Lens Reviews - Nikon 15mm f5.6 AI Manual Focus Lens

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15mm F/5.6, Tuesday, 24 August 2010


Overall rating (weighted)		3.3
Sharpness		3.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		1.0
Value for Money		4.0

I bought this lens on ebay, because I happen to be a wide angle junkie. For me, whats makes wide angle is the perspective, without the distortion. The distortion, IMHO, defeats the uniqueness of an ultra wide angle. Case in point, my 14-24mm, as amazing as it is for exceptional sharpness and hardly any lightsharpness falloff, is so distorted that it somehow ruins things for me. Yes these things can be fixed, but there is something about a lens in which there is no distortion that even photoshop can't match. The 15mm is my second all time favorite wide angle lens for that reason (My favorite being the 28mm F/2.8 AI-s because it has zero distortion), because it has hardly any distortion. I kid you not, my 50mm F/1.4 AF-s has more distortion than this 15mm!!!!!!!!! That's ridiculous! Manual focus doesn't bother me because 15mm @ F/5.6 isn't that hard to focus, matter of fact you can leave it in the middle and pretty much get everything sharp. It does have a "fatal" weakness though, the corners change color, as though everything is in a blue halo. What you are shooting depends how bad this effect is. Generally speaking, its not horrible, but if your shooting white walls watch out! Also, at F/5.6 it is very slow, and it is probably one of my softest lenses. Usually the pictures are so non-distorting stunning that I never notice the lack of sharpness, but the color shift is frustrating. When I shoot black and white artsy stuff, this is my all time favorite lens, for professional stuff, I stick with the 14-24, for the speed, sharpness, and no falloff, color or light.

Why should you care what I think?

My relationship with this item: I own it
Where did you buy this item?: eBay
Price paid: 750
When did you buy this item?: June 2009

Conclusions at a glance

Would you recommend this Item: Yes
Pros: Ultra wide prespective, hardly any distortion
Cons: No front filter, slower speed, not as sharp as it could, color shift in corners

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Nikon Super Wide Angle 15mm f/5.6 AI Manual Focus Lens

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