Made the plunge... quick question

[hacksaw35]

I have always loved taking photos (some pretty good ones too) but never had the knowledge or the equipment to go to the next level. So, I signed up for some photography classes and I had some money burnin' a hole in my pocket and decided to go all out. I went from my little 4mp Samsung to...

Nikon D80
Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 ED DX zoom lens with shade
Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 ED DX fisheye
Crumpler Keystone bag

I wasn't planning on getting such nice lenses but, I got them both for $1000 (4mo Old, both w/ 5yr Warranty)

I took them home last night a was going around the house taking some pictures, and noticed a dark half circle shadow on the bottom of several pictures...I know this is probably a dumb question, but could someone send me an explanation. Thanks.

 

[Digital Matt]

Sounds like vignetting, and could be from several reasons. Were you using the fisheye lens by chance? Did you have a lens hood on, or a UV filter, or any other filter?

 

[PetersCreek]

Perhaps you could post an example?

 

[Big Mike]

I took them home last night a was going around the house taking some pictures, and noticed a dark half circle shadow on the bottom of several pictures...I know this is probably a dumb question, but could someone send me an explanation. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum.

I'm betting that you were using the built-in flash when the dark half circles showed up? The angle of view on that 10.5mm is so wide, that the bottom of the frame will not get light from the flash because of the angle/physics of it. The camera and the body of the lens are in between the flash and the lower part of the scene. The same thing often happens when you use the built-in flash with a lens hood.

 

[hacksaw35]

Yeah it must be the built in flash. I did have the hood on, and I see what you mean. So, should I only expect this to happen indoors w/ low lighting..and should I take the hood off in low light?
I plan on getting a better flash...once I replenish my bank acct., after these few purchases...this hobby is quite the money pit, but it will be well worth it in the long run.

Here is an example of what was happening.

 

[markc]

That looks like what Big Mike is talking about. If you step a bit back, that won't happen. You won't be able to fill the frame with a person's face, but that's generally not what a wide angle lens is for anyway.

 

[Peanuts]

The shadow is from your lens blocking the light as someone previously mentioned.

 

[PetersCreek]

Yep...agreement from me. For better flash results, you'll want a good hotshoe strobe anyway and bouncing it will further guarantee that won't happen...plus it'll give more natural looking and flattering light. Plus, as mentioned, extreme wide angle lenses aren't the best choice for portraiture...unless you're intentionally going for the distorted facial features that result from their use.

 

[ball]

I just /look/ like I was taken with a wide-angle lens ;-)

 

[Jeremy Z]

Welcome to TPF, Hacksaw!

I don't know that I would've gotten an expensive fisheye lens as a second lens, unless I knew that I wanted to take extreme, wide angle, distorted, creative pictures. Fisheyes are very unique, because they are the only lenses in photography where a lot of distortion is considered OK. So if you know you have a lot of fisheye work to do, I'd consider selling that one off and picking up something more useful.

Examples?

• A telephoto zoom that picks up where your 17-55 leaves off. ($180-1000) Nikon makes some VERY nice ones that have optical image stabilizers built in. That would be the way I'd go, personally.
• A macro lens. ($500-800) This is the opposite of a fisheye. Almost no distortion is acceptable. They are super-sharp, let you get very close shots, and do double duty either as a normal lens or a portrait lens.
• A normal lens, such as the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. ($430 for that one) With such a fast aperture, you can shoot indoor photos with only minimal available light. Since your D80 has such good noise control, you can turn up the ISO to 1600 and do amazing things. It is nice to take pictures without having the flash flatten everything out, wash out people, etc. It is a more discreet lens because it won't need flash as often, and because it doesn't look like a paparazzi's lens.
• A wide angle zoom, like a 10-20mm. If you like wide angle shots, but are not that crazy about distortion, this is a good thought. A lot of people like them.

A lot of people are probably going to tell me to "leave the guy alone and let him enjoy his new setup" I'm hoping that you either are really sure that you spent your money wisely, or still have time to exchange the fisheye for something you'll get more use out of. I think a lot of people that buy fisheyes use them for everything they can think of for the first couple weeks, then kick themselves later.

Congratulations on the D80 it is one of the most highly-rated cameras out there right now. It is one that has specs that compare well to cameras costing triple as much.