Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye Review

Okay, so I have decided to write my first review. I have chosen to write a review on a lens that I am not too thrilled about; the Nikon 10.5mm DX Fisheye. I picked the lens up from Ritz Camera here but you can also get it here and here for a little cheaper.

My first thoughts, man its wide! I took a few shoots and could not believe that my feet were actually in the shot if I looked through the view finder...I actually had to hold the lens away from my face in order to not have my feet in the shot. The fisheye is nice but a little less dramatic than I thought it would be; unless of course you are within inches of the subject.

Mounted on my D300 it is light and though a little loud while zooming it is fairly quick. The 2.8 aperture is nice as it allows plenty of light in, even in dimly lit rooms. The 2.8 is a must for this lens because it is so wide, you really can't use flash.

My problems with the lens is that it is too wide, I prefer a 14mm fisheye if you must have one. Also, as I stated above, it didn't have as much of a dramatic effect as I was hoping for.

All and all it is a great lens for receptions, parties and events that you want to add something different. The biggest problem I have is that for a fisheye, you really need to be close to someone's face to get a really unique picture.

Darcy & Ahn Vu

This wedding was a lot of fun. We were able to go out to the golf course and just sort of walk around and it allowed me to catch some great moments between the new married couple.

Rachel & Johnathan

This wedding took place on 3/15/08 in Oviedo, Florida. For most of this wedding I used my 70-200 VR lens and was able to get some great shots. The full church shot was take with my 24-70. All of these photos were straight out of the camera, no real adjustments in photoshop with the exception of color correction. Thank you Nikon!

Equipment list...growing!

Well my equipment list is growing! After the last wedding (3/15), I realized that there are a few things that I "must" have! I ordered an Alien Bee B800, more pocket wizards, 13.5' Calumet light stands and Vivitar 285HV's.

I can't believe how busy this wedding season has been this year. I have so many weddings lined up, I can't see a break but I LOVE IT!!!

My Wedding Bag?

Okay, so I have been asked what bag I carry to weddings and why. Well, I currently carry a Tamrac Cyberpak 6, which is a backpack style carrier. While it is comfortable and roomy, I have decided to switch.

Recently I ordered a Stanley tool box from Amazon. I learned about a similar tool box from a fellow shooter. The great thing about this tool box is that once you line it with foam, you have a mobile (pull behind) camera storage unit that holds everything! The one I purchased has a top unit that will hold my D300, D300 bracket, 24-70, 70-200 and an SB-800 flash. The first drawer will hold my pocket wizards, Vivitar 285HV flash units, screw drivers, cleaning equipment and just about all the extra little things needed. The next set of drawers will house AA batteries, camera batteries, memory cards, wires and so on. The final compartment at the bottom will hold my Alien Bees, all back-up equipment and extension cables.

Mounted to the side of the tool box will be two Calumet 13.5' air cushioned light stands and a tripod. This should be everything I need for a wedding! Oh yeah, and I can remove the top part of the tool box to stand on to shoot formals!

I also have a Tamrac belt with Nikon lens bags that I wear during weddings. Makes for quick access to things like lens, flashes, batteries and cf cards.

Family?

One thing I haven't talked about is my family...how can you get to know me without hearing about my personal life?

Well I have an amazing wife that is very supportive. We have been married for almost 7 years now and been together for over 12 years. She is caring, loving, sweet, fun and a great mother to our wonderful daughter!

Our daughter Hannah will be turning 2 years old on the 23rd of March. I can't believe how much Hannah means to me and how no matter the day I am having, just her smiling and happy way brightens my day. There is nothing better than coming home after shooting a wedding where everyone is so happy, and seeing my daughter so happy to see me and her mother right behind her!

I am a lucky man, thats for sure! God has blessed me with a beautiful, loving wife and a piece of heaven we call our daughter.

Nikon, sweet Nikon!

Anyone who knows me knows that I shot Canon for a long time. I loved Canon and most of my Canon work was studio but I did shoot a lot of my portraiture with Canon. I loved the selection of lenses, the availability of accessories and I loved the wheel (Canon users will know all about that)!

But I made a switch about 3 months ago to Nikon. I don't know the real reason for my switch but I think I just wanted to try something new. I got the D300 as I mentioned in my first blog, along with a few amazing lenses. It was a little hard to get used to the controls but the ergonomics were easy to love. The controls are second nature and now, I don't miss the wheel at all as I first did. The switch in lens mounting was the biggest hurdle. I tried to put the caps and lenses on the wrong way for a solid 2 months and now I find that I am beginning to mess up on my Canon stuff...lol Just goes to show how little I use it.

The D300 is amazing, it focuses well in low light. Its responsive, its durable, its comfortable and best of all, I do very little post production in photoshop. I love Nikon's 24-70 2.8 lens as much as I did on the Canon version.

Canon makes some amazing equipment and their primes...well if you know anything about lenses you know that Canon's primes are amazing! As for zooms (the type of lenses I prefer), Nikon I think has an slight edge. When purchasing lenses and putting myself way in the hole, I knew there might be a day I could afford the amazing D3, so I didn't get any DX lenses. I hope to have the D3 someday and then I will get a 14 fisheye; I believe it is a 14.

I have only one complaint with Nikon, their poor higher ISO performance. This has plagued Nikon since they started making digital SLR's. I HATE the noise reduction on the Nikon and the noise is only a stop better than that of the D200 and we know the D200 wasn't great in the high ISO department.

Robert Loparo

I had the opportunity to shoot with the photographer that shot my wedding almost 7 yrs ago, Robert Loparo. It was a beautiful wedding and man did I ever get some amazing shots.