Astronomy, Photography and Weather

Over the last few weeks I have purchased 2 new lenses; Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye & Sigma 150-500mm.  I am still experimenting with them but so far I am happy with the shots..

Here are a few shots of Sunrise & Peatlands Co Armagh;

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/3371302172_0982d57a44.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3371303550_2a455044ed.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3613/3371303090_2d09afacee.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3371304000_12ab43df77.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3370481985_82b4010efc.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3380262656_2129f57204.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3380261370_b062d668d2.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3379417433_5e0c4a4ca7.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3379388993_818fa27b98.jpg)

Cheers  ;)

That's two extremes of the range well covered there Steven! I'd fancy a fisheye myself but the options are limited for my mount - one of the Russian Pelengs would fit the bill, but they're expensive for what they are right now. Tokina's clever 10-17mm fisheye zoom doesn't yet come in Sony mount so I can't get wider than 16mm (24mm equiv) right now, except of course by using film!

Nice fisheye. They're  All attractive shots.

When you put a 10mm fisheye on a 1.6 X crop DSLR how doers that affect it. ? Doesn't it become 16mm ? I assume you will still get that 'bowl' effect because of the design of the lens. You get vignetting up to  14mm on a regular wide angle on a  full frame camera, I don't see any here.though.  Anyone got any answers please ?

Yeah, the fisheye distortion is designed in. 10mm on an APS-C format camera looks like 16mm on a full frame camera .... now a fisheye can either be "diagonal" (180 degrees corner to corener) in which case 16mm is "normal", or "circular" in which case the field (half the sphere) is a circle touching the short edges of the frame & 8mm is "normal".

Eh? You do tend to get vignetting on all lenses but it needn't be severe at any focal length. You can actually have a rectilinear (non distorting) lens with a shorter focal length than a circular fisheye ... a distortion free design has to vary its focal length, increasing towards the edges of the frame, so the focal length would actually have to go go zero to cover the full half sphere field of view.

Thanks for the comments..

John, I second what Brian said and here is some info that i found on the lens..

Description - Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Autofocus Fisheye Lens
The Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens is targeted at Nikon DX Format digital SLR camera users who seek the unique visual effects a full-frame fisheye lens lends to landscape and other shots, to taking close-ups, or when shooting within vehicles or other tight interiors. Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Lens excels at shooting extreme close-ups. Combining a minimum focus distance of just 3cm (1.2 in.) from the front of the Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens with Nikon's Close-Range Correction (CC) System ensures sharp results. The "Fisheye to Wideangle Transformation" function in the optional Nikon Capture 4 software package transforms diagonal fisheye images shot using the Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Autofocus Fisheye Lens to ultra-wideangle photos, (by transforming the type of projection). This is an appealing new feature made possible only with digital photography and with the Nikon Total Imaging System. Optical and close-range focusing performance of Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Lens are both optimized for Nikon DX Format digital SLR cameras. An ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass element used in Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens minimizes chromatic aberration for clear, natural colors, and the rounded seven-blade diaphragm opening ensures a natural look to out-of-focus elements. This G-type Nikkor lens is designed with no aperture rings in Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Autofocus Fisheye Lens. Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens operation is easy and virtually mistake-free because the aperture does not have to be set to minimum. The compact, lightweight design of Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Lens fits comfortably in the hand. And photographers at all levels will be pleased with Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens outstanding cost performance.

Features - Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Autofocus Fisheye Lens
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens is the first fisheye lens developed exclusively for use with Nikon DX Format*
Ultra wide picture angle of 180° on DX sensor achieved by producing a smaller image circle (the size of the image that is projected by the Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX on to the sensor) enabling smaller lens diameter, lighter weight and optimal image quality from center-to edge-to-corner on the image.
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Autofocus Fisheye Lens is equivalent to 16mm focal length on 35mm
Minimum focus distance of 0.14m (5.5 in.), or 0.03m (1.2 in.) from the lens front, makes extreme close-ups possible with Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens
Close-Range Correction (CRC) provides high performance for sharper images when taking pictures up close with Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Lens
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens got extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass element that minimizes chromatic aberration
Design of Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX Lens enables a combination of wider angle-of-view with optical characteristics that are optimized for Nikon digital SLR camera sensors
Nikon D-type design provides precise distance information for flash and ambient light exposure processes
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Autofocus Fisheye Lens has rounded diaphragm to make out-of-focus elements appear more natural G Type DX Nikkor is designed exclusively for use with Nikon Digital SLR models
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G ED-IF DX has Built-in Flower Type lens Hood
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8G Lens is Fully Compatible with D1, D1X, D1H, D2H, D100, D50, D70, D70S D2X, D200, D300, D2XS and other coming Nikon digital SLR cameras. 

Hope this helps...  :)

Phew . Thanks for both answers. A lot more complicated than I thought.

Brian.. re. the vignetting I assumed that the test I did with my neighbour using his full frame 5D and my 1.6 X crop using my 10-22mm lens (Canon) showed that there was no vignetting with my camera but there was with his, quite markedly too, until he reached 14mm and I assumed that universally up to 14mm there will be vignetting. From this we deduced that ,that is the reason Canon make a  16-35mm EF lens in zooms .Fixed also starts at 14mm f2.8  and their fisheye is 15mm.  so in this respect I'm still a bit in  the dark.

Very good images Steven. I love the 1st and 3rd captures of the Sun. One question, how do you get the foreground so clearly when using such a fast shutter speed for the Sun's disk?. My foreground always comes up black. Any tips?..cheers.  :)

The size of the image circle for a lens designed to fit "crop frame" cameras is different to that for a lens designed for "full frame".

Tokina make a low distortion 12-24mm zoom which covers full frame with little vignetting. Canon don't go that short but they would if there was a serious market ... in practice with a full frame camera I've found that 17mm is about as short as is useful except for extreme "special effects" photograpghy, 21mm is usually short enough for indoor architectural work.

The 15 or 16mm fisheye is designed explicitly for full frame & will not give the full fisheye effect on a crop frame camera. OTOH the 8mm "circular" fisheye is designed to illuminate only a circle which just touches the top & bottom of the frame of a full frame camera. For your crop frame camera, you need ~10mm and ~5mm to get the same effect.

Thanks, Brian,I'll pass this info. on to him.

Hi & Thanks Martin! As for the foreground, on that day it was foggy so the contrast between the sky and ground was much the same…  I take all my shots RAW because you have more play over them and still retain the detail, sometimes you can do what’s known as raw blend or on CS4 you can use the gradient tool while on raw editor and balance the sky & ground out.  You can also select the ground with the lasso tool and adjust the levels to brighten the ground up a little.  On Photoshop you can do most things to enhance the image, however on this day it was the fog that give the balance...

Hope this helps...  ;D

Thanks for the advice Steven!. Will keep those tips in mind. Cheers.  :)