Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye Nikkor Lens

by Nikon

• DX-Nikkor reduces the diameter of the lens' image circle, allowing a range of lenses with practical size and excellent performance
• DX-Nikkor lenses offer compact and lightweight design, fast aperture and fast autofocus via NIKON's Silent Wave Motor design
• 180 degree diagonal angle-of-view
• Close range focusing up to a near 5.5 inches
• Innnovative Close Range Correction ( CRC ) technology ensures consistently crisp, sharp images

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 9 x 9 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000144I30
• Item model number: 2148
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This ultra-wide-angle, frame-filling fisheye, designed exclusively for use with Nikon’s DX-format, delivers incredible images with a 180-degree angle of view.

• The first fisheye lens developed exclusively for use with Nikon DX format

• Equivalent to 16mm focal length on a 35mm

• Close-Range Correction (CRC) provides high performance for sharper images when taking pictures up close

• Design enables a combination of wider angle of view with optical characteristics that are optimized for Nikon digital SLR camera sensors

• Rounded diaphragm makes out-of-focus elements appear more natural

• Built-in flower-type lens hood

• Ultra-wide picture angle of 180 degrees on DX sensor is achieved by producing a smaller image circle (the size of the image that is projected by the lens onto the sensor) enabling a smaller lens diameter, lighter weight and optimal image quality from center-to-edge-to-corner on the image

• Minimum focus distance of 0.14m (5.5 in.) or 0.03m (1.2 in.) from the lens front, makes extreme close-ups possible

• Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass element minimizes chromatic aberration

• Nikon D-type design provides precise distance information for flash and ambient light exposure processes

• G-type DX NIKKOR is designed exclusively for use with Nikon digital SLR models

Product Description

Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye Nikkor Lens (2148)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

241 of 251 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality Fisheye July 26, 2005

By J. Best

A fantastic lens! I was hesitant to move into the digital realm, because any lens wide enough to still be wide on the DX sensor can be priced in the area of thousands of dollars. As an advanced amatuer, willing to spend money, but not in a position to have an economic return on the investment, anything more expensive then a single paycheck is beyond my means.

But I bit the bullet, and bought the amazing Nikon D70. Lo, and behold, Nikon actually DIDN'T disappoint its customers (like so many other companies which make promises that never come to fruition). The new line-up of DX lenses are amazing.

In my opinion the sexiest of all the new DX Nikkor lenses is the 10.5mm Fisheye (not the most usefull, nor the strongest lens in the series, yet certainly the most interesting, and definitely the least expected). With its 180% field of view, and dramaticly cartoonish effect, I'm sure that many Nikon shooters, myself included will be having alot of fun, and getting alot of laughs at some of the great pictures we'll be taking with this affordable piece of glass.

Highly recommended.

I do feel the need to add a closing remark to this review. At the time of this writing, two other reviews preceeded my own. Both require a differing amount of disagreement. For the first gentleman who was disappointed by the large amount of pincushining, the question must be asked to him what he thought a fisheye lens was. This is NOT simply a 10.5mm lens. This is a FISHeye lens. Its SUPPOSED to have that effect. His review was negative quite obviously because he didn't know what he was buying, and giving a piece of equipment a 2/5 rating because you don't know what your buying is the height of ignorance.... I would request that his review would be removed, although I'm sure it wont be, since it wasn't vulger, or offensive to anyone (its only offensive to people who are offended by ignorance, which apperently I am).

And to the second gentleman, I appriciate your review, it was well thought out, and I'm in no way saying you are ignorant, although I still think your slightly missing the point of the lens. Sure, you can use Nikon Capture to reduce the fisheye effect, but I feel I must as why you would do such a thing. Granted, at that point you could use it as a standard 16mm lens (on a D series camera), but in my opinion this would be a tragedy.

This is THE fisheye lens for all us DX shooters. Don't regret the fisheye, don't deny the fisheye, don't pretend it isn't a fisheye, EMBRACE the fisheye.

Go out and take pictures which EMPHASIZE the fisheye. Learn how the lens works, how the distortion "feels". Take ADVANTAGE of the fisheye. If all you use this lens for is a 16mm (35mm equivalent), then your missing the most wonderfull thing about this lens.

Anyone who doesn't understand the charm of the fisheye, heres a photography tip which wont cost you a cent: find a perch ten, or fifteen feet in the air, have a friend (kids are the best choice), and take a shot STRAIGHT down at them. They'll be dead center in the picture, they'll be low on distortion, and you'll have your ENTIRE backyard in the periphery of the shot.

Sure, you could do that shot with a regular 16mm lens... but... what fun would that be?

