Samyang 14mm f2.8 experience

I have been experimenting with taking pictures of the Northern Lights this winter. Since I do not have any fast wide angle lenses (for APS-C) in my possesion I have mostly used an FA* 24mm wide open. I have also briefly tried my DA 18-55mm WR, but for this use the kit zoom was not very satisfying. I am not saying that the DA 18-55mm is useless for this kind of photography, only that the FA* 24mm is about ten times better in capturing the subtle nuances of the Northern Lights.

In Norway many Northern Lights photographers seem to use the Tokina AT-X 11-16 f2.8, but the Samyang 14mm f2.8 has also become quite popular. Do any of you have any experience with the Samyang 14mm?

Bjørn

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Bjørn

PPG
Flickr

There are some very good reports/sample pics on the US forum. It has a bit of barrel distortion but looks surprisingly sharp right from f2.8 - check the sample pic of the street with the church at the end on the Canon APSC review on Photozone.de!

The only thing that would put me off this lens is the size - it's a full frame mega-wide lens which is 'only' about 21mm on APSC....

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[link=https://500px.com/will_brealey/[/link]

The picture with the church is impressive, likewise the resolution figures in the photozone test. I have handled the lens in a camerashop, and I agree, it is HUGE and heavy. The concept about sacrificing autofocus in favour of (supposedly) great optics and low price appeals to me

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Bjørn

PPG
Flickr

Bjolester Sir, please do not confuse the speed of a lens (f1.2, 1.4, 1.7) with sharpness, bokeh, CA, distortion, ... or other other picture qualities. This kind of photography is best done on a tripod, so any UWA Lens as slow as F4 is good enough. The cheapest UWA is the Sigma 10-20. It also happens to be the most praised for every known lens test. The Sigma is much much better than the Samyang or for that matter any SWA lens at its price point, size and weight. Please see the Pentax Forum USA - search for this lens as there is a a specific thread for this lens. You will be amazed and blown over.

thanks for the mention of the Sigma! just wanted to ask about it .. but still can someone say about a similar Tamron?

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PENTAX K-3, PENTAX K-30,PENTAX K-5, PENTAX K 20D,Pentax FA*250-600 5.6, Pentax DA*200 2.8, Pentax A 50 1.7, Pentax 10-17 3.5-4.5 Fish Eye, Pentax A 100 4 Macro, Pentax FA 77 1.8 Limited,Pentax DA*50-135 2.8,Pentax FA*400 5.6,Sigma 30 1.4,Sigma 10-20 4-5.6, Sigma 18-50 2.8 DC EX, Helios 40 1.5, Tair-3s 300 4.5, Mir-10A 3.528, Mir-20N 3.5/20, tc Sigma 2x EX DG, Flash Sigma EF-530 DG ST

and about the lack of need for wide-angle lenses, high luminosity agrees anyway landscapes shot with a lack of light shot from a tripod and with apertures of 8 .. another good Russian mountain landscape told me that he was delighted with the 15-F4 Limited as time for the reasons stated ..

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PENTAX K-3, PENTAX K-30,PENTAX K-5, PENTAX K 20D,Pentax FA*250-600 5.6, Pentax DA*200 2.8, Pentax A 50 1.7, Pentax 10-17 3.5-4.5 Fish Eye, Pentax A 100 4 Macro, Pentax FA 77 1.8 Limited,Pentax DA*50-135 2.8,Pentax FA*400 5.6,Sigma 30 1.4,Sigma 10-20 4-5.6, Sigma 18-50 2.8 DC EX, Helios 40 1.5, Tair-3s 300 4.5, Mir-10A 3.528, Mir-20N 3.5/20, tc Sigma 2x EX DG, Flash Sigma EF-530 DG ST

I can't comment on the Samyang, but I used the Pentax 14mm DA f2.8 for several years and I can certainly recommend it highly.

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LennyBloke

The Pentax DA 14mm f2.8 would have been an interesting option for me, but the Samyang has a great appeal in its low price. In Norway the DA 14mm costs twice the price of the Samyang

One of the reasons that I would like to hear some real user experience of the Samyang is that I have read some mixed feedback regarding focusing. Some people mention that the infinity marking on the lens in reality is way beyond actual infinity. Other users have written that one nails infinity wide open when setting the focus ring at 2.4m. So, these kinds of peculiarities are important for me to research a bit before I eventually decide to purchase the lens.

Bjørn

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Bjørn

PPG
Flickr

You may well find this helpful Capture One article useful - irrespective of what lens you end up with

A "must read"
Matt

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http://www.mattmatic.co.uk
(For gallery, tips and links)

Thanks a lot! A great tutorial

Bjørn

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Bjørn

PPG
Flickr

Hi Bjorn, I had this lens for while to play and it is really very very good UWA lens. But I didn't keep it, because I use polarizer and ND filters most of the time with natural shots and due to front element of samyang and fixed hood there's no way to put the filter on. Other problems is that it has huge distortion, so it is really great for landscapes but not really suitable for anything else. Build quality is top notch, manual focusing throw very long for UWA, you can get very precise focus if needed. So my conclusion If you don't need filters and shoot landscapes...that is probably one of the best lenses you can get.

Thank you kingfisher for sharing your experience with the Samyang! I am interested in this lens primarily to use for photographing the Northern Lights. but also for landscapes in general. Initially I had been wanting to buy a DA* 16-50mm f2.8 for this purpose, but when I read about the Samyang 14mm, this seemed like an even better option for me. The Samyang costs about a third of the DA* 16-50mm, and probably performs better than the zoom at 16mm (My guessing without having tried any of them )

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Bjørn

PPG
Flickr