Specifications

PERFORMANCE

I just bought one on November 15th, 2006, and jeeze, you people want sample images already? Heck, here's one direct from my D200. No, the depth of field didn't make it all the way to my meal. This is the image reduced for your screen (you also can click it for the camera-original JPG):

La Especial Norte, Leucadia, California. D200, f/4 @ 1/15, Auto ISO 640.

Flash

Who says on-camera flash won't cover 180 degrees? I popped-down the 14mm wide diffuser down on my SB600 and here you go:

Roll your mouse over to compare SB600 with the built-in flash of the D200.

You'll have to play around for every situation. If you have walls close to you, the 14mm diffuser position will throw too much light on the walls, because they are so close. This room has 25-foot ceilings. In a normal room the built-in works well, since the ceiling is so close.

Amazingly, the built-in has little to no problem with casting a shadow at the bottom of your image. The built-in also helps not to blow out the ceiling, so try any of the built-in, and any of the diffuser or focal length settings of a hot-shoe mounted flash to get your best image.

Focusing

Focus is via two groups: the front group moves in and out and the rear group also moves in and out. Neither rotate. The outside of the lens doesn't move. The front group moves more than the rear; this optimizes the performance of the lens with distance.

AF

Traditional screw-type. Won't autofocus on a D40, but so what: just tape the focus ring to someplace between ∞ and 2 feet and you'll always be in focus.

One full turn of the AF screw brings the focus from infinity to 1 foot (30cm).

AF is fast, as you'd expect for an ultra wide lens.

Mechanics

This is very well and precisely made.

Fooled me! The front hood/protection tabs are plastic!

Everything internal seems to be metal.

LCA (Edge Color Fringes)

The 10.5mm fisheye has some secondary (green-magenta) fringes at the sides and corners.

Nikon's Capture software may have some tricks up its sleeve to correct this, but the Nikon software I've used in the past has been so buggy that I won't gamble putting it on my machine.

You can play with this in PhotoShop CS2's Lens Correction or Panorama Tools. Try something like +1 and -9 in PhotoShop CS2's Lens Correction filter for Red/Cyan and Blue/Yellow, respectively.

Macro

The 10.5mm is probably the most advanced fisheye on the market. It has an internal focusing and close-range correction system that lets it focus to a rated 5-1/2" (14cm). The interesting part is that these ratings are measured from the image plane, which is the back of the camera. Since the front of the lens is 4-1/4" (10.8cm) ahead of that, this means that the 10.5mm fisheye can focus to within 1-1/4" (3.2cm) in front of itself!

Of course with a 180 degree angle it's used, if ever, for effect and not close detail. Here's what my watch looks like that close.

My watch from a few inches away, f/6.3.

and here's a 100% unsharpened crop from my D80:

100% crop. Color fringes are from the watch crystal.

It may not look it, but this is as close as I've ever gotten with any fisheye.

Serial Number

Engraved and filled with white paint on the bottom of the barrel below "Nikon, DX ED Fisheye, Made in Japan."

Use on Film Cameras

Don't do it. Here's what happens:

10.5mm DX fisheye shot on an FX full-frame camera.

This weird shape is how the 10.5mm's integral hood appears as seen through the fisheye.

On film and FX cameras, use the 16mm AF Fisheye. You can use either on the D3, since the D3 can be set to autocrop, but you'll get much better resolution and be using the full FX sensor for which you paid if you use the 16mm fisheye.