Today we are going to be taking a look at what we feel is the best fisheye lens for Nikon d3000 camera owners currently available on the market right now. More and more people are starting to show an interest in fisheye photography and we have noticed a number of d3000 owners specifically reaching out so hope this article can help you.
As far as we are concerned, the Rokinon 8mm (Click here to check for product prices and availability) is without a doubt the best fisheye lens currently available for the Nikon d3000. It has an excellent reputation within the community that we feel is only going to keep increasing as time goes on due to its fair price, excellent performance, and solid build quality.
One thing that we would like to point out is that some countries will have the Rokinon 8mm branded as the Samyang 8mm. It is exactly the same ultra wide-angle fisheye lens just with slightly different branding offering the same great quality. In our opinion, it makes the perfect partner for your Nikon D3000 and will make the ideal camera accessory to help increase your image quality when capturing fisheye photography.
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Rokinon 8mm!
User Interface And Control System
As most people who choose to add a fisheye lens to their lens collection will be pretty experienced in photography and know their way around a lens, there shouldn’t be much need to explain the control system on the Rokinon 8mm. That said, we also know that some of our readers are brand new to photography and are just finding their feet.
If you are new to photography and are starting by jumping into fisheye photography, we would just like to say that the Rokinon 8mm is a very easy lens to use. It has been specifically designed to be as easy to use as possible so anyone new to photography can pick it up and get the most out of it without having any issues.
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The manual focus ring on the lens allows you to quickly and easily tweak the focus level of the lens to get exactly what you want out of it. This ensures that you are able to use it as a kind of run and gun fisheye lens and quickly manually focus in on the main feature of your image without having to waste any time. Although the manual focus ring on the lens does have a little resistance to it, we feel that this helps you to accurately rotate it as required to get the best image quality possible. Due to the 8mm focal length and field of view that the lens offers, it is very easy to focus anyway.
In addition to this, you are also able to easily adjust the Aperture setting on the lens to get the best possible low light performance at this price point. In addition to its great reputation amongst the fisheye photography community, the lens also has a solid reputation amongst the time-lapse community. We feel that the video below offers an excellent example of both the low light performance of the lens as well as the time lapse capabilities of the lens too.
As the Rokinon 8mm is a prime lens based around the 8mm focal length, there is no need to worry about a manual zoom ring either. If you are new to using lenses this adds one less thing you have to worry about.
In all fairness to Rokinon, we feel that they have done an excellent job of ensuring that the lens is as easy to use as possible. We have absolutely no doubt that people experiences and brand new to fisheye photography will be able to maximize the potential of the lens without difficulty.
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Rokinon 8mm!
Performance And Functionality
We love the photo above that was taken using the lens as we feel it does a decent job of showing its capabilities while dealing with excessive direct lens straight into it. It does a great job of capturing some great detail of the surrounding are without the exposure of the sun causing any serious issue. Although the chances of you having to capture your photographs directly into the sun are minimal, we just wanted to share the example photograph to show the lenses performance.
As we touched on earlier, the lens also has some excellent low light performance allowing you to go out with your Nikon D3000 and capture some fisheye photographs no matter what time of day it is. We feel that the photograph below captured using the lens does a great job of showing how well it can capture detail and colors in variable lighting conditions as well as showing off its ultra wide angle properties.
We feel like the photograph below does a decent job of showcasing both of the aspects above in one single image. It shows the low light potential of the image while also having a large amount of direct light going directly to the camera sensor through it. The image also does a solid job of showing off the fisheye potential too and showing just how ultra wide the lens is allowing you to capture some great fisheye landscapes.
- Fully adjustable aperture range of F3.5-23.
- Based around 11 Elements in 7 groups (1 spherical lens).
- Requires a minimal focusing distance of 1-Feet (12-Inch).
- Ultra-wide 167º diagonal field-of-view.
- Features improved HD optics for the sharper images.
- Low CA/Coma/Flare/Ghost potential.
- Unique nano-coating system to increase protection.
All of this for this relatively low price tag offers some of the best performance available at this price point on the market. It is no surprise that the lens enjoyed the excellent reputation that it has managed to earn for itself within the community. When you factor in the other available fisheye lenses that will natively mount to your Nikon D3000, there really is no competition that will provide this level of image quality.
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Rokinon 8mm!
Build Quality And Design
As you would expect from a Rokinon lens, the build quality relative to its price point in the market is excellent. Rokinon has a reputation for building some great solid lenses for a reason and their 8mm lens is thankfully no different. The plastic parts of the lens are not flimsy at all and are made from high quality, lightweight plastics that are actually pretty robust.
We all know that lenses are likely to take a few bumps and knocks while in use as well as while in transit but the robust nature of the lens minimizes the chance of it taking damage while also maximizing its usability lifetime. We have already touched on the ease of use of the manual focus ring earlier in the article but we would also like to mention that the texturized rubber ring helps you locate, grip, and turn it if your fingertips are cold or wet.
We did a little research but we unable to find the exact type of glass that has been used for the forward lens element on the lens. That said, it is definatley high-quality glass and presents a solid base for the ultra wide angle dome lens that ensures the best possible fisheye field of view for the lens. We doubt that the glass is going to gets scratched anytime soon and just want to make our readers aware of this as you are unable to mount a UV filter on the lens to increase the level of protection.
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Rokinon 8mm!
FAQs
Question – Can you use square based filters on the Rokinon 8mm?
Answer – This totally depends on the brand and type of filter but there are a number of square UV, ND, and polarising filters that will mount to the lens.
Question – Is the Rokinon 8mm a fully manual lens?
Answer – Yes, the lens is fully manual with no autofocus capabilities.
Third Party Reports
In addition to the video above, you can also click here to read some other third party reports from independent photographers who use the Rokinon 8mm. Those reviews offer an excellent insight into the performance of the lens from a bunch of individual niches where people have put the lens to the test.
Our Verdict
That brings our article on what we feel is the best fisheye lens for Nikon d3000 cameras to a close. We hope that you have found it helpful and see why we feel that the Rokinon 8mm is such a great fisheye camera lens and well worth adding it to your camera accessories. We feel it will definatley allow you to capture some excellent image quality fisheye photographs with your Nikon d3000 without you having to break the bank.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!
Image Licensing
Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Don DeBold – Apple store on 5th Ave and Central Park – https://flic.kr/p/nFM4Jx
