Budget Ultra-wide Samyang 2.8/14mm ED AS IF UMC

ovim · 08-09-2010, 01:46 PM

I received this lens today and thought it deserves a thread of it's own so here goes.

I managed to shoot a few test shots before it got dark and here's some first impressions. (everythings pretty much as in the lenstip review)

Build quality is good and the lens feels very solid. The front element is a huge chunk of glass with a plastic petal hood around it. Aperture ring has half clicks (except between f16-f22) and a metal button to lock it to A position (which works just as it should btw). Focus ring is not up to Takumar standards but OK, focusing makes a quiet "plastic sliding against plastic" sound.

This thing is sharp! Even wide open sharp sharp sharp!! Achieving critical focus is difficult but my split screen and especially the microprism collar helps. Probably I'll be mostly shooting at infinity with smaller aperture so this won't be a problem. The lens focuses quite a bit past infinity and the actual infinity seems to be somewhere around the 3m mark (have to remember that).

So far no bothering CAs in sight. Tried shooting a cloudy sky through tree branches but nothing. Barrel distortion is quite heavy and there's noticeable vignetting wide open, but both can be corrected in PP (if needed).

I didn't want to post my crappy test shots but here's one from tonight (wide open, lightroom defaults) Full size version here click

Anyone else have this lens? How do you like it? Please share your shots/thoughts.

ovim · 08-10-2010, 12:26 AM

A few shots of the lens itself (next to SMC Pentax-A 1.7/50mm for comparison)

side

front

Samyang is resting in it's lens cap

Pentaxor · 08-10-2010, 01:05 AM

any more sample pics? that looks sharp at the center. would love to see more.

Lowell Goudge · 08-10-2010, 02:25 AM

I would also love to see sample shots especially unedited shots showing the distortion and vignetting

this lens is on my "possible" list

danielausparis · 08-10-2010, 10:32 AM

Wow!!! nice sample, looks ultra-sharp! Keep them coming, thanks in advance. And thanks also for the confirmation that this lens has the A setting.
daniel

ovim · 08-10-2010, 12:03 PM

thx daniel!

Warning! Ultimately boring test shots ahead! (converted from RAW with LR defaults)

Corner sharpness wide open (upper corners seem a tad soft but I suspect user error. Maybe I wasn't completely parallel to the ground) Can you spot my shoe?

Click here for full size

Distortion and vignetting wide open

Vignetting is reduced significantly when stopped down to f3.5

I also learned I cant shoot this wide. All my "real" pics today were

hangu · 08-10-2010, 12:17 PM

I had noticed some distortion on the white piece of paper the boy is writing on but the brick wall just confirmed the amount of distortion. Still, Samyang has made some very nice budget lenses and the max aperture of f2.8 is remarkable in itself. It should give some nice depth of field that was missing from my DA12-24 f4 lens.

Pentaxor · 08-10-2010, 12:40 PM

hmmmmm.....the distortion might be a bit challenging to correct during post process and might take some significant time. although it got some great resolution all over. this lens would be best for UW portraits, Landscape and Nature. honestly, I'm quite impressed with the degree of detail that this lens shows. except for the distortion, it's definitely better than the DA14 and would simply embarrass the 18-55 WR kitlens resolution at 18mm by a wide margin. maybe Samyang should consider building an AF version of this lens.

nater · 08-10-2010, 01:52 PM

Originally posted by Pentaxor

hmmmmm.....the distortion might be a bit challenging to correct during post process and might take some significant time. although it got some great resolution all over. this lens would be best for UW portraits, Landscape and Nature. honestly, I'm quite impressed with the degree of detail that this lens shows. except for the distortion, it's definitely better than the DA14 and would simply embarrass the 18-55 WR kitlens resolution at 18mm by a wide margin. maybe Samyang should consider building an AF version of this lens.

Regarding the resolution of this lens, I'll just quote from the photozone.de review:

"Well, we were stunned by the results in this category and I reckon you will join us once you've had a look at the charts below. The Samyang produced nothing short of outstanding resolution figures for a lens in this class. The results are very even across the tested aperture range which means excellent to superb center resolution and very good to excellent borders and corners. Field curvature (flatness of the focus plane) is well controlled. I reckon that you will not believe us so please have a look at our field image section. "

AF sure would be nice, but Samyang has no AF lenses currently. I seem to recall in an interview they talked about pursuing that in the future (should be fairly easy to do for Pentax, but for Canon/Nikon/etc. could involve licensing protocols or reverse-engineering them, which might be why they haven't done AF sooner).

hangu · 08-10-2010, 02:31 PM

Originally posted by Pentaxor

hmmmmm.....the distortion might be a bit challenging to correct during post process and might take some significant time. although it got some great resolution all over. this lens would be best for UW portraits, Landscape and Nature. honestly, I'm quite impressed with the degree of detail that this lens shows. except for the distortion, it's definitely better than the DA14 and would simply embarrass the 18-55 WR kitlens resolution at 18mm by a wide margin. maybe Samyang should consider building an AF version of this lens.

