Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED DX Fisheye AF Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by:

Joe Mueller
( Expert)

Review Date
May 5, 2006

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5,
2 votes

Review 1 of 3

Price Paid: $560.00 from B&H

Summary:

I was debating with myself for about a year before I finally decided to buy this lens. It is a very specialized lens and can't be used that often.
At least that's what I initially thought about this lens.

However, after using it for 2 months I realize, that you can use it much more often than I thought. I've always been a (ultra) wide angle guy and most of my shoots are in the 28mm or lower range.
If you are careful with your composition, the fisheye distortion is not that visible ,especially for landscape shoots, less so for architectural stuff.

If you use PTlens, you are very flexible in de-fishing this lens.
You can get 120-130° FOV, which no other Non-fisheye lens can give you on a DX sensor.

I do regret not having it bought earlier !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strengths:

Very sharp in the center, rivals the best primes !! (well it is a prime too)
It is very close focusing - 14cm- and with the extreme depth of field you can shot pictures from literally inside flowers.
Max aperture of 2.8 comes handy shooting in the twilight zone

Weaknesses:

CA - but can be easily corrected in PS-ACR
Other than that : NONE

Well, you have to be carefull not to get your hands/feet in the picture but that is not a weakness of the lens, but comes with 180° diagonal coverage.

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Rating
Reviewed by:

markgoldberg
( Professional)

Review Date
December 6, 2005

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.75 of 5,
4 votes

Review 2 of 3

Price Paid: $565.00 from B&H Photo

Summary:

The 10.5 DX is provides the most fun you can have -- well, you know the rest. It is small and fast, and easy to include in your small camera bag. For a quick trip I can travel light with a medium zoom and this lens. Even though it is a full frame fisheye, it is lots more versatile than you think. Sharpness is excellent, and the image can tolerate some cropping. Adobe Photoshop CS2 also provides some functions to correct the inherent barrel distortion from a fisheye lens like this, but I don't use that very often. Everyone Nkonian should own one. I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars value rating only because it is not the kind of lens you can leave on all the time, and it is more or less a discretionary item.

Strengths:

Fun, great performer, great quality, more versatile than you would think, very compact.

Weaknesses:

It is impossible to protect the front element with a filter, so you have to be careful.

Similar Products Used:

The closest I have to this is a 12-24 zoom. In video I have a 0.5x wide adapter that has a similar image curvature effect.

Customer Service:

I'm thrilled with the service I got from B&H in supplying this lens. I ordered it at a trade show on a Sunday and had it by Wednesday. There have been no technical problems with the lens.

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Rating
Reviewed by:

Ruffles
( Intermediate)

Review Date
June 23, 2004

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.36 of 5,
11 votes

Review 3 of 3

Price Paid: $650.00 from Kenmore Camera

Summary:

Very fun lens to use. It provides a new perspective that can take your photography in new directions. Make sure you can return your lens or exchange it if you get one with bad Chromatic Aberrations. If you shoot a Nikon, you can use Nikon Capture to de-fish the images later. If you shoot a Fuji, you'll have to use Pano-tools or similar software (which is a bit of a pain). Don't buy this because you want a wide angle and can't afford the 12-24. You won't be happy. Only get this lens if you've got everything else you need and want a new toy to play with. This way you'll be VERY happy with this lens.

Strengths:

Extremly small Fast focusing Very sharp in center, a bit less sharp on edges Great contrast WIDE angle! Not much flare

Weaknesses:

Quality control seems to be an issue. I've had 3 of these lens. The first one was the best but I bought it thinking it would be my regular wide angle lens. This was a mistake. You can de-fish the images in software but it's a pain...especially if you shoot a Fuji like me and use RAW. I returned the lens and started saving for a 12-24. A month or two later, I got the fisheye bug again and bought a second lens. This had HORIBLE CA and wasn't useable. I exchanged it for a 3rd. This one is better but not as good as the first. I still ended up getting the Nikkor 12-24. This lens also requires you to use gel filters on the rear element

Similar Products Used:

None

Customer Service:

N/A

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