Speciality Lenses Every well rounded collection of lenses has at least one or two that fill the "Specialist category". They're definitely not the first purchased by a beginning photographer. Usually, they're acquired to pursue a particular affect that can't be achieved with the more "normal" lenses in the collection. In my case, my speciality lenses are at opposite ends of the focal length spectrum--fisheye/wide-angle and telephoto macro.

• 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye - The challenge when designing wide-angled lenses is controlling distortion. Keeping a buildings lines straight isn't a small design hurdle for the lens maker. As a result, very wide, short focal length lenses are quite expensive such as my 14mm f/2.8 ED-IF because lots of lens technology is needed to keep things looking straight. Fisheye lenses like the 10.5mm f/2.8 on the other hand are all about preserving those distortion qualities. At the edges, straight lines become curved causing a very unique "look". This lens covers a 180 deg filed of view (FOV) meaning you're feet may be in the image when shooting straight ahead. Darn, your knees may be in the picture if you shoot downward. We're talking a very large FOV here which has its benefits and detriments. When shooting from the tripod, you have to watch for unintentionally including the tripod's legs. So why bother with such a painful piece of equipment? Because it's different. Once you get the hang of the challenges you begin to see the world totally differently. You can see so much more through this lens than you can with your own eyes without moving your head around. Next, the perspective is so dramatic with this lens. While telephotos tend to flatten things, wide-angles do just the opposite all the way to the extreme of this fisheye. Take a picture of your dog's nose close-up will reveal a super huge nose with perfectly in-focus but tiny eyes. Generally portraits done with this lens are less than complimentary making it much better used on less identifiable subjects like plants and other landscapes. Next, the super wide focal length makes depth of field incredibly large meaning you don't have to close the aperture down to keep your image in focus. Moderate aperture settings can be used to keep foreground to background fully in focus. Finally, the super small focal length allows you to shoot at incredibly low speeds handheld while still keeping your images sharp. You're beginning to think whats the drawback of using such a lens? Artistically, it is a difficult focal length to use. Compositions have to be very carefully planned to eliminate unnecessary items in the image to avoid distracting your viewer and therefore your image's message. Like I've said before, too much of anything is generally a bad thing in photography. Finally, Nikon provides a nifty tool in its Nikon Capture software. Not only will Capture allow you to adjust the image's white balance and tonal curves to your hearts content like any other good RAW processing software, it will also straighten those curves to simulate a lenticular wide-angle lens like my 14mm f/2.8 ED-IF. Now you have an effective 15mm wide-angle lens. Before you run out to get one of these technology breakthroughs, the digitally correct lens manipulation can create less than acceptable results. Typically the corners are less sharp than the rest of the image. This can be a significant problem if you're planning on blowing the image up to any degree. For web purposes, the affect is negligible. But, for print purposes, you'll be disappointed by the results in my opinion. So, what is the lens good for? It's extremely small, great at getting you really close to your subject, and gives you a neat perspective with the distortion and all. Recommended for those with a hankering for a wild FOV and the cool look of a fisheye lens.

• 70-180 f/4.5-5.6 Micro-Nikkor - This lens is revolutionary in many respects. It is the first zoom lens optimized for close-up photography. While it doesn't quite get you a 1 to 1 magnification like other macro lenses--it's something like 1.5 to 1--it does do something no other lens can do when close focusing. It can zoom. Why is that such a big deal? Unlike other forms of photography, closeup photography is very setup intensive. Unfortunately, the high magnification and small apertures of macro photography require you to use a tripod to deal with the long exposures. Moving a whole tripod rig to get just the right composition can be incredibly painful under the best conditions. Camera accessory manufactures like Really Right Stuff and Kirk Photo make focusing rails designed to let the photographer to move his rig closer and further without forcing him to move the tripod. The 70-180 f/4.5-5.6 Micro-Nikkor on the other hand does this exactly by using zoom technology. With a simple twist of the wrist, you can precisely set your composition which is quite an accomplishment in the macro photography world. Not only that, you can get 1 to 1 magnification using Nikon's close-up lens accessories. I can't attest to the optical quality of these add on lenses but I hear they're great. What else can you do with this lens? Well, if you don't already have an 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S or 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR, you can use the Micro-Nikkor to fill the gap. There are two problems using this lens this way. First, optical quality at long range isn't in the same league as the two former lenses. Remember the Micro-Nikkor is optimized close-up photography verses bird photography at long range. Next, the lens depends on the camera to drive its AF making autofocus a bit slow for most photographers. Despite these two shortcomings, I love using the lens as a general medium focal length zoom. Highly recommended for those looking for their first macro lens and haven't purchased a short to medium focal length zoom.

There you have it, my lenses. The all serve a purpose and hopefully I don't have much overlap between them, therefore wasted resources. As you can see, I like the widest lenses available allowing me to shoot as long as possible when the sun is going down. The impact is these lenses are usually larger and more expensive causing me to be a bit more hunched over carrying them around. The results speak for themselves so a little personal discomfort is okay when the results are so awesome.