| Author: | | Inactive Account Registered: October, 2015 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: November 13, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price - fast lens. | | Cons: | Nil | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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Nice lens for the price, I primarily use this lens for real estate photography or other tight spaces, haven't had the chance to capture any tight landscapes, but as you would imagine, the corners can stretch the image out of perspective.
There's a few samples here www.rabsphoto.com.au | | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2013 Posts: 1,457
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 30, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $259.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp across entire APS-C frame | | Cons: | OO Needed calibrated for hard stop , a bit of Barrel Distortion easily corrected in LR | |
I have the Bower Branded one.
Everyone has heard of all the QC issues over the OO Calibration being way off...Mine was no different at all.
Remember this is a ultra wide angle lens so its not east to view adjustments easily as other lenses when calibrating. More than once I thought it was soft and almost returned it for a replacement. I found the key to making it easier is to use f5.6 during calibration and not the f2.8
It was a pain getting the infinity hard stop dialed in correctly and took me about 100 images to get it spot on. However once done the calibration scale on the barrel was spot on.
Build is impeccable for a modern lens as is the "A" contacts on this lens. It has a huge focus throw and is nicely dampened.
The lens has no threads and has a permanent built in hood which makes it hard to use ND filters. There are aftermarket products to overcome this but they are almost the price of the lens.....take this into consideration.
This lens is a bit prone to ghosting and CA at wide open apertures against reflective or highly lit subjects , but it stops entirely at f4.0. Its not bad at all , but is noticeable if your not familiar with it.
This is the first lens I had to really work with as far as test shots and depth of field scale. Once dialed in it becomes a $$$$ making machine... Dragon Slayer....a Giant Killer......It performs !
This lens is so easy to use for street photography , close landscapes , and just about anything you can think of using a UWA lens for. I don't even focus....just set the scale and shoot. It nails it perfectly !
You don't even have to focus using a distance scale once familiar. Close focus only comes into play once your closer than 18" !
I drilled tiny marks on my scale in between the factory marks and designed a sharp focus scale for nailing it every time at a specific distance. Taped it right on the built in hood.....Easy !
Close focus on mine is at about 10" and super sharp. As you increase the distance the field of focus becomes HUGE and usable !
I got lucky and got a good copy the first time and feel very fortunate.
This lens can easily make sharp prints to 40" from a K30 and surpass 48" on a K3 .....that is after YOU figure out the calibration and scale settings and how to use them !
Set this baby at 1.2 meters and shoot away. Set it at 5' and everything from 3.5 feet to infinity is great. Set it at 7' and any and everything is sharp from 5' to infinity...YOU CANT MISS !
I made a sharp focus scale for mine but it really isn't needed after a bit of use. I will send a copy if you PM me.
There is a steep learning curve with any ultra wide angle lens and this one is even a bit more but its worth it to take your photography to a higher level.
Sharpest images are at f5.6-f8...but at f2.8 its still a winner and quite sharp and usable.
I would rate this lens with an overall score of 9.75 if it would let me.
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2010 Posts: 3
4 users found this helpful
| | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: October, 2012 Location: Pine Haven, Wyoming Posts: 1,182
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 28, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, even wide open, wide field of focus | | Cons: | not able to take a filter, distance marks not accurate | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I have the Bower copy of this lens. I am really impressed with the quality of the photos it produces at 14mm. This is the second copy I got from B&H. The first one had a de-centered lens and I returned it for an exchange. This second one is really good.
It is sharp from 2.8 up. For me it did have a learning curve. The lens is a 14mm, but on a Pentax you have to input the focal length manually, and the closest number is 15mm. So on the exif data it will indicate 15mm instead of 14mm.
The lens does have distance scale marks on it, but the marks were not even close. I read where some have loosen the screws that hold the scale and move it for a more correct location. I handled it differently. I first put a piece of masking tape over the distance scale. Then I set up a focusing chart and used a tripod with strong light I tethered the camera to my laptop for quicker review at full screen. Starting at the closest focusing of 11.02 inches (28cm) I started focusing and making marks on the tape. I did this again at 8 feet, 35 feet, and infinity. I intend to use the hyperfocal distance.with the lens. With the distance marks I applied I can set the lens up even in poor light and know it will focus accurately.
The following photos are taken with the Bower 14mm lens with a Pentax K-5 II. The photos were taken in raw and processed in Lightroom 4.
http://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v123/p2143444396-5.jpg
http://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/img/s1/v57/p1991518474-5.jpg
http://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v93/p1972899436-5.jpg
http://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v105/p2118147725-5.jpg
http://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v103/p1945569490-5.jpg
http://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v122/p1936301758-5.jpg | | | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2012 Posts: 19 | | Review Date: July 11, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, IQ, price | | Cons: | lack of autofocus | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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The only problem I have with this lens is the lack of precision regarding the marked distances on the barel. That being said, once I "learned" mine is seems to be quite easy to produce in focus pictures.
