Samyang 14 mm f/2.8
Discussion
Some advice chaps:
I've wanted a UWA for landscape and astrophotography for some time now. I upgraded to a full-frame (5D II) about 18 months ago and my Sigma 10-20mm wasn't compatible so had to go.
I've done some research in to the Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 and the sharpness is absolutely superb (sharper than most non-prime L wide angle lenses on 100% crop), it's wide enough for me and it's very reasonably priced (which is important).
It is manual only, but has auto confirmation chip so I'm not too fussed about that.
Has anyone got any experience with this lens?
I've wanted a UWA for landscape and astrophotography for some time now. I upgraded to a full-frame (5D II) about 18 months ago and my Sigma 10-20mm wasn't compatible so had to go.
I've done some research in to the Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 and the sharpness is absolutely superb (sharper than most non-prime L wide angle lenses on 100% crop), it's wide enough for me and it's very reasonably priced (which is important).
It is manual only, but has auto confirmation chip so I'm not too fussed about that.
Has anyone got any experience with this lens?
I've had one for about 3 years.
Use it on a 600D crop body (so it's only about a 21mm) and a 1D3. (1.3 crop factor so about an 18mm equivalent.)
As yet I have not tried astro shots but for other things it's great and yes it is very sharp across the frames and not at all shabby wide open.
I have noticed, once or twice, some rather odd sort if interference effects with some parts of images that I think are limits of lens resolution vs sensor resolution but they were just small patches where lines were running in close parallels shot from a great distance. I had to be pixel peeping to see the effect. Probably a form of diffraction. Not something I would expect you to have a problem with for astro work. However I tend to run some very deep crops from time to time to time and they might show up then so I keep an eye out for them. I don't imagine the effect is unique to this lens.
That said ...
The Samyangs are sold under several brand names especially in the USA. There have been suggestions that quality, though usually excellent, might be a little variable. Whether that applies just to branded versions I don't know. Possibly not.
At the price one can't complain but it would be sensible to ensure you buy from somewhere with a good returns policy, just in case, and then run some test when the lens arrives.
Full manual operation means, as you know, that you set the Aperture to the setting you need for the task at hand and leave it there, mostly. (Just check from time to time that you have not inadvertently nudged it to something else.)
Astro focusing is not something I have read up on but for Landscape sort of stuff I tend to set my to something like 6 to 10ft (2 - 3 meters) and that does the job depending on how close you want to focus for foreground interest.
Focus becomes more critical with much closer subjects to get the near subject spot on. I've been caught out once or twice judging distance to subject to be a little further than it actually was. That was back in the early days though.
I have not noticed a lot of flare, as Rob has, but then I probably have not used it for the sort of shots where it would be apparent.
Mr. Dobbler may have some different insights to offer.
Use it on a 600D crop body (so it's only about a 21mm) and a 1D3. (1.3 crop factor so about an 18mm equivalent.)
As yet I have not tried astro shots but for other things it's great and yes it is very sharp across the frames and not at all shabby wide open.
I have noticed, once or twice, some rather odd sort if interference effects with some parts of images that I think are limits of lens resolution vs sensor resolution but they were just small patches where lines were running in close parallels shot from a great distance. I had to be pixel peeping to see the effect. Probably a form of diffraction. Not something I would expect you to have a problem with for astro work. However I tend to run some very deep crops from time to time to time and they might show up then so I keep an eye out for them. I don't imagine the effect is unique to this lens.
That said ...
The Samyangs are sold under several brand names especially in the USA. There have been suggestions that quality, though usually excellent, might be a little variable. Whether that applies just to branded versions I don't know. Possibly not.
At the price one can't complain but it would be sensible to ensure you buy from somewhere with a good returns policy, just in case, and then run some test when the lens arrives.
Full manual operation means, as you know, that you set the Aperture to the setting you need for the task at hand and leave it there, mostly. (Just check from time to time that you have not inadvertently nudged it to something else.)
