Samyang 14mm F2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical   reviews

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 3 

flare control: 4 

user: livinginparadise   review date: November-04-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Tokina 19-35
Sony 18-55

positive:

Sharp
Contrasy
Very good image quality

negative:

Distortion
Mf
No filters usable

comment:

A very nice lens
I don't like distortion, but there's a photoshop CS5 plugin for nikon 700 Samyang 14/2.8f11 which fixes that problem.
A polarizer would be useful for rainforest and creek/waterfall scenes

sharpness: 4.5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 4 

flare control: 4 

user: tekwizard   review date: September-03-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Tokina DX 11-16 F2.8
Sony 16-80ZA
Minolta 28f2.0
Samyang 8mm f3.5

price paid:

260€

positive:

sharpness
2.8
bokeh
build
value

negative:

distortion

comment:

I enjoy this lens very much, it is sharp and the focusing is very smooth. The distortion seems to be the only problem but as other reviewers have mentioned it can be corrected with PT Lens.
What needs to be pointed out is that this lens gives a very smooth bokeh which is quite surprising for an ultra wide angle and significantly better than the Tokina 11-16 which can be quite restless in some situation.
As I am comparing already with the Tokina, from my copies the Samyang is sharper at 14mm.

sharpness: 4.5 

color: 4 

build: 5 

distortion: 4 

flare control: 4 

user: szupinglee   review date: August-11-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

18-55 kit
Minolta 28 2.8

price paid:

390 USD(new)

positive:

center sharpness
coverage (FF and APS-C)
value
build

negative:

Incorrect focus ring marking
focuses way beyond infinite

comment:

This review is for the updated Samyang/Rokinon 14mm 2.8
I bought this lens for shooting landscape and in certain indoor architectural situations.
This is great value considering it has FF coverage.
This lens has great sharpness in the center. The edges are certainly not bad considering the price. This is a full mechanical lens, so no metadata.
The build is solid, smooth focus ring, but one glaring problem - focus markings are labelled WAY off. On my copy, infinity is between the 1-2m markings. If you are new to this lens, you need to do some testing to find your sweet spot. Going beyond focus gives terrible results wide open(obviously). Stopping down to f11 widens the in-focus range, but still, infinity marking is beyond infinity and never comes in-focus, except if you shoot at f22.
Other than this, the lens is a staple for my shooting.

sharpness: 4 

color: 4 

build: 5 

distortion: 4 

flare control: 4 

user: joeyc   review date: July-01-11  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

price paid:

345 USD New

positive:

Great Build
Smooth Focus Action
Sharp
Decent Micro Contrast

negative:

Distortion
Bulging Front Element
No Electronics

comment:

This lens has been a nice surprise. I needed a decent wide angle to use on both my A850 and A55. I have been waiting for the new Sigma 12-24, but became impatient. I grabbed the Rokinon version of this lens and have recently put it through its paces. In my opinion, there are only two negatives with this lens. 1.Distortion requires processing to fix (PT Lens) and 2.no electronics. I ordered a chip for this lens, so perhaps that will address #2.

I find the sharpness to be above average across 90% of the frame on my A850. Extreme corners have some smearing of details, but compared to my Tokina 19-35, this is minimal. I find it an useful 21mm on the A55 and the zoom during focus to check for optimal accuracy is great. Started using this for interior shots. In camera HDR and a quick pass through with PT Lens = good to go.

I need to spend more time with this lens on my A850, but initial impressions are high for this lens. Excellent value all around.

sharpness: 4 

color: 4 

build: 4 

distortion: 3 

flare control: 3 

user: mvanrheenen   review date: June-29-11  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

price paid:

269 EUR (new)

positive:

Sharpness
Speed
Price
Build quality

negative:

Quality Hood and Cap
Rather stiff focus ring
Flare control

comment:

I was pleasantly supprised about this lens' performance. With f2.8 it's reasonably fast, stopped down it's sharp and the build quality is very good for use in the field. Although, for a manual lens, the focus ring is a bit stiff for my taste.

Although reading several reviews about the complex barrel distortion, I find it fairly easy to correct in post production. Also, because I use it mainly for landscape overviews, most of the time I notice the distortion after correcting it. That's why I didn't note it as a negative point.

The protruding curved front element does make it prone to flare under certain angles. The hood doesn't help in those conditions. This also prevents the use of filters on this lens.

The lens hood and cap are made from a very cheap plastic. You know that even if plastic fantastic feels cheap, it's not good :-) Not a real big issue though, I just need to be more carefull when using it in the field.

Most people feel you don't need to focus to get the best result with these focal lengths. I tend to disagree. Especially when focus is crucial, it pays of focussing more accurately with this lens, especially at extreme apertures.

All in all for the money, you can't beat this lens in my opinion. If you can live with manual focussing, know how to correct the distortion and can live without using filters, this is your lens.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 4 

distortion: 4 

flare control: 5 

user: gouldina   review date: May-14-11  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

positive:

Sharp
Wide as hell on FF
Cheap

negative:

"Funny" distortion

comment:

I'm very happy with this lens I must say. On a full frame camera it's astonishingly wide - less so on APS-C but still pretty damn wide. Sharpness is extremely good and it's very hard to get it to flare. I really don't find manual focus a problem with this lens because being so wide, it's very easy to set for hyperfocus using the distance marks on the focus ring.
Two small negatives - 1. there's some "interesting" distortion to the image which is hard to fix by hand and 2. The rear lens cap falls off a lot I find like the fit is too loose.
Otherwise you can't fail to be happy with such a high quality lens at such a low price I don't think.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 4 

distortion: 3 

flare control: 5 

user: Dipsausje   review date: January-29-11  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Sigma 12-24
Sony ZA 24-70

price paid:

280 GBP (new)

positive:

Sharp
Good Colours
Good Flare control
Well built

negative:

No AF or any electronics
Distortion

comment:

This lens is the best value in a lens ever in my opinion. Starting at f2.8 the results are sharp, and very pleasing. The lens uses metal and plastic parts, build quality feels good and the focus ring is smooth (maybe a bit too smooth even).

Especially for such a wide-angle lens the flare control is very good, I've used the lens with the sun clearly in view and then you start noticing flare, but this is at the point were the sun also influenced my view quite a lot. The amount of contrast my a850+Samyang 14mm managed to get from this situation was astonishing.

Now the downside: this lens has no AF, a manual aperture and no electronics to communicate with the body. Since the firmware update it is possible to use this lens in A-mode on the a850/a900. MF is something to learn, especially at this focal length, however at f5.6-f8 nearly everything will be in focus if you ust put the focus at about 2m. The distortion is a bigger problem. With objects in close you'll see strange effects in the corners, I think simply because of the huge fov. Also the lens shows a strange "mustache" shape distortion which is disturbing in some shots, however PTLens can correct most of it with ease. Also quite often the distortion is there, but not disturbing, this of course depends on subject and composition. Also the results are sharp at f2.8 but vignetting is visible then.

It's not a perfect lens and it definitely has flaws (distortion mostly), but especially considering price this lens is simply stunning even with it's flaws (vignetting at 2.8 and distortion).


Edit: I'm referring to a850 several times, I've tested this lens on my A100 as well but for me this lens is really for FF, this lens just shines with the large fov.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 3 

flare control: 4 

user: tgx78   review date: December-09-10  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

17-35D
16-35ZA
20mm 2.8

price paid:

400 CDN (new)

positive:

very sharp even wide open
neutral color
low price

negative:

distortion
no AF confirm

comment:

This lens is hard to master but really rewards you with sharp and detailed images once you learn how to use it. Full manual control really makes you think before each shots are taken. I correct distortion with PTLens in CS5 but still there are trace of diagonal distortion if you are not careful about composition. Let's talk about sharpness.. this lens is one amazing pixel resolving machine! At f/2.8, 80% of image field is already sharp! around f/5.6 almost 95% coverage becomes sharp - truly outstanding. negatives - mounting filters can be challenging. flare control is bad, and as I said earlier.. barrel distortion with a mustache-style sub-frequency.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 4 

flare control: 5 

user: cat.spb   review date: December-08-10  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Sony 16/2.8, Sony 20/2.8, Sony 16-35/2.8, Tokina 20-35/2.8.

price paid:

430 USD(new)

positive:

- 14mm, f2.8 on FF
- Very sharp and contrast
- Minimum CA
- Build quality
- Low price

negative:

- Distortion
- Vignette in open

comment:

I like this lens. This lens very sharp in the center and on corners in A900.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 4 

distortion: 3 

flare control: 4 

user: jeep   review date: November-26-10  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

17-35 mm Konica Minolta
20 mm Sony

price paid:

£290.00

positive:

Great fun and value. Super resolution. A manual focus and aperture lens that makes you think when you are using it

negative:

Nothing considering price. Distortion can be corrected and my main use is for landscapes where it is not so much of a problem anyway. Difficult to use filters or grads with this kind of lens design

comment:

Very pleased with this inexpensive lens on my a900. The resolution is excellent and can produce some really creative images. Being fully manual it slows you down and makes you think when composing shots, no bad thing.