Which fisheye lens for my nikon d40 is a decent price but also decent quality?

Question

I'm not profesional, I do it as a hobby and I don't need the best thing out there. What would you recommend?

P.S. I'm not loaded, I work at minimum wage (hey, I'm 15. Give me a break) and won't spend more than 300.

Answer 1

I know your budget is limited. But a real fish eye (especially for a smaller sensor like your camera) are not cheap since they are not easy to make. You can't just use a full frame fish eye lens with d40 (it won't be that wide after all). Unfortunately the one that you would like costs more than your camera.

How about a wider lens?

Answer 2

It is always best to buy O.E.M. lenses as they are made by the same manufacturer as the camera and have the same build quality. Cheap isn't necessarily good. You mention "Fish Eye", have you a focal length in mind?. Nikon used to do a fish eyes lens with a massive amount of distortion of the image but was great for special applications.

If you intend to buy from a retailer then choose a reputable one who may let you shoot some images through the range of "f" stops before purchase. Blow the images up as far as you can and judge the result.

Answer 3

There is only one ...

Then Nikkor 10.5 mm fisheye.

Answer 4

Sigma recently released 2 new fisheye lenses. Unfortunately, both are about 3 to 4 times your budget. You can read a review at http://www.shutterbug.com. Its in the August issue.