Originally posted by dhodgeh 
Samyang, Rokinon, Bower, Peleng, and a few others......
Are these all pretty much the same lens just re-branded?
Yes to Rokinon and Bower, no to Peleng, which is unrelated.
Originally posted by dhodgeh I've got a LBA for a FE lens. I'm typically a Pentax prime glass snob (with only one non-Pentax lens in my working kit), so I'm wondering what to expect with one of these.
And how to these things compare to the DA 10-17 FE Zoom? FWIW, I've WA covered with a DA 15 and DA 21, so I'm talking specifically FE.
The Samyang et al. are really somewhat unique in that they have a pleasant stereographic projection. For more on that, I'd suggest reading the
introduction to the Lenstip review of the Samyang 8mm. Also of relevant from that review: "It is great news for everyone interested in the purchase of such an instrument and bad news for the dealers of Belarusian Peleng 3.5/8 mm, whose prices have recently reached a level absolutely inappropriate to its optical qualities."
Also worth reading is
Ken Rockwell's review of the Samyang 8mm. Choice quote: "I kid you not: even as-shot, the Pro-Optic covers more than the Nikon 10.5mm, and almost as much as the exotic Nikon 8mm that costs ten times as much, and the Pro-Optic fits it all into a rectangle. What I really love about the projection of the Pro-Optic is how the sides and corners render the subject much larger than the other fisheyes. I find this much more useful than squashing the sides into useless mush. The Pro-Optic 8mm squashes the sides much less and is as sharp or sharper there than the Nikon lenses."
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