Originally posted by clackers I reckon my Irix 15mm f2.4 is *much* better designed and built than my Samyang 14mm f2.8, CarbonR.
If they're built in the same factory, more effort seems to have gone into the Irix, and fair enough, for the prices.
I have the opposite feeling. The focusing ring of the Samyang (and I also have the 24/1.4 and 35/1.4, the 14/2.8 is not my only Samyang), aloutgh being less good than a Takumar, is very acceptable, while the two Irix feel like if everything was in plastic with a poor grease.
Originally posted by amstel78 My Irix15mm Blackstone is soft around the edges. It's only marginally better stopped down. It's an OK lens if you know how to work around it. Is it worth 500 bucks? No. I would have bought the Firefly if I had to pay retail. Luckily I didn't so soft edges but great build quality is a compromise I chose to accept.
I got a black friday offer and paid 410 EUR for the 15/2.4. Used lenses in France were at almost the same price so I went for new lens. I would say that 400-500 bucks is not a low price, but is a cheap price, at least for my 6D. The only cheaper solution is the Samyang 14/2.8 (I paid my used one at a good price, 150 EUR), but it does not accept filter like the Irix, this is why I wanted to test the Irix. I bought a ND32000 filter for it (yes, 15 stops reduction, I will be able to expose for minutes in sunny day
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Originally posted by MJKoski Well, there have never been critically sharp 10-12mm FF hyperwides except now Sony 12-24 f/2.8 GM. But even that is not 11mm so maybe the 11mm Irix has its purpose for now. 15mm Irix is not useful, it has rather extreme field curvature and compared to Samyang 14mm it loses in corner sharpness, flare resistance and is more expensive. Both Samyang and Irix have internal build which is not meant to be repaired afterwards. There are no adjustments, just pieces of plastic and molded lenses. Both have questionable build quality considering aperture actuation spring lever mechanism which looses its tension in the long run and aperture gets sticky.
No adjustment... first time I heard this as a real cons. I never had to adjust any lens. And the Irix have a "clic" at infinity that can be adjusted with a screwdriver, and I already partially disassembled my Samyang 35/1.4 to repair the aperture system that failed after dropping both lens and camera on the ground !
I also have the Samyang 14/2.8, but as said above, I wanted to test the possibility of an ultra wide angle lens that accept filters. No internet-test (especially when shooting charts) can replace me using the lens on field t see if it can meet my requirements. I am more exploring that being 100% sure of what I want. Other lenses that interested me :
- Samyang 10/3.5 but 2.5 times more expensive than the Irix
- Samyang 20/1.8, but 20mm, what a teleobjective compared to a 15mm
- Laowa 15/4 shift+macro, but more expensive and if I remember correctly, strong distorsion
- An other expensive Laowa lens (12.28 zero D ?)