[Conqueror]

Just wondered if anyone had been able to evaluate these - the 10/14/16 mm Samyang

Not much info on the 16mm f2 and 10mm f2.8.

The 14mm gets quite a bit of praise and seems to be the most ubiquitous.

The 16mm might be a pretty decent night sky option?

Wonder how these stack up vs 15mm DA f4 for this use case.

[interested_observer]

Samyang, Bower and Rokinon are one in the same lens, just rebadged.

• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/113178-astrophot...ml#post2914120
• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/249873-best...g-16mm-f2.html
• Best Lenses for Milky Way Photography: Canon Astrophotographers – Lonely Speck
• Blog @ BorrowLenses
• Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Review – Lonely Speck
• Samyang/Rokinon 16mm F2/14mm 2.8 for Astrophotography - FM Forums
• Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC - astrophotography dream: Nikon SLR Lens Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
• Samyang 14mm f/2.8 Vs Samyang 24mm f/1.4 for milkyway - Canon Digital Photography Forums
• First night out with Samyang 14mm 2.8: Astrophotography Talk Forum Forum: Digital Photography Review
• Lorenzo Comolli's Astronomy HomePage
• Into The Night Photography: Overcoming Coma Aberration - Part 2
• https://www.google.com/search?q=samyang+astrophotography&client=firefox-a&hs...w=1346&bih=604

You Tube

You Tube

The main difference between the Samyang (el al) and the 15 Ltd is the aperture - f2.8 vs f4. For astrophotography, aperture is going to count for a lot. You are giving up an entire f stops, which is the difference between needing to shoot at ISO 1600 vs 3200. On the other hand, you can recover that difference by using the O-GPS1 that can provide up to 5 minutes of tracking, which is something that none of the other camera vendors can do, without sitting their bodies on a tracking base.

[Jens Lyn IV]

Samyang are very good at minimising coma, which is of particular importance in astrophotography.

The Samyang 16 mm f/2 is four times as fast as the Pentax 15 mm Ltd., and the Samyang 10 mm f/2.8 is super wide and still decently fast, so those would seem like excellent options.

[nightfly]

Love my 16/2 Samyang. My first copy exhibited decentering, returned for another copy and it was good with performance on par with reviews. Some coma in the corners, but a very nice option, especially as prices have fallen. You can view my photostream on Flickr for more work with this lens.

This was 92 seconds at f/3.2 ISO 3200 under dark skies with my K-5IIs.

[Conqueror]

Thats an awesome pic nightfly... What attracted you to the 16mm... the max aperture? Was the 10mm out at the time you bought?

[Na Horuk]

The reason why 16mm and 10mm are not as popular is because they are much newer, and pretty much everyone that wanted a third party ultrawide already got a 14mm. And I think the 16m and 10mm are crop sensor only, while the 14mm is also for film and full frame.
All of these are great lenses with ultra wide field of view and fast aperture, sharp optics. Only problems are QC: decentering and distance scales miscalibration. So when you buy one, get it with warranty and do some tests. My Samyang 14mm for example isn't as sharp on the left half of the frame. This becomes noticeable with astrophotography because stars on the left half turn into lines instead of perfectly sharp dots. And its the second copy of the 14mm, the first one was worse. You can test the distance scales and simply memorize where "infinity" actually is, in case the infinity sign is wrong. There are also instructions how to fix this yourself, its not too difficult.
Though, to be fair to Samyang, decentering is often a problem with ultrawide lenses, of any brand, because the optics must be so precise and even a small error will become optically visible.

Edit: I have the 14mm, but if I was buying today, I would get the 16mm. Its not as awkwardly wide and not as heavy, has detachable hood and takes filters, probably easier to focus,..
My attempt at astro (in a city lol, press M to see bigger size, I swear there are some stars): http://500px.com/photo/50888178
But its also good for indoor photography: http://500px.com/photo/68369283

[Wingincamera]

I haven't shot any astrophotography but I do have the 14mm f2.8 (Bower copy) when B&H had it on sale while back. My first copy was decentered, but I returned it and the second copy is very good. That's one thing I like about B&H, easy for returns or exchanges.
As far as the focus scale, both copies were not accurate. What I did was in good day light set up my camera & lens on a tripod and took photos at various distances and focused at each location until I had a good sharp focus. I had already applied a piece of masking tape next to the focus scale and marked on the tape each location the distance focused mark, from minimal distance to infinity. At 14mm, the range of focus is so great that I didn't need that many marks.
Now when I want to use this lens I just adjust the lens to the distance mark I made. For good light if I use F5.6 anything from about four feet to infinity is in focus.

[nightfly]

Thats an awesome pic nightfly... What attracted you to the 16mm... the max aperture? Was the 10mm out at the time you bought?

The max aperture was a major consideration. It is sharp wide open but I stop down when I want to control vignetting. The 10mm was not out at the time I purchased and the Sigma 18-35 / 1.8 was "vaporware" at the time. I needed a good wide for my K-5 IIs . My first copy was decentered but B&H cheerfully swapped copies.

Prices have fallen and I recommend giving one a try and return if your not satisfied.

Good luck!

[malenisjaj]

Hi,
I need good lens for (mostly) landscape astrophotography. First, I was thinking of Sigma 8-10mm/3.5 but it's expensive over here ($800), then my thought were on Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 but IQ is not that good especially in the corners and it has small aperture. Then I saw wonderful Samyang 14mm/2.8 but I also noticed huge distortion problem; it can be resolved with software but that's something I'm really not in the mood to do for every picture (or maybe I'm overreacting).
Finally, I start to thinking that Samyang 16mm/2 would be the best choice but, as I can see, it has some vignetting issue. What do you think?

My lens collection is visible in the signature and I never had experiences with UWA lenses.

Thank you.

[Bmer]

Love my 16/2 Samyang. My first copy exhibited decentering, returned for another copy and it was good with performance on par with reviews. Some coma in the corners, but a very nice option, especially as prices have fallen. You can view my photostream on Flickr for more work with this lens.

This was 92 seconds at f/3.2 ISO 3200 under dark skies with my K-5IIs.

Just curious - 92 second exposure - how come no smearing or star trails.(whats your secret ?)
BTW - An amazing shot - I'm lucky to live near some super dark areas close to the Rocky Mountains