 |
Nikon 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
|
|
Review Date: Jan 12, 2008
|
Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
|
|
Pros:
|
Razor sharp, I personally like the focal length, Fast enough AF, wonderful bokeh, screw on metal lens hood.
|
|
Cons:
|
High purple fringing and LCA, almost unusable un-corrected.
|
|
|
This lens is almost permanently glued onto my D50. It's an amazing focal length for indoor sports such as basketball, and even with my D50's weak AF motor it gets focus 75% of the time (Most of that 25% is under the net, players running full speed right at me and <F/2.8).
Build quality is more than acceptable, it has a bit of heft to make it not feel plasticy but light enough to carry around all day.
I personally love the screw-on lens hood and it is now a permanent part of my lens. It offers a lot of protection and I know that if I ever dropped it the lens hood wouldn't just break like some of the plastic bayonet types.
I had a big problem with the high CA and purple fringing and hadn't heard of the problem before I bought it. I have found software that completely removes it for no loss of image quality (Shay Stephen's Color Fringe Reducer 5.0) and I run it on most of my wide open shots. It's not a problem stopped down to F/5.6 and is completely gone by F/8. I bought this lens to shoot it wide open, and most of my shots aren't stopped down to F/8.
It's a good portrait focal length for headshots unless you have a good amount of space. I never reach for my 50/1.8 anymore.
All in all? Buy this lens. You won't regret it. For me, it wasn't worth $700 more for the F/1.4 version.
|
|
|
|
|
Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED DX Fisheye AF
|
|
Review Date: Jan 12, 2008
|
Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $575.00
| Rating: 10
|
|
Pros:
|
Can be "de-fished" to rectilinear or re-mapped with software, unlike anything you have in your current lens lineup.
|
|
Cons:
|
High CA (Yet the best of any lenses in it's class), hard to get used to.
|
|
|
I received this as a christmas present and I absolutely love it. I shoot a lot of skateboarding, which was the main reason I was turned onto it, but I havn't even shot skateboarding since I got it. I've been too busy with other things!
It offers a really unique look and is a lot of fun to shoot with. The learning curve is relatively steep, but I am used to it and love it. It offers 180 degrees of viewing which is pretty remarkable.
If you want a less "fishy" image, it can be converted to rectilinear or, using a photoshop plug-in, can be "remapped" and you lose hardly almost none of the image. The software is called Fisheye Hemi Plug in. I have not purchased it yet but I have seen some wonderful samples from it.
It seems like a strange size and seems small on a DSLR, even one as small as my D50. Comparable to a 50/1.8 but maybe a bit longer.
AF is quick but isn't really an issue for this lens because everything within a few inches to infinity is in focus with manual focus set to infinity.
It focuses very close so watch out for bumping into your subjects! I have done so a few times, and my front element has been licked by my dog. Gross, I know.
It has high CA but that's normal for such a wide angle. It has been tested against other fisheyes and has the least CA of them all. This can be corrected later.
All in all, it's a really fun lens. The price may be a little high for a specialty lens, but I use mine VERY often. Less than my 85/1.8 but, suprisingly, more than my standard 18-55mm kit lens. If you can afford it, this is definetly one to have in your bag.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
