Samyang 14mm

[DaveCurtis]

Is anyone on the forum using or had experience with the Samyang 14mm. Some reviews are stating that it has higher resolution across the frame than the the Nikon 14-24mm.

Seems to good to be true for that price.

[Rhossydd]

I haven't used one myself yet, but have read a lot about it.
From what I can gather, quality control has been an issue; if you get a good one they're great, but there have been (are?) some poor samples about so make sure you buy from someone who'll exchange a duffer.
Distortion and vignetting can be a problem unless you're using software than correct it eg LR/ACR.
The other 'issues' like manual focus and iris don't seem to bother the people using them much.

The overall impression is that you'll get fantastic value for money from these, but I'd too love to hear from people here using them. There's some shots from Hans Kruse using one at http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=55368.msg450960#msg450960

[DaveCurtis]

Yes, Ive read about the QA and distortion problems. The QA seems the real issue for me. Especially if I was to purchase from off shore.

I'm down in NZ
Dave

[HarperPhotos]

Hi Dave,

This is a very good article below about this lens

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/532-samyang14f28eosff

Cheers

Simon

[rolad]

dave,

based on the rave photozone.de reviews i went ahead and bought one in june - with a price tag of ard. 300 euros not too much of a risk...

my 1st hand impressions:

good build quality (metal barrel), good haptics (smooth focus action).

resolution really quite good (didnt scientifically test it), never bothered with distortion correction (landscape and street mostly)

i felt vignetting at 2.8 was quite extreme though - yet OK at smaller apertures

online info available on this lens did not seem to mention two aspects though:

1) significant focus shift when changing aperture - as this lens is 100% manual
    (including stopping down aperture) this took a bit to get used to and compensate for
2) the distance markings on the focus ring of my copy were wayyy off -
    i used adhesive tape and marked i.e. 1m / 2m / 3m / 5m / infinity at two diff. apertures to work with.

if you are not in a terrible hurry resp. use i.e focus work arounds i found it to be awesome value for money.

cheers



ps:

i also put together a comparison of samyang 14mm to EF L 14mm
and the samyang 85mm vs. canon 85mm 1.8 based on photozone.de review data - see attached image

translation & legend: green boxes: samyang better than canon, red boxes: vice versa.  
vergleich = comparison, aufloesung = resolution

[Rhossydd]

Nice to hear some user's impressions of the lens.

2) the distance markings on the focus ring of my copy were wayyy off -

I've read of this several time. There are web pages that I came across that described how to correct this with some varying degrees of disassembly.
This page links to a couple, plus I think there's at least one more.
http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/Samyang-Walimex-Rokinon-Vivitar-Falcon-14mm-2.8-Focus-Correction.html


My own opinion is that this isn't a deal killer for the this lens. If you're focussing through the vf it shouldn't a major issue.

[DaveCurtis]

I thought I would share some initial thought on my new 14mm.

I have had the Samyang 14mm for a couple of days and I cannot get over how sharp this thing is. It is amazing. Very minimal CA as well.  The field is very flat when focusing at infinity. The detail at the edges is very very good. Focusing at closer range introduces some field curvature.
Great for landscapes! Certainaly better than the Canon 14mm II.

On the down side:
Manual aperture ring and doesnt show aperture in the image Exif .
Also high barrel distortion and vignetting.

The distance scale on the lens is out by quite a bit too.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I have one and it is pretty good. I might have a less than perfect sample, but sharpness is good out the corners at f/8, the best samples may be sharp to the corners at f/2.8.

Distortion is problematic, difficult to correct.

