Lens Playtime: Pro-Optic 8mm Fish-Eye Lens

I hope I'm keeping you on your toes about when I'm going to post next. Now that I've got some new lenses, I figure that I might as well demonstrate what they can do! As a refresher, I have purchased a refurbished Nikon 55-200mm 1.4-5.6 f and a Pro-Optic 8mm fish eye lens (I also picked up a new carrying pack as well as a flash!).

I might as well start with the fish eye because it's so much fun! I have to admit when I first received it, I was a tad bit disappointed... I forgot that it only works on manual setting with my D5000 DX camera (I've heard that it works fine with the full-frame FX cameras like the D700). I was panicking because with every single setting, e.g. S (shutter priority), A (aperture priority), the no flash, the auto, etc, my very intelligent and fickle machine calmly informed me that there was no lens attached to its body. It was blinking at me that the very real and tangible lens that was supposedly locked in place was really a figment of my foolish imagination. Needless to say, I was disconcerted. However, in my frantic switching of settings, I finally saw that when it was on the M (complete manual) the coded message ceased its relentless blinking. Finally I was able to snap a photo! Unfortunately, I was unaware that at night, the interior of the apartment resembles a dark cave to the lens. No matter how much I fiddled with increasing the ISO and the exposure compensation, the camera obstinately refused to lighten the scene. This is the second problem with the fish eye. In my shame as a failed photographer, I deleted the incriminating dark photos so I am unable to present them for your viewing pleasure.

After this horrendous night, I was almost positive that I had just thrown $289 right down the toilet and that the only thing to do was to return the confounded object from Hades. However, I decided to give the beast a second chance (luckily for me) and try again in the daylight. IT. IS AMAZING. Despite its limitations, it is so much fun and without anything to distort it in the foreground, it works more as a ridiculously awesome wide angle. I've found that at times I actually have to work at distorting the world! Here are some takes from the camera on my wilderness romp today.

You can actually adjust the f-stops and the amount of light entering the photo with a handy little adjustment ring. Look at the difference between the picture above and the one below:

This was actually really difficult to get because it wouldn't focus and even though I was literally standing about 6 inches from the flowers, this was the view through the lens

The car shot worked a little better but there's ghosting in this shot and I heard that was a problem with this lens so I had to be very careful whenever the sun was around (which was a lot of the time, the way I found around it is just to keep aiming down).

Again, difficult to focus on the foreground when it's too close...

Doesn't the pond look a little like the actual lens?

Since it's after midnight and I have to get up early (well for me at least) tomorrow morning to drive to DC for father's day, I'll just finish up my telephoto 55-200mm tomorrow evening!

Lens Shopping! *Warning, a bit dry if you're not interested in this*

So, I lied. The whole one-a-day didn't happen this week. I'm going to go ahead and blame the photography internship! Time well-spent and fun but not conducive to dedicating time to the blog... But I am currently chock-full of new information regarding lens shopping for my D5000. Awesome AWESOME camera although it doesn't pair with some lenses because it doesn't have an auto-focus (AF) motor in the actual body and so in order for auto focus to work, it needs to have a lens that has an AF motor built into the lens. This has been a pain trying to figure out, it'd be nice if people just stated it clearly rather than requiring me to wade through a ton of useless and unclear articles...

I do have a godsend though: Ken Rockwell D5000. Ken Rockwell is amazing. The only drawback is that since he reviews so much, he can't cover EVERYTHING and so there's still quite a bit of independent research to be done. So the goals I had this week were to find a super wide angle (wide angle appears to only be 18mm to 30-ish mm and I definitely wanted to go wider which means have a lower mm), a telephoto (not quite sure where the mm of the telephoto begins but I'm guessing 55mm and up), and a standard 35mm portrait lens. I have thus far purchased the telephoto and a fisheye (it just kinda crept into my shopping cart...). With limited funds, I have found the 35mm and will wait to purchase it until later, when I actually have money. This likewise applies to the super wide angle which is surprisingly pricey.

