Using a 10.5mm fisheye on the D3 camera


I was wondering if DX lenses could be used on the FX D3 camera. Because the sensor is much bigger (twice as big) on the D3, DX lenses (made for smaller DX sensors) will give a smaller picture and horrible vignetting. Nikon has developed a DX mode on the D3 to automatically crop the picture so that the useful part of the picture is kept. The only drawback is that you lose resolution and instead of a 12MP FX picture, you will get approximately a 5.5MP picture. To check all this, I decided to give it a try: playing with the DX fisheye..., the Nikkor 10.5 DX lens, reviewed here
In fact, I discovered a new application/toy.

Here are a few examples
#1 picture seen in the FX viewfinder when using the DX lens. You can even see the integrated hood (very visible on the top and bottom part of the picture, slightly visible on the sides).

#2 typical picture you get in DX mode (in camera crop) - would be the same as with a DX camera

#3 adding a mask in PS, I get a more "dramatic" effect of a circular fisheye, starting from the "bad" FX version

#4 and 5 other results applying the same principle



I am not sure I am in a hurry to get a 16mm fisheye now... (the specific FX full frame fisheye from Nikon)