Review on Opteka 6 5Mm Fisheye Digital Cameras by Jasin Gilstrap

Not pleasant at all for such a cheap lens. I was very surprised by the metal construction, which honestly seems to be more durable than some mid-range Nikon lenses. The focus is smooth and the aperture wheel is clearly fixed. It takes some force to turn the ring, but I'm fine with that as it doesn't lock. Image quality is quite good for a cheap rebranded Korean lens. Recently, Korean manufacturing has taken a big step forward when it comes to low quality. In terms of image quality, I would equate it with kit lenses (18-55mm) from Nikon and Canon. Nothing fancy but for $150 it's enough. Exactly what I expected in that regard. Now there are a few caveats to consider before making your purchase. This lens has no mechanical or electrical connections between it and your camera. I'm not too familiar with Canon, but on cheap Nikon cameras (D3xxx, D5xxx, D90 and below) it means you're stuck in manual exposure mode and have no metering. Not the end of the world as you can use live view or smartphone app. It's also not that difficult to gauge exposure in most situations once you get used to it. However, for high-end cameras (D7xxx/D300 and above, all full-frame cameras*) you can set that lens in one of the non-CPU lens databases and get a full metering. Shutter priority and program mode don't work without a mechanical aperture linkage, but manual (with metering) and aperture priority work well. Finally, of course, it's a manual focus lens, but the depth of field is so great that you can leave the lens set almost at F8 and focus to infinity, and you never have to worry about focusing. Frame lens so you have a round fisheye when used on full frame cameras. Google it to understand what it means. All in all, this is a great lens for the price. If you can handle the limitations mentioned, this is a great alternative to branded fisheye lenses where you get 80% of the lens for 25% of the price.