| Latest Review Posted | Samyang 800mm F8 DX
I bought this lens off E-Bay with minimal expectations.
The focus is something to get used to as the depth of field envelope is VERY narrow. The focus ring is smooth and has very little play. I found that pushing the shutter release half way and moving the focus ring slowly, I could get the image focused accurately as long as I had the K20D on manual focus and letting the camera tell me when focus was achieved.
Construction is pretty good. Not a whole lot of plastic and the lens is a bit heavy, but not nearly as heavy as the non-mirror 800mm lens. It feels like it is well made.
I haven't had bad luck with this lens. I have read reviews where people have griped about the fixed f-stop, but as long as you use a steady hand, tripod or monopod you should be good to go.
The pictures attached were all taken at 800 ISO, F8.0 and 1/800 second, hand held and the distance to target was about 80'.
The only drawback is the fixed f8.0 aperture. Either you have to manipulate the shutter speed, keeping in mind the "1/focal length" rule or you have to up the ISO. I have had no problems on bright days going with ISO 200-400 and achieving at least 1/800 second. Longer distances on grayer days using slower ISO may require a tripod/monopod as was previously stated.
The lens I bought came with an adapter for Pentax, a 2X converter, cleaning kit etc for about $220. I haven't used the teleconverter too much yet because I was concentrating on getting used to the lens and manual foc... |