I hope they stick with MF. The distortion isn't a huge issue as long as you create lens profiles in LR3 (not that difficult). The problem is that you'd lose about 2-3mm worth once you compensate for the distortion. This would in effect be a 17mm lens.

Pentaxor · 08-10-2010, 03:14 PM

Originally posted by hangu

I hope they stick with MF. The distortion isn't a huge issue as long as you create lens profiles in LR3 (not that difficult). The problem is that you'd lose about 2-3mm worth once you compensate for the distortion. This would in effect be a 17mm lens.

that's the huge concern about it as well, especially if you needed those extra mm. it could work with stitched shots though. but still a lot of work. I would say when it comes to UW use, the Sigma 8-16 at 8mm would be the best lens overall. distortion is not that bad as the Samyang. although for the budget conscious, the Samyang would be great.

stanic · 08-10-2010, 03:35 PM

Originally posted by ovim

I received this lens today and thought it deserves a thread of it's own so here goes.

thanks for the nice pic and review, it really is sharp, and I tried to edit the distortion (if you dont mind), dont think it is so devastating in terms of focal lenght
what distance was between the brick wall and camera please?

Lowell Goudge · 08-10-2010, 06:04 PM

this is a lot worse distortion than my 10-20, but most seems to be possible to fix in PSP X, so my real point will be whether the F2.8 is worth the duplication of focal length over the F4-F5 of my sigma at this focal length

I wonder how the vivitar 13mm performs? since B&H say they are actually different lenses

ovim · 08-11-2010, 12:06 AM

stanic: Off the top of my head I'd say I was about 2meters away from the wall, but I'm not sure.

Here's the same terrific shot corrected with PTlens (and vignetting corrected in Lightroom)
I'm not sure if the profile in PTLens was for the earlier version of this lens but it seems to work OK

stanic · 08-11-2010, 12:57 AM

surely the 15/4 limited is better in terms of distortion, and the size is just uncomparable but...I think this lens is worth it, I mean, you can at least partially correct the distortion, and there is no way how to increase resolution if it is not there...and this lens has got load of it
I am getting this lens as soon as I can, looks like this is going to be my pano nr.1

08-09-2010, 01:46 PM	#1
ovim Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Tre, Finland Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,227	Budget Ultra-wide Samyang 2.8/14mm ED AS IF UMC I received this lens today and thought it deserves a thread of it's own so here goes. I managed to shoot a few test shots before it got dark and here's some first impressions. (everythings pretty much as in the lenstip review) Build quality is good and the lens feels very solid. The front element is a huge chunk of glass with a plastic petal hood around it. Aperture ring has half clicks (except between f16-f22) and a metal button to lock it to A position (which works just as it should btw). Focus ring is not up to Takumar standards but OK, focusing makes a quiet "plastic sliding against plastic" sound. This thing is sharp! Even wide open sharp sharp sharp!! Achieving critical focus is difficult but my split screen and especially the microprism collar helps. Probably I'll be mostly shooting at infinity with smaller aperture so this won't be a problem. The lens focuses quite a bit past infinity and the actual infinity seems to be somewhere around the 3m mark (have to remember that). So far no bothering CAs in sight. Tried shooting a cloudy sky through tree branches but nothing. Barrel distortion is quite heavy and there's noticeable vignetting wide open, but both can be corrected in PP (if needed). I didn't want to post my crappy test shots but here's one from tonight (wide open, lightroom defaults) Full size version here click Anyone else have this lens? How do you like it? Please share your shots/thoughts.

08-10-2010, 12:03 PM	#6
ovim Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Tre, Finland Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,227 Original Poster	thx daniel! Warning! Ultimately boring test shots ahead! (converted from RAW with LR defaults) Corner sharpness wide open (upper corners seem a tad soft but I suspect user error. Maybe I wasn't completely parallel to the ground) Can you spot my shoe? Click here for full size Distortion and vignetting wide open Vignetting is reduced significantly when stopped down to f3.5 I also learned I cant shoot this wide. All my "real" pics today were Last edited by ovim; 08-10-2010 at 12:05 PM. Reason: wrong pic posted

08-10-2010, 03:35 PM	#12
stanic Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: PB Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 380	Originally posted by ovim I received this lens today and thought it deserves a thread of it's own so here goes. thanks for the nice pic and review, it really is sharp, and I tried to edit the distortion (if you dont mind), dont think it is so devastating in terms of focal lenght what distance was between the brick wall and camera please? Attached Images Last edited by stanic; 08-10-2010 at 04:04 PM.

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08-10-2010, 12:26 AM	#2
ovim Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Tre, Finland Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,227 Original Poster	A few shots of the lens itself (next to SMC Pentax-A 1.7/50mm for comparison) side front Samyang is resting in it's lens cap

08-10-2010, 01:05 AM	#3
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	any more sample pics? that looks sharp at the center. would love to see more.

