Monday 23 January 2017

equipment recommendation - How do I choose which low-cost fisheye lens is right for me?


Background: I'm an amateur photographer who wants to start taking pictures with a fisheye lens, my gear is a Nikon DX D5100.



I would like to buy a fisheye lens, I know the Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye Nikkor Lens is reat but it cost arround $700 which I can't afford expending right now, I got 3 other options but I just don't know which is best:



Could I get an advise in terms of quality, perfomance, or in general?



Answer



Based on the reviews and sample images, the Bower and Rokinon seem pretty comparable. The Opteka is a wider field of view, but also seems to distort far more significantly. (This may be a good thing or not depending on what you are looking to do with the lens and your stylistic choices.)


I don't know if there is truth to it, but it is worth noting that one of the reviewers for the Rokinon claims that it and the Bower are actually the same lens and that both are made by Samyang. One of the Bower reviewers also mentioned that it is made by Samyang, so there may be some truth to it.


It's a cheap lens, so it will have cheap quality, but if just getting your feet wet in fisheye lenses is your goal, honestly, any of them would let you do it cheaply while none of them are going to be the greatest quality.


Personally, I would probably save for a better lens, but if you want to buy in that price range, I'd probably go with either of the first two based on the better available price, though I'd make sure to get the AE version to get focus confirmation, just for ease of use.


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