Here are my first shots:

f/2.8: http://echophoto.smugmug.com/Travel/Stuff/i-SpBwBV4/0/O/20121208-_DSC0404.jpg
f/8:  http://echophoto.smugmug.com/Travel/Stuff/i-9Sk6xZT/0/O/20121208-_DSC0406.jpg
f/16: http://echophoto.smugmug.com/Travel/Stuff/i-FRZpn6H/0/O/20121208-_DSC0407.jpg

Apertures are guessed. 24 MP Sony Alpha 99


Best regards
Erik

Is anyone on the forum using or had experience with the Samyang 14mm. Some reviews are stating that it has higher resolution across the frame than the the Nikon 14-24mm.

Seems to good to be true for that price.

[Rhossydd]

Distortion is problematic, difficult to correct.

The lens correction profiles available for LR/ACR work well.

[DaveCurtis]

Thanks  Eric.

Yes, the wave type distortion can be a problem.

To get maximum sharpness across the frame and into the corners I found it is important where you put the focus. I spent some time testing and made a mark on the distance scale.

I also found if you use the distance scale, and say focusing on 2metres you will get a different focus point depending on whether you bring the focus down from the infinity to  2 metres  or up from minimum focus up to 2metres. I now always focus in the one direction if using the distance scale.



Dave

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,
Sorry, which profiles? I have not found a good one.

Best regards
Erik

The lens correction profiles available for LR/ACR work well.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi Dave,

Sorry, I missed that this was an old thread and that you already owned the lens.

Best regards
Erik

Thanks  Eric.

Yes, the wave type distortion can be a problem.

To get maximum sharpness across the frame and into the corners I found it is important where you put the focus. I spent some time testing and made a mark on the distance scale.

I also found if you use the distance scale, and say focusing on 2metres you will get a different focus point depending on whether you bring the focus down from the infinity to  2 metres  or up from minimum focus up to 2metres. I now always focus in the one direction if using the distance scale.



Dave

[Rhossydd]

The one from: http://www.photo-worx.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=

Seems pretty good to me. The only drawback is that it's been made for shooting @ f2.8 so there's too much vignetting correction if you're shooting stopped down.

I have made one for f8, but there seems to be a difficulty in LR seeing different profiles for the same lens. I spent quite a lot of time trying to get LR to offer it and have a alternatives for different stops, but without much luck. I ought to have another try to resolve the issue, but I find the one above works sufficiently well anyway.

[NancyP]

I just got it and have taken it out for wide field astrophotography. It performs very well wide open out to the edges on an APS-C camera. Exam of individual frames at 100% shows good sharp stars. This is a lens that focuses nicely in Live View. It does vignette like crazy. I was shocked when I shot my flat field stack (evenly illuminated oof diffused light filling frame) for the astro-stack program (Lynkeos, if anyone cares). I will post the stack results later. I haven't done much with it in daylight. The mustache distortion is wicked for man-made objects, I gather.

[RobertJ]

It has mustache distortion, but it's sharp and has surprisingly ultra-low levels of chromatic abberation compared to the competition.  It is really quite remarkable how well controlled the CA is on this lens.  Better than Nikon and Canon, and probably even Zeiss.

[DaveCurtis]

NancyP, yes I will be using it for wild field shots of the southern milkyway and aurora australis.

[Petrus]

Is anyone on the forum using or had experience with the Samyang 14mm. Some reviews are stating that it has higher resolution across the frame than the the Nikon 14-24mm.

Seems to good to be true for that price.

Have you seen this: http://3d-kraft.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127:uwa-comparison&catid=40:camerasandlenses&Itemid=2

Nikon 14-24 and Zeiss 15 were quite equal, Samyang 14 the clear looser, while not bad at all, specially for the price at just a fraction of the other two.

Quote from the site: "Zeiss is the winner for me but regarding the price / value relation the Samyang is the biggest surprise".

For me the Nikon would be the winner.

[DaveCurtis]

I appear to be getting better corner/out zone performance than shown in this test with my sample of the 14mm. Especially when focusing on the corners in live view. Centre still remains sharp.

I have heard the QA isnt the best with some of the Samyang lenses.

This Zeiss is clearly designed for f2.8 and looks amazing.