Despite initial misgivings, this is one of the most useful lenses in my bag, and it's so small and light that it goes with me everywhere.

Fisheye lenses are 'uncorrected' ultra-wide angle lenses. Traditionally they come in two types. A 'true' fisheye gives a circular 360 degree image on the film or sensor, while a full frame fisheye gives about 180 degrees from corner to corner, but fills the entire frame. The Nikon 10.5 DX is full frame, which most people would agree is the more useful variant.

By 'uncorrected' we are talking about rectangular distortion. The lens is in fact heavily corrected for chromatic aberration, although the extreme angles by which light enters the lens mean that there will always be breakup at the edges. The rectangular distortion means that only straight lines which pass through the centre of the lens appear straight. All others are curved, with the curve becoming more prounounced the further you get from the centre.

'Classic' fisheye pictures give the impression that the world is about the size of a pingpong ball, as seen in the film 'Le Petit Prince' and on the cover of Mike Oldfield's 'Hergest Ridge'. As this is a rather specialised application, fisheyes were always seen as a special effect, and relatively few photographers owned one, while still fewer carried it with them. Nikon, therefore, went out on something of a limb by releasing the DX fisheye before many other more general purpose digital lenses.

Two things make this far more useful as a digital lens than the film equivalent would be. First, as already mentioned, Nikon Capture is able to convert from fisheye to ultra-wide. This substantially increases chromatic aberration at the edges, and the results are certainly not pin-sharp at the corners, but the feature does dramatically increase the options. An alternative choice is Panotools for Photoshop. Secondly, the fact that you can shoot as much as you want, preview it instantly, and delete what doesn't work means that you can afford to take far more risks than you ever could on film.

I use this lens for three kinds of shots.

First off, putting the horizon in line with the centre of the lens makes for the least distortion in landscape shots, and non-photographers often won't spot that the picture is fish-eye at all. This messes up the rule of thirds, but there will be so much foreground and sky that I can crop to my heart's content. I can correct for rectangular distortion in Capture or Photoshop if I want, but often this is not necessary.

Second, this is an excellent portrait lens (no, really) for capturing someone in situ. For example, if you put someone in the corner of their office, occupying only the central fifth of the frame, everything in their office will seem to curve round and surround them. There's no need to worry about the sharpness of the subject, because the depth of field is so great. As before, I can crop to my heart's content after the fact. As an alternative, I can just walk up to an individual or a group and press the trigger, without worrying about focussing speed, centre of focus or even composition, because I know that everything will be sharp.

Third, it does sterling service for the kind of effect shots that can't be done after the fact in Photoshop. There's great fun to be had photographing the world from the top of a castle, and (rather more usefully) a lot to be done by standing on a chair and shooting a portrait from above. The close focus range on this lens is a very few centimetres, so you can get special effects of quite small objects.

So, is this special-use lens worth the money? Most of my work is for publication in the press or in advertising campaigns. Local papers are always looking for arresting images, and the fisheye is a good choice for conjuring something special out of a fairly ordinary situation. For advertising it does double service, as a workhorse to capture what otherwise couldn't be got, such as the entire palace of Westminster from over the road, and partly for the same kind of effect shots that go to the press. For the price of an afternoon's shooting (whether you are buying or selling), this is a lens that pays for itself quickly.

For the hobbyist or enthusiast: if you can afford it, this lens is great fun.

Huge 'wow' factor
I added this to my lens collection a few years ago and find that it is now my default lens. Before you make a judgement on it, go to Jessops (if I can say that here) and take a look through it. It'll blow your socks off! How often have you been in a room somewhere and just not been able to step back far enough to get enough in frame? Well with the 10.5 that'll never happen again. Likewise, outdoors this lens opens up a whole new world of picture-taking. Whenever I hand my camera to someone to look through with this lens on they gasp at the perspective it creates. Also, if you use Nikon's Capture Raw converter software you'll be able to change your fisheye pictures back to eyeball perspective if you wish. Further, if you use Nikon's Speedlight flash you can flip-down the integral wide-flash panel and the light is spread to cover (most of) the image.
Think 180 here I come and get it.

Excellent lens
This is a really fantastic lens. I've used it with my Nikon D70, and have got some fantastic results. It brings corner to corner 180° warped perspective views, which can be kept in their original format, or converted to ultra wide angle views with Nikon Capture software. The nature of the subject will determine whether the software needs to be used.

The lens in a pretty good value of money for a Nikkor lens, particularly when you consider that it can be used as a conventional wide angle, if you're happy to crop your images.

You won't regret getting this lens!