08-10-2010, 02:25 AM	#4
Lowell Goudge Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 15,397	I would also love to see sample shots especially unedited shots showing the distortion and vignetting this lens is on my "possible" list

08-10-2010, 10:32 AM	#5
danielausparis Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Gallery Posts: 94	Wow!!! nice sample, looks ultra-sharp! Keep them coming, thanks in advance. And thanks also for the confirmation that this lens has the A setting. daniel

08-10-2010, 12:17 PM	#7
hangu Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NYC Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,071	I had noticed some distortion on the white piece of paper the boy is writing on but the brick wall just confirmed the amount of distortion. Still, Samyang has made some very nice budget lenses and the max aperture of f2.8 is remarkable in itself. It should give some nice depth of field that was missing from my DA12-24 f4 lens.

08-10-2010, 12:40 PM	#8
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	hmmmmm.....the distortion might be a bit challenging to correct during post process and might take some significant time. although it got some great resolution all over. this lens would be best for UW portraits, Landscape and Nature. honestly, I'm quite impressed with the degree of detail that this lens shows. except for the distortion, it's definitely better than the DA14 and would simply embarrass the 18-55 WR kitlens resolution at 18mm by a wide margin. maybe Samyang should consider building an AF version of this lens.

08-10-2010, 01:52 PM	#9
nater Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: New England Photos: Albums Posts: 689	Originally posted by Pentaxor hmmmmm.....the distortion might be a bit challenging to correct during post process and might take some significant time. although it got some great resolution all over. this lens would be best for UW portraits, Landscape and Nature. honestly, I'm quite impressed with the degree of detail that this lens shows. except for the distortion, it's definitely better than the DA14 and would simply embarrass the 18-55 WR kitlens resolution at 18mm by a wide margin. maybe Samyang should consider building an AF version of this lens. Regarding the resolution of this lens, I'll just quote from the photozone.de review: "Well, we were stunned by the results in this category and I reckon you will join us once you've had a look at the charts below. The Samyang produced nothing short of outstanding resolution figures for a lens in this class. The results are very even across the tested aperture range which means excellent to superb center resolution and very good to excellent borders and corners. Field curvature (flatness of the focus plane) is well controlled. I reckon that you will not believe us so please have a look at our field image section. " AF sure would be nice, but Samyang has no AF lenses currently. I seem to recall in an interview they talked about pursuing that in the future (should be fairly easy to do for Pentax, but for Canon/Nikon/etc. could involve licensing protocols or reverse-engineering them, which might be why they haven't done AF sooner).

08-10-2010, 02:31 PM	#10
hangu Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NYC Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,071	Originally posted by Pentaxor hmmmmm.....the distortion might be a bit challenging to correct during post process and might take some significant time. although it got some great resolution all over. this lens would be best for UW portraits, Landscape and Nature. honestly, I'm quite impressed with the degree of detail that this lens shows. except for the distortion, it's definitely better than the DA14 and would simply embarrass the 18-55 WR kitlens resolution at 18mm by a wide margin. maybe Samyang should consider building an AF version of this lens. I hope they stick with MF. The distortion isn't a huge issue as long as you create lens profiles in LR3 (not that difficult). The problem is that you'd lose about 2-3mm worth once you compensate for the distortion. This would in effect be a 17mm lens.

08-10-2010, 03:14 PM	#11
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	Originally posted by hangu I hope they stick with MF. The distortion isn't a huge issue as long as you create lens profiles in LR3 (not that difficult). *The problem is that you'd lose about 2-3mm worth once you compensate for the distortion. This would in effect be a 17mm lens.* that's the huge concern about it as well, especially if you needed those extra mm. it could work with stitched shots though. but still a lot of work. I would say when it comes to UW use, the Sigma 8-16 at 8mm would be the best lens overall. distortion is not that bad as the Samyang. although for the budget conscious, the Samyang would be great.

08-10-2010, 06:04 PM	#13
Lowell Goudge Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 15,397	this is a lot worse distortion than my 10-20, but most seems to be possible to fix in PSP X, so my real point will be whether the F2.8 is worth the duplication of focal length over the F4-F5 of my sigma at this focal length I wonder how the vivitar 13mm performs? since B&H say they are actually different lenses

08-11-2010, 12:06 AM	#14
ovim Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Tre, Finland Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,227 Original Poster	stanic: Off the top of my head I'd say I was about 2meters away from the wall, but I'm not sure. Here's the same terrific shot corrected with PTlens (and vignetting corrected in Lightroom) I'm not sure if the profile in PTLens was for the earlier version of this lens but it seems to work OK

08-11-2010, 12:57 AM	#15
stanic Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: PB Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 380	surely the 15/4 limited is better in terms of distortion, and the size is just uncomparable but...I think this lens is worth it, I mean, you can at least partially correct the distortion, and there is no way how to increase resolution if it is not there...and this lens has got load of it I am getting this lens as soon as I can, looks like this is going to be my pano nr.1