Just another shot of your kid. Read more ›

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Look through the eyes of creativity August 11, 2006

By Ali Pourmand

I doubt it if anyone would want to use this lens for family photos (unless you want to get a good laugh out of grandma's smile!) or weddings (pros know better) or even your average wide angle landscape. This lens is for those who see the world in a different way and would like to run with their creative shoes. Those who complain about the huge distortion from this lens should realize the sole purpose of this lens is to give you distorted images! If you want to get super wide angle, go for Nikon's 12-24 (if you have a grand to part with and a very happy marriage to ruin!) or the equally impressive and half the price 12-24 Tokina. You can even get the sigma 10-20 and be very happy. All these great lenses will give you minimum distortion and ultra-wide images. But if you invest some $600 in a fisheye like this superb Nikon glass, you should be prepared to see the world differently. Once you teach yourself how to bring the best out of this lens, there will be a whole new world for you to explore.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very fun creative lens and it has some practical uses, as well January 8, 2010

By Jeff Wignall VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Verified Purchase

I've had this lens for about a year (I use it on a D90 right now) and it's a lot of fun. You might think that you'd quickly get bored with such an unusual piece of glass, but the truth is that the more you use it, the more you start to see with this ultra-wide-angle perspective in mind. Everyone is familiar with the caricature-type portraits that can be taken with a fisheye lens, but they are also very useful in landscape photography, group portraits (read on to find out why) and architectural work. This lens is the equivalent to about 16mm in 35mm terms and because it's full-frame (and not the circular type of fisheye) it lends a very interesting perspective to many types of photography. The quality seems pretty good physically (it's small and light, which is nice), though it doesn't have the tough metal body that would make it more durable (and more expensive and heavier). But rather than go on here, I'll just quote from a recent blog posting that I wrote on my [...] blog (let's see if Amazon leaves in the rough address). I am the author of a number of photo books, by the way including: The Joy of Digital Photography (Lark Photography Book) and Exposure Photo Workshop: Develop Your Digital Photography Talent and Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Photography Book). Here's what I wrote on my blog, I hope it helps.... If you can justify owning this lens, I think you'll enjoy it (especially if you get the $30 software I recommend below):

If you happen to be a Nikon DSLR shooter, are completely bored with all of your lenses and have (roughly) an extra $700 burning a hole in your equipment pocket, the Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED DX Fisheye Lens may be just the lens you need. That's exactly the situation I was in when I bought mine and I have to tell you, as unnecessary as owning a fisheye lens is, it's still a lot of fun--and actually, there are some practical uses (just in case you need to justify owning it to a nit-picking spouse), though you may have to stretch the word "practical" a bit to find them.

The fun part first: The Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye lens is an ultra-wide-angle lens that provides a whopping 180-degree (measured diagonally from corner-to-corner) angle of view and that is far wider than even our own peripheral vision which is about 120-degrees. This is also what's known as a full-frame fisheye lens because it does not provide the cropped circular angle-of-view that some fisheye lenses produce. The result is a wild and distorted (but again, full frame) view of the world that can't be obtained with any other lens. Photos taken with this lens have a curved (bowed) distortion that, combined with the super-wide view, produce some really interesting and, I think, creative images. At the moment I think that Nikon is the only lens manufacturer making a full-frame fisheye and it can only be used on cameras with a DX-size sensor (D80, D90, etc.) and it can't be used on a full-frame DSLR body because it won't cover the field of the sensor.

Another side benefit of such a wide lens is that it has incredible depth of field--you barely have to focus this lens and if you shoot at a mid-range aperture like f/8 or smaller, everything from your feet to the horizon will be in sharp focus. In fact, I shot the frame here at f/6.3 and everything is in sharp focus from the bench that's about a foot from my knee to the far horizon. And, by the way, as you can see here, when you include the horizon in a fisheye shot you get a wickedly curved horizon line that looks like the edge of the earth (which, from where you're standing, is exactly what you're seeing).

OK, so now that you have yourself convinced you absolutely need one of these lenses, what are the practical applications? Because these lenses produce such a super-wide angle-of-view and because they have enormous depth of field, you can use them in tight spaces (like photographing your beautiful newly remodeled bathroom so that you can show it off to the relatives--you see, a perfect argument in favor of owning this lens) to provide very inclusive and very sharp images. You can also photograph large groups of people (like all of your wife's relatives gathered on your front steps--you can see where I'm going with this) without having to back up three blocks.

But won't these images be horribly distorted? Ahh, there's the fun part (oops, this is supposed to be the practical part): there is software available that can correct the distortion and leave you with an optically correct image that still retains the wide-angle-view and great depth of field. The Fisheye-Hemi Plug In from Image Trends ([...]) is probably the most popular and sells for just $29.95 and works with both Photoshop and Apple Aperture software. Once you've run the image through the software the curved lines and image distortion are totally removed. Neat, eh?

To be honest, as much as I wanted this lens, it sat in my camera bag and was only used infrequently for the first few months that I owned it. Since then, however, I've been carrying it with me everywhere and though it doesn't fit into every situation, it's a ton of fun to have around. It's also a tiny lens physically and will easily fit into a jacket pocket. So if you're hiking it around Manhattan and shooting with all your traditional lenses and then suddenly you run into your spouse's cousin in their brand new car and you want to show everyone just how cool and spacious the backseat is...hey, I'm trying to help you get a new lens here, work with me.

[...]. Read more ›

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than I expected January 3, 2006

By Justin

This really is a fabulous lens - I am relatively new to digital SLR photography, and have been slowly acquiring lenses over the past six months. Just added this to my camera bag, and I am impressed.

First, the build quality is first-rate. The lens feels solid in the hand. This is a DX lens, so there is no aperture ring, and the result is a lens with very few moving parts and a clean, well put-together appearance. Second, the optics are very good - I don't know much about pincushioning, but I do know that the quality of the image I get is #1. I have been experimenting by taking close-ups of my dogs, and I can't get enough of the fisheye treatment.

If you are looking for a second wide-angle lens, and have an eye for images that are beyond the ordinary, this lens will not disappoint.