Stopped down to 8, this lens can produce astonishing images, and even wide open can give you some nice surprises
     | | | | | Inactive Account Registered: January, 2011 Posts: 440 | | Review Date: February 25, 2013 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharpness, wide view, value | | Cons: | distortion, size | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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This is an outstanding lens and can produce amazing results. It's among the new breed of lenses that unlike legacy film-era designs, this one is very sharp right at f/2.8. It's a different kind of "sharpness" than film-era lenses, and it doesn't matter much whether you're at 2.8 or 8, the sharpness doesn't really vary much. Conversely, this also means that if you're used to stopping down to 8 and seeing "pin" sharpness, you won't find that in this lens - the sharpness is a little more "spread out". It most definitely goes hand in hand with digital capture and printing!
In Pentax mount, this is equivalent in functionality to an 'A' series lens, so it works with all modes in the current aps-c DSLRs (except AF) and will work just as well on any K mount film camera from the 70's and up. Hopefully soon we will be able to use all of the 14mm with a FF digital! As it is, on the current aps-c models this is like a 21mm superwide, and is a lot of fun to use esp. with the K-01 !
After you take and review a few shots you will no doubt notice the distortion, but it's easy to fix in PP and not really an issue "most of the time".
Focusing is easy and well damped, however be sure to first calibrate it to infinity - it seems that Sammy's quality-control is in perpetual 'Friday' mode, if you know what I mean! It's not a difficult adjustment, but you do need a couple of tiny screwdrivers and some patience. The main reason to adjust infinity focus is so you can have a dead-stop at infinity - this makes night, astronomy and landscape photography simpler and fool-proof!
It's a large, front heavy lens with a huge beautiful front glass, and it is a full frame 35mm lens, about the same size as Pentax's own 15/3.5 which costs about 3x more. Flare is very well controlled and gradations are nicely rendered!
If you can score this lens at under $300 it is a steal, sometimes you can get it for about $250 - it's well worth it!
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: January, 2013 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: January 24, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp in the corner | | Cons: | Weight | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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Lens class. I would have mounted a lens hood with a 77mm adapter filter for APS-C (K5 IIs). This increases the contrast a bit and limit stray light. Very good lens.  | | | | | Forum Member Registered: August, 2010 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 91
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 5, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $440.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | value, quality | | Cons: | heavy, exposed front element, no autofocus | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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Wonderful manual focus lens with auto aperture. As a full frame ultra wide angle f2.8 prime lens it is an absolute steal for this price. The Pentax equivalent DA 14mm f2.8 is much more expensive.
Comparisons:
Compared to the 16-45mm f4 DA lens, which I also own, the Samyang 14mm produces shots which are clearer and sharper compared to the zoom lens at 16mm – the 16-45mm seems to struggle at the wider end.
The Samyang 14mm also produces much less chromatic aberrations than the 16-45 lens. I can do black and white conversion where I alter luminance of the colours drastically – doing so on the 16-45 leaves noticeable light or dark lines around the edges of objects, particularly where the background is bright such as sky. The 14mm handles this much better.
Optics:
The sharpness is excellent. However, check the lens when you get one and compare your shots to others online and check that the pictures' corners are all of the same sharpness, as I have read about some copies being substandard. Chromatic aberrations are dealt with excellently, and the rather large ~5% barrel distortion is simple to remedy manually in lightroom or photoshop if you need to (for pictures of things with straight edges). I’d read that the lens has more complex moustache distortion, but this only affects the lens on full frame cameras, not APS-C. Flare can be quite evident, but that’s par for the course with extreme wide lenses. An APS-C hood would help, but that’s not an option as the (full frame compatible) hood is built-in and this lens has no filter thread!
Build:
Solidly built, smooth focus ring with just a bit too much resistance, you can’t effortlessly slide the focus with a pinkie like on the old A and M series Pentax lenses with which I am familiar. Conversely, the aperture ring clicks with too little resistance, so it’s easy to overshoot the stop you meant. It’s a solid piece of metal and glass, however, and has that last-forever feeling that well-made lenses have.
That great big exposed bulb is a worry (dust magnet and much more likely to be scraped or knocked), and the permanent hood is of little comfort. The lens cap is huge and can’t be slipped into a small pocket like ordinary lens caps.
Use:
I have only owned the lens for a month and so far have used it for videomaking, landscapes, astrophotography and strange close ups and portraits - I'm having fun with it and getting to know it!
This lens is a great performer for astrophotography as it does not show coma aberration at maximum aperture, it makes a great landscape lens and I also use it with a $10 adapter on Canon APS-C cameras for video making, where it’s a great wide angle.
One of my early attempts at night sky photography and one of my first images with this lens, corrected for barrel distortion (5% in lightroom):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinthebarbarian/8278356039/in/photostream
Another early practice, taken on the first day I got the lens - The way that the lens resolves detail and deals with transitions between the sky and foreground objects is excellent.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinthebarbarian/8228466930/in/photostream
Also, because it’s wide angle, you can get away with missing focus slightly and the shot will look fine but for best quality you need to absolutely nail focus, and that is very hard. Everything is so tiny in the viewfinder, expect to have to work at it to get the best quality from your images – live view helps with this.