Astro focusing is not something I have read up on but for Landscape sort of stuff I tend to set my to something like 6 to 10ft (2 - 3 meters) and that does the job depending on how close you want to focus for foreground interest.
Focus becomes more critical with much closer subjects to get the near subject spot on. I've been caught out once or twice judging distance to subject to be a little further than it actually was. That was back in the early days though.
I have not noticed a lot of flare, as Rob has, but then I probably have not used it for the sort of shots where it would be apparent.
Mr. Dobbler may have some different insights to offer.
Not the Samyang but I have the Sigma 14mm f2.8 which I use for occasional astro stuff but more usually as a get you out of jail lens when shooting very tiny interiors.
It doesn't get very good reviews but my findings have been it isn't as sharp as some of my other lenses but is perfectly adequate. It isn't manual either, proper aperture control and AF.
It doesn't get very good reviews but my findings have been it isn't as sharp as some of my other lenses but is perfectly adequate. It isn't manual either, proper aperture control and AF.
Thank you for the replies chaps.
Rob: Yes I was a little worried it would be a bit specialist. I've read a lot about not being able to use filters too - or rather - you have to get expensive specially made ones. The widest lens I have is the cheap 50mm which I barely use. I've been using the 70mm of my 70-200mm L which is ok, but the sort of landscapes I like are done with UWA (not that I do much landscape at all!). The astrophotography is certainly one of my motivations thought.
LongQ: Thanks for that. Mine will be fore use on 5D II. The lens I'm looking at getting is "Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical Lens Canon" and I have until tonight to decide. It's pristine and I can probably get it for under £200.
Mark: That's very interesting mate. They are incredibly cheap! Through some unjustifiable mental block, I MUCH prefer primes and I hadn't seen any other prime UWAs that weren't extremely highly priced (like the TSE
). I'm going to read some reviews and look at myriad 100% crops. You don't have any shots on your site/Flickr from that lens do you mate?
Thanks again gentlemen.
Rob: Yes I was a little worried it would be a bit specialist. I've read a lot about not being able to use filters too - or rather - you have to get expensive specially made ones. The widest lens I have is the cheap 50mm which I barely use. I've been using the 70mm of my 70-200mm L which is ok, but the sort of landscapes I like are done with UWA (not that I do much landscape at all!). The astrophotography is certainly one of my motivations thought.
LongQ: Thanks for that. Mine will be fore use on 5D II. The lens I'm looking at getting is "Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical Lens Canon" and I have until tonight to decide. It's pristine and I can probably get it for under £200.
Mark: That's very interesting mate. They are incredibly cheap! Through some unjustifiable mental block, I MUCH prefer primes and I hadn't seen any other prime UWAs that weren't extremely highly priced (like the TSE
). I'm going to read some reviews and look at myriad 100% crops. You don't have any shots on your site/Flickr from that lens do you mate?Thanks again gentlemen.
A couple shot on the 14mm Sigma,
Tall Trees, Silpho by mark_mullen, on Flickr
This isn't a fair challenge really as it was 30 seconds, wide open, at ISO 6400
The Milky Way at Rosedale Abbey by mark_mullen, on Flickr
Tall Trees, Silpho by mark_mullen, on Flickr
This isn't a fair challenge really as it was 30 seconds, wide open, at ISO 6400
The Milky Way at Rosedale Abbey by mark_mullen, on Flickr
I had one for a while. Funny - I thought it was great but moved it on quite quickly 
Very niche lens I think but amazing value so why not give it a go
Big Sky by Dibbly Dobbler, on Flickr
One More Time... by Dibbly Dobbler, on Flickr
Going Home by Dibbly Dobbler, on Flickr
Very niche lens I think but amazing value so why not give it a go
Big Sky by Dibbly Dobbler, on Flickr
One More Time... by Dibbly Dobbler, on Flickr
Going Home by Dibbly Dobbler, on Flickr
flat-planedCrank said:
Cheers - best shot I got with the lens by a mile DibblyDobbler said:
flat-planedCrank said:
Cheers - best shot I got with the lens by a mile 
16-35 mk2 now. Blame LQ. Well yesterday I took the plunge. I've been watching them closely on eBay for weeks now. They sell from the official UK dealer for around £300 although they have 10% off at the moment, but then another £5 for P&P. I bid on a second hand one but it ended up going for £260.