So, to begin. The telephoto was almost the easiest to decide on. I ended up opting for the 55-200mm Nikon lens because the lens that the D5000 comes with is 18-55mm and so I thought that it might make a better coverage. The sites that I've gone for have been: B&H Photo Video, Cameta Camera, Newegg.com, Amazon.com, and Adorama.com. Cameta and Newegg aren't that helpful. I bought mine refurbished by Nikon so I'm not too worried and it was cheaper! Always to be appreciated.

B&H Photo Video Nikon 55-200mm

There was a 70-300mm that was tempting me but from the reviews that Ken Rockwell gave, it wasn't entirely necessary. Eventually I'll upgrade to the 300mm but the 200mm is ample for now! The tip that I had to figure out after some research is that the D5000 is a DX camera meaning it is not a full-frame FX camera (these are the high end pro Nikon cameras and the film cameras).  Also, with a telephoto, vibration reduction (VR) is extremely important because with such a high zoom, it is noticeable when the camera is not held completely still. I don't have a tripod, so it will all be hand held shooting for me! 

Now, after doing preliminary research on the super/ultra wide angle, I found it too confusing and too depressing with the high prices sooooo I started looking up fisheyes! Fisheye lenses are awesome and fun, and while others may say they can be difficult or get boring easily, I beg to differ. Here is an example:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4456330924_96568f7a21.jpg

The Nikon AF DX Fisheye-NIKKOR 10.5mm f/2.8G ED is the really expensive one. It goes for around $650 to $750. I don't have the funds for that soooo, I have opted for my first non-Nikon brand lens! Now this was, not to put too fine a point on it, a pain in the @$$. There are so many off-brands and it's hard to compare them. Also, having grown up overseas, I have an extreme paranoia of knockoff items (fine for clothes, not so fine for electronics). After hours upon hours of research I finally narrowed my choice down to the Pro-Optic 8mm fisheye ($289.99) and the Rokinon 8mm fisheye ($284.85):

Pro-Optic 8mm f3.5 Fish-Eye lens

Rokinon Aspherical Fisheye

I finally figured out that the Rokinon brand is the same as Bower, Opteka, and Samyang. The Pro-Optic is a version of this exact same lens although apparently it is the Adorama house brand. I went for the Pro-Optic because Ken Rockwell gave an exact review of it and there didn't seem to be a difference. Both don't autofocus or meter (this has something to do with exposure) with my D5000, the only ones that do are the pricier models. I sucked it up since it's not such a big deal with a fish eye since the photos taken with this lens are for long distance and don't need as much fine tuning.

They look almost exactly the same don't they? The difference between the two seem to be that the Pro-Optic takes more of a wide angle view as opposed the more extreme distortion of a traditional fisheye.

Okay, so now that I finally figured out two of these lenses, I finally turned my attention back to the ultra/super wide angle lens. Again, after hours of searching I think I've decided on getting the Sigma 10mm-20mm ($479)! It is one of the cheapest out there and is pretty good quality:

Sigma 10-20mm f4.5

I was torn between the Tokina 11mm-16mm, the Tamron 11mm-18mm, and this Sigma. The Nikon 12mm-24mm DX was right out ($900 and up). While Ken Rockwell gives a favorable review of the Tokina, it isn't autofocus compatible with the D5000:

Ken Rockwell Wide Zooms Comparison

Plus, the Sigma is 1mm less, which probably isn't THAT important but it makes me feel better =) Here is an example of what this kind of ultra/super wide angle can do:

http://cache.foxsaver.com/thumbnails/2008/04/10/392993651l.jpg

As a helpful guide to what is compatible with the D5000, here is a great site:

Nikonians Compatibility

None of the photos are mine since I haven't received the new lenses and I haven't really gotten to shoot my own pictures recently but soon soon soon!

Ohhh! Here is something cool that I finally figured out: people kept referring to ghosts in the photos and I had no idea what that meant but now I do =) When you point the camera at a bright light or there is a strong light source nearby, small little circles can appear on the screen and those are ghosts:

http://www.angelsghosts.com/images/lens_flare_ghost_picture_112008a.jpg

That's it for now! I'll be sure to post what these lenses can actually do when I receive them =)