Fish eye lenses

[JohnS.]

Hey guys,

I'm interested in fish eyes but don't a thing about non-nikon brands. I have a D40 and from looking around on bhphotovideo, it looks like most fisheyes aren't AF compatible with them?

I'm not too worried about shooting indoors. I have an SB-600 that I constantly use. I definitely don't have $700 to drop on a Nikon lense so I was wondering what my cheaper options are without sacrificing too much image quality.

Thanks in advance!

 

[480sparky44 43]

I've read some decent reviews of the Rokinon 8mm. It's sold under a variety of other brands, such as Vivitar, Samyang and Bower,.

 

[Village Idiot]

Hey guys,

I'm interested in fish eyes but don't a thing about non-nikon brands. I have a D40 and from looking around on bhphotovideo, it looks like most fisheyes aren't AF compatible with them?

I'm not too worried about shooting indoors. I have an SB-600 that I constantly use. I definitely don't have $700 to drop on a Nikon lense so I was wondering what my cheaper options are without sacrificing too much image quality.

Thanks in advance!

The nice thing about Fishes is that they're so wide that you can shoot at a little narrowerer aperture, focus to inifinity and not have to worry about focusing much.

I used a Pelang for a bit back in the day. It was decent but nothing to write home about compared the the $700 Canon 50 f/2.8. It's sharp.

 

[JohnS.]

Thanks guys.

So I checked bhphotovideo and sorted by Nikon mount and fish eye:
SLR Camera Lenses

Rokinon and Bower are practically the same price ($0.95 difference). They have the same star rating by Bower has more reviews.

I guess I'm wondering what do you really lose with these non-brand-name (Canon, Nikon, etc.) lenses besides image quality? Do the lenses fail or breaker sooner?

 

[480sparky44 43]

............

I guess I'm wondering what do you really lose with these non-brand-name (Canon, Nikon, etc.) lenses besides image quality? Do the lenses fail or breaker sooner?

You lose speed. I chose the Nikkor 10.5 over the Rokinon/Bower/Samyang because the Nikkor is slightly faster (f/2.8 v. f/3.5)

You also gain something with the off-brands. Size & weight. The Rokinon/Bower/Samyang measures ~75mm in length depending on the mount, and weights in at 13.8 oz. The Nikkor measure 63mm and tips the scales at 10.8 oz. Not exactly earth-shattering, but when choosing an entire family of lenses, every mm and ounce shaved is that much less to lug around in the field.

Another plus for camera-brands: Repair is usually readily available. I would hate to think what it takes to repair an off-brand import.

 

[thierry]

For a fish eye I would recommend the Nikon version.. It will be much sharper and more reliable: Amazon.com: Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye Nikkor Lens: Camera & Photo


However if you are looking to save money, the rokinon does have some good reviews and you can get it for pretty cheap: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...17145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=B002LTWDSK

 

[JohnS.]

Thanks for the input 480sparky. The one thing I miss about my D40 is the weight, compared to my now D80. I really took for granted how light the D40 was! I am not a serious photographer though so I won't be spending hours upon hours of holding my camera. I already have a monopod that I may end up using more frequently for telephoto lenses.

Thanks for the input thierry. I was reading some reviews on bhphotovideo and people were complaining that you can see the lens hood in the pictures. This was someone that owned a D40. Is this true?