This lens is full frame compatible (so works with Pentax film cameras) and also works on even the older film bodies as it has a manual aperture ring, so I can use it on my k1000 too, which is a nice bonus.
Edit 21/10/2014:
After around two years ownership - I scratched it! That big exposed front element was living on borrowed time as soon as I took it out of the box. The scratch is around an inch long and only visible on the front element in certain lights and angles. It doesn't seem to affect the photographs though I haven't tried to get it to flare, but will have killed the resell value! Be very careful not to hit the front element, the hood is not sufficient to stop contact with the element.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2011 Posts: 134 | | Review Date: October 14, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpest ultra wide angle prime available for K mount ! | | Cons: | A little heavy, a lot of distortion | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 10
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Got the Vivitar version of this lens, and man is it sharp !
I can say without a doubt that it is the sharpest wide angle lens I have tried in K mount.
It's already quite sharp wide open, really sharp at F4, and razor sharp at F5.6 !
Its colour rendition is a bit warmer than the Pentax DA lenses I own, but I like it, and its bokeh is quite smooth for a UWA.
I always use hyperfocal except for close-up shots, so the lack of AF really isn't an issue. I've had to make markings on the lens barrel though as the distance scale is a bit approximative.
Distortion is quite apparent, but PTLens deals very well with it.
All in all a highly recommended lens for landscapes shooters !
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 40
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 6, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $320.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, good IQ overall, close ups, astro-good | | Cons: | Distortion, no filters, no autofocus | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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I am reviewing the Vivitar 12mm 2.8, which is pretty much the same as the Samyang 14mm 2.8 but the ring color is red instead of yellow and the focusing ring is different.
Sharpness - While it isn't at it's sharpest at it's widest aperture (2.8), it is still acceptable. It is very good at 3.5 and is very sharp at 5.6. Corners are noticeably bad though but becomes forgiving in apertures like 9.
Aberrations - Noticeable but most of it can be fixed through Lightroom. This lens has never ruined shots with its aberrations. Flares are well controlled when stopped down. Admittedly, it's a mess at 2.8. Colors are rendered pretty nice as well. Coma is very minimal and my stars always appear as points of light.
Bokeh - It's pretty good. It's just buttery, and it creates a nice separation in close up shots. It's surprisingly good at close-ups.
Handling - The grip on the focusing ring is good enough, just enough for that ultra wide depth of field. Only in Pentax will you see the A (automatic) in the aperture ring. The aperture ring is also good, but it doesn't always feel like it's there. Manual focusing is not as easy as they say. You'll still need to pay attention to what's in focus.
Value - This is pretty cheap and I'm very impressed with its performance. It's just impossible to feel buyer's remorse with this lens. It's got more bang than buck.
Distortion - The distortion is bad, we all know that, but it seems to alleviate perspective distortion on the edges. For example, correcting distortion made faces look pinched, warped, and etc.
Portraits: Once you've got the right distance, it works nicely. You'll get a pretty wide background. But yeah, this lens can do portraits.
Landscape: It does very well in this field. Have I mentioned how wide it is?
Architecture: The field of view allows you to fit tall buildings at a short distance. Distortion is not a problem if you're willing to use this to fix it.
Astrophotography: The main reason why I bought this lens. Absence of coma and a large aperture makes it built for astrophotography.
Visible lens flare from street lamps right of the picture.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7460033474_170ea99dd6_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7535059552_f2b8e94d37_b.jpg
You can do some tweaking (before the shot and after the shot) to avoid lens flare.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7460045004_bd1c28862b_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7245/7382664870_183b645f0e_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7096/7382759430_65c89306f1_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8026/7398343174_911842f4e0_b.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5119/7398346892_9c2a6504cd_b.jpg
OVERALL - It's a great lens when you're on a budget and when you seek a performing astro lens.
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2010 Posts: 11
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 12, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $289.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Phenomenal lens for the price! | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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Actually my lens is with Nikon mount and I use it via an adapter on full frame Canon 5D camera. So it does not support automatic diafragm as Pentax version. Overall this is a very good ultra-wide lens for the price. Well made, very solid construction, sharp from corner to corner, even on full format camera. Remember, this is all mechanical, manual focus lens, so there is no auto-focus and no diaphragm coupling with Canon cameras. Not a big deal for such an ultrawide lens. There is just one problem with this lens: the focusing distance scale on the lens is wrong and it does not have a depth of field scale, so you can't focus based on distance or use the hyperfocusing method. It's very easy to resolve these shortcomings. I made several test shots and found my lens will take sharp pictures from nearby distance to infinity when the distance scale is on 0.7 meters with aperture f8.0.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2010 Posts: 753
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 23, 2012 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | resolution, flare handling, colour rendition, A - lens | | Cons: | prohibits the use of filters, huge barrel distortion | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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A very good landscape lens besting perhaps all ