There have always been a few lenses that I thought I would never buy. This was for a number of reasons but generally due to extreme cost (Nikkor 600mm f4 at a cool $9,699.95 US: I’m still looking for a benefactor here) or total impractibility in the case of extreme wide angles. It’s amzing what these lenses have in common, specifically they are at or near the extremes of focal length.
Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye
Well, I finally broke down and purchased one of these and no, it’s not the 600mm. I bought a Nikkor 10.5 mm fisheye lens used from a fellow back east. This lens looks like it will be interesting to use. Most of the images that you see are very tacky and it appears only shot for the purpose of making animals, people, buildings and cars look really weird. Here’s a good example.
So I guess the million dollar question is “Why did you buy this totally useless piece of distortion generating glass from a guy that wants to get rid of it?” That’s a really good question, hopefully after my month in California I’ll be able to answer it. I’ve seen a few very impressive images shot with this lens. While I realize that it may not get much use I decided to at least give it a try. I guess the worse case scenario is I’ll pass it along to someone else to use as a paperweight. One can “defish” the fisheye as well as the following example shows. Wish me luck on this one!
Nikkor 10.5mm as shot
Nikkor 10.5mm defished
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Kevin,
You might want to take a look at the sample images at http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/10_5_28g_dx
Some of these photos are excellent and some bad but it really shows you the potential of the lens. Have fun with it.
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