Yesterday a brand new one - unopened - went up with a buyout of £270 with free P&P so I bought it. I'm really looking forward to it arriving. I'm gagging to do some astrophotography and f/2.8 + FF + 14mm is just delicious.
Incidentally, Samyang have started doing a 16mm f/2.0 but it's only available for APS-C. It's about £330 and I'm pretty sure had it have worked on FF I'd have bought it, so it might have been a blessing it wasn't.
How you finding yours Dele?
Yesterday a brand new one - unopened - went up with a buyout of £270 with free P&P so I bought it. I'm really looking forward to it arriving. I'm gagging to do some astrophotography and f/2.8 + FF + 14mm is just delicious.
Incidentally, Samyang have started doing a 16mm f/2.0 but it's only available for APS-C. It's about £330 and I'm pretty sure had it have worked on FF I'd have bought it, so it might have been a blessing it wasn't.
How you finding yours Dele?
LongQ said:
Here's a sample shot from Sunday evening.
Canon 600D and Samyang 14mm.
Compressed for web and stuff, obviously.
Lovely sky! Not being able to have filters because of the built in hood and the intrinsic issues with aspherical lenses and filters is a real downside for me but I'll just have to get round it with bracketing.Canon 600D and Samyang 14mm.
Compressed for web and stuff, obviously.
RobbieKB said:
Lovely sky! Not being able to have filters because of the built in hood and the intrinsic issues with aspherical lenses and filters is a real downside for me but I'll just have to get round it with bracketing.
Unless something is very extreme in the lighting department I don't find it much of a problem. The shot above was pretty much OK from my settings guesswork straight out of the camera, though I had to do a little work to get the RAW conversion to be as vivid as things really were.Most of the better RAW convertors these days (certainly Capture One Pro 7 and undoubtedly others) seem to be able to 'find' about 1.5 to 2 stops of information at either end of the dynamic range when using a fairly recent camera. That can go a long way towards compensating for lack of filters especially if you are comfortable with blending images. The sunset was taken handheld so less opportunity for blending.
If you look at DD's bridge shots above, notably the one with the train that he kindly let me play with some time back, the same single image can be adjusted to look very different without any major problems re. exposure control in the extremes.
Other than that ...
Here's one from a year or so back. 600D and 14mm again. It may look familiar as I have posted it before in the Random thread iirc.
Here is a crop from the centre.
This is the level of sharpness you should find and on a crop body that ought to cover just about the entire image area even wide open. (Uncrushed pre-sharing the centre crop is as sharp as one could wish for). However one or two clicks down should be a little better.
I was talking to Mark about this the other day. I found a 100% crop comparison on a 5D III between the Samyung 14mm and the 16-35mm L and the centre area of the Samyang was quite a bit sharper. I'm not sure it's entirely fair to pit a prime against a zoom and the Canon L is undoubtedly the better lens over all, but still, that was a huge selling point for me.
Your images are very sharp too. I'm not too worried about filters, although I personally believe you can achieve higher quality results with decent filters, properly bracketing (3-5 exposures) in combination with LR will easily suffice. It's a shame I have no landscapes to test around here. I'll have to go in to London or something.
Your images are very sharp too. I'm not too worried about filters, although I personally believe you can achieve higher quality results with decent filters, properly bracketing (3-5 exposures) in combination with LR will easily suffice. It's a shame I have no landscapes to test around here. I'll have to go in to London or something.
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff