2.11.2015

I'd like to preface this review with a short explanation to put things in context: Firstly, I am an experienced photographer with many years of practice, experimentation and mastery (or at least attempted mastery) of various fields in photography. I know how equipment works and how to test a lens in my own home. Secondly, I am not an impulsive buyer. In fact, I prefer to research every aspect of something before I press the 'Buy Now' button. I am sure there is a name for this condition. It was for these reasons that, when I ordered this lens, I was fully aware of both the amazing AND the disappointing experiences other people have had with it. However, ordering through an Amazon reseller (fulfilled by Amazon)I was confident that should I be able to properly test it and it appear faulty, I would be able to exchange it for another copy.I had read so many positive things about this lens (the price, sharpness wide open and lack of coma - which is so essential for astrophotography) but also some negative reviews as well (most frequent and notable the number of copies exhibiting decentring of lens elements causing uneven sharpness across the frame and the sloppy calibration of the focus scale). It was with apprehension and a nervous optimism that I opened the box when the package arrived a few days ago.There are many online resources that will help you with how to test a new lens so I will not bore you with it here. However, it is definitely worth noting that the sharpness/decentring test went very well, eventually. Working with such a wide angle lens is not easy, so if you end up with one of these arriving through your letterbox take note... Test twice, return once. Initially, there appeared to be some decentring when viewing images of a flat wall at 100%, so like any good new lens owner I went back to the tripod and tested again. It appeared that I had not aligned the camera horizontally to the plain of testing the first time as corners were much sharper the second time around. Not perfect, but better.Next came the focusing scale calibration test... set up on a tripod and focus (using Live View) on various objects at different distances on the scale. Surprisingly very accurate at short and mid distances - a lovely surprise considering some of the reviews I had read. Next came the most important test for astrophotography... infinity focus. Many of the bad reviews I had read stated that infinity focus was way off the mark on the focussing scale of the lens. So I focussed on a distant tree using Live View. Hmmm, initially I feared that my new lens, good so far, was not quite focussing at infinity. In fact it felt like true infinity would occur AFTER the focussing stop (contrary to the reviews I had read which suggested that some copies focussed at infinity way BEFORE the infinity mark on the lens) A 100% check on the monitor was inconclusive. This left me with only one option - go and shoot some stars. Well, to cut a long story short, a day after this lens arrived I found myself on top of a hill in the pitch blackness of night with my tripod, new lens and shutter release... heaven! Using Live View (and the appropriate camera settings) I focussed on a bright star next to the Milky Way (achieved only slightly past the infinity mark on the focussing scale), released the shutter, zoomed in on the image on the back of my camera and was blown away. When I got home and viewed the image at 100% I could see some slight decentring in two extreme corners at 100%, but it was nothing to worry about at all. The importance of the lens' ability to focus on infinity (the stars) had been proven. It's sharp and it's wide enough to capture a large portion of the Milky Way.In short, this lens is not perfect. But it is easily good enough to become a long term keeper for me. I have tested it and I know it will make the images I want it to make. It has my confidence. If you are like me and have read all the reviews and done all the research (and are reading this review now to try and help you make a decision) just go for it. My guess is that Samyang have acted on the feedback regarding infinity focus and have introduced a process into their quality control workflow to make sure they are shipped with accurate focussing scales.

7.3.2017

I've given this 4 stars for one reason. In the right hands this warrants 5 stars however unless you're entirely happy with operating a manual lens on a DSLR you WILL find it hard to obtain good pictures with it.The lens is a true ultra wide angle and as such it can be very difficult to obtain critical focus especially as it has a very long throw on the focus ring. You may well end up depending on depth of field to guarantee that focus and as such will probably not be operating at f2.8. If you use various depth of field calculators you might expect infinity to be in focus from f5.6 as long as your subject is more than about 3-4 meters away. I have found however that there is "degrees" of being in focus.

13.10.2012

I purchased this lens with a degree of apprehension. I am somewhat of a purist when it comes to my lens collection and apart from one item from Sigma, I own only Canon glass.I own a Canon 550D and have never felt I could get a lens wide enough (which was also compatible with a full frame camera) for a reasonable price. A friend of mine owns the Canon equivalent of this unit and it has always been a source of jealousy for me.Only costing about 15% of the price the Canon lens costs, I wasn't holding out a huge amount of hope for the quality of the stills (or film) this thing would be capable of.How wrong could I have been. For the money, this lens is nothing short of amazing. Wide,

1.7.2013

This is a serious bargain for a wide angle lens. Despite owning two other wide angle lenses i bought this for the fast aperture for astrophotography as my other WA lenses are quite slow and not sharp till stopped down.I must say, i am very impressed with the Samyang 14 2.8, it is already pretty sharp wide open and stopped down it is very sharp across the frame. I also use the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 and the Pentax DA 15 f4 limited (over twice the price of the Samyang), but to be honest neither of them perform as well as this and there is often border softness with those other lenses even stopped down. I am using this on a Pentax K5 (cropped sensor)

11.3.2014

On the face of it this lens seems to good to be true, costing about 15% of the Canon equivilant, though admittedly it's manual only.Truth is though, it's a 14mm lens, so will have bags of depth of field at any aperture and it's not the sort of lens that you would use to isolate individual elements by focus techniques.I used mine to photograph a gig in a small venue with low light and quickly learned to estimate the distance to my subjects, which worked well enough. There were some spotlights in the frame which did not cause obtrusive lens flare either.Doing some testing earlier in the day, photographing black text against a sunlit white background I did encounter some colour fringing on the edge of the frame,

25.3.2016

Absolutley amazing lens for the money ! I've been keen on astronomy for some time and never really sparked up any major interest due to other commitments. I took the lens out tonight under clouded sky and heavy town sky glow and nearby glare from adjacent street lighting (pesky metal halide lamps) and within my first 10 frames nailed a very respectable image.The clarity at infinity and F2.8 is mind blowing for the money purchased, and being a novice photographer was very apprehensive about using a fully manual lens, but can honestly say I've learned more about F stops exposure in the last few days than I have in the last year in using it.Some minor things to consider is damn its heavy !

20.1.2017

You should only consider buying this lens if you never switch to the green square on your mode dial.Also i would not recommend it for APS-C cameras, crop sensors, only use for full frame, you can get better lens at nearly this size. For example the 17-55 EF-S lens is better.You need to use this in manual as the lens does not communicate with your camera.I use the canon version of this lens.There is an aperture ring and as you adjust this, the cameras meter will give you a shutter speed to match the amount of light going through the lens. Linked obviously to whatever ISO you are using too.A lot of people assume, as I have, with a very wide angle lens you don't need to focus so accurately,

12.4.2016

There are many good technical reviews out there already so this isn't another one. What makes a really good lens is how well it works for YOU. Yes, this lens has some weird distortions that can't be fully corrected for (at least, not that I have found) and it is only manual focus and doesn't communicate with the camera body so manual aperture control too.Any good points? Well yes... after a little bit of vignette correction in Lightroom (along with as much distortion correction as the found profile will allow) the image quality is very good. Most reviewers will advise to not use this lens for shooting architecture which has lots of straight vertical lines due to the 'moustache'

9.1.2013

Humming and hawing about this lens (or one of the multiple name versions of it) for a couple of months. Finally took the plunge last week, I don't like buying a lens without trying it so this was a first.I've only had it out one night. Focusing is quite difficult through the viewfinder, I shoot manual both film and digital but this lens has a 270degree focusing turn and in poorer light I really found it difficult to tell what was in focus. Moving to Live View on the LCD and zooming x5 or x10 is the solution but obviously that doesn't suit every type of photography.The manual aperture doesn't have an auto or preview function which I'm used to with my m42 lenses - this means you will need to

