On 24/10/2012 5:33 p.m., Michael wrote:
On 2012-10-23 23:06:52 +0000, Me said:

On 24/10/2012 10:52 a.m., Michael wrote:
On 2012-10-23 21:22:16 +0000, Rob said:

On 24/10/2012 5:55 AM, Michael wrote:
I am looking into the Rokinon f/3.5 8mm fisheye for my D5000. The B&H
reviews look good and it is much less expensive than Nikon's 10mm
f/2.8.
B&H sells it for $299 without the focus confirm chip and $329 with the
focus confirm chip.

Does anyone have any experience with this lens?



When you use one of these lenses you don't need and focus confirmation.

It will pull just about everything into focus.

Some of the reviews imply (and I don't know wny) that the autoexposure
works better with the chip involved. I cannot understand why that should
be, though.
I suspect it's a typo / error in description.
Focus confirmation in Nikon bodies doesn't require a chip in the lens.
For AE to function on some Nikon bodies (below D7000 in present
lineup?), a chip is required to communicate the maximum aperture of
the lens to the body. Higher end bodies have a rotating ring with a
lug, coupling the aperture ring on the lens to the body.
Without the chip, metering won't work on a D5000.

Thank you. That answers the question regarding which version of the lens
I need. I still would appreciate a hands on review of it, if anyone has
it. Interesting about the rotating ring and lug. That sounds a lot like
what Nikon used 45 years ago with the Nikon F to set the maximum
aperture on the Photomic FTN metering heads. All the old NIkkor lenses
(I have them for my vintage F which has only the nonmetering prism) have
those lugs, which serve no purpose on the fully manual version of the F.
Also, the 5000 is one of the few Nikon DSLRs that can accept unmodified
non-AI F-mount lenses from the old Nikon F days. It requires full manual
exposure mode, of course. But the lenses do mount and do focus and do
take good pictures.
I can't help with first-hand experience with the Rokinon 8mm. I've seen
samples taken with a D200 though, and they looked pretty good. There's
a bit of CA - practically unavoidable with extreme optics. I'm not sure
if CA reduction in some Nikon bodies deals to the CA, or how easily it
is deal with in post-processing. The Nikkor 10.5mm Dx fisheye also has
some CA - a similar amount - but price of this lens is much higher, and
it's not as wide. AF is (IMO) not important, I expect you'd want to use
it stopped down to f8 or smaller most of the time.
There's a review of the "Samyang" branded 8mm fisheye (same as
"Rokinon") on a Canon body (50d) he
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/526-samyang8f35eos
Verdict is that it's pretty good - within the limitation that it is what
it is - an extreme lens.
I suggest you go for it (get the one with the chip). You can always
sell it if you don't like it. Most of the Rokinon/Samyang lenses seem
remarkably decent for the price, some are exceptional.