18.4.2014

Wide-angle is addictive - my 'entry drug' was a Canon 17-40mm and I soon wanted more. Unwilling to stump up for Canon's 14mm prime, I took a chance on the Samyang. And I wasn't disappointed - it performs brilliantly on my 5D Mark II, sharp right across the frame. Yes, there's a complex 'moustache' distortion that's impossible to fully correct in post-processing, but I shoot mainly landscapes where it's not an issue. If you do architecture then this isn't for you. Amazingly for an ultra-wide lens, there's almost no CA present. Obviously it vignettes noticeably wide open, but that's simple to fix afterwards.The lack of autofocus is for me a non-issue - I've simply worked out where the optimum depth of field is for various apertures and set focus accordingly before shooting.

24.9.2013

This lens is capable of outstanding results but it is not for everyone. I bought it for a Canon 60D SLR. On this APS camera it behaves as a 20mm lens. The main problem for some people, especially those not brought up on SLRs of yesteryear, is that it does not autofocus. Initially, I was disappointed with its performance but after some experimentation with different settings I found it can produce excellent images. This is the procedure you have to use on the Canon 60D and I guess similar SLRs. Set to manual (M). Set aperture (it is done manually on the lens). I stick to f8 -f16 - occasionally f5.6. You cannot visually focus - too imprecise. I set the distance on the lens to 2m or 3m (gives a huge depth of field up to infinity).

24.7.2016

Bought this to be used with my new Pentax K-1 full frame DSLR. Once you get used to the manual focus it's a very wonderful and splendidly, indeed, frighteningly, sharp lens. Don't be fooled into thinking that at 14mm the depth of field is enormous, you'll still need to focus quite carefully, though minor errors will be covered by the generous depth of field, especially if there's enough light to get you down to about f/8. You've got to love the wideness of the view of this lens, but you'll also need to watch your exposure outdoors,as the lens takes in a LOT of sky, and so there's a risk of underexposing the foreground. All in all, a lens to be slowly,

20.4.2016

Like many other reviewers here I was somewhat doubtful of this lens given it's excellent price, I needn't have worried. Samyang have produced an excellent, sharp and well built lens and at this price I would suggest it's a must buy for astrophotography or landscapes. I have used the lens on a Canon 6d and 7d and have been very happy with image quality. Sure there is vignetting but no more than my Canon 17-40 and the Samyang is sharper wide open than that lens. Of course, it's main use is as a massive light gatherer when used in darkness for nightscapes. At F2.8 and with the focus set to infinity the results are excellent (see attached image).Of course it's fully manual but for most landscapers thats no big deal.

25.10.2017

I have had this lens a while now this is the EF version as opposed to the FX version...used in its generic context e.g. Landscapes\Buildings\ Astro photography...its a very sharp lens and gives Camera Brand names a run for their money....hell I have even seen a photo of a cat....Focus is no problem...using Hyperfocal techniques..I will often set it up with 3m focus...or even .07m...filters are a problem....Polarising Filters are no good with extra wide angle lens...they don't handle blue skies..at all well....This lens is not a fish eye but a Rectilnear lens...gives mild flare when pointed near sun...has its own permanent lens hood...used with apsc sensor will give around 20mm focal length...as

20.12.2017

So used with buying expensive Canon lenses I thought I’d give this a try. Had been after an ultra wide for a while and did not want to pull out fa fortune so after watching a good YouTube review I took a chance, and boy it was worth it. Although it’s manual, both focus and aperture but once you start using it just adds to the appeal of this lens. Being used with Canon L lenses this has made me work more and it shows in my images, it’s sort of give me a kick up the arse with my photography. The images are sharp even around the edges with slight vignetting at 2.8, the build quality’s really good and both the aperture and focus ring run really smooth.

Samyang 14mm f2.8 IF ED UMC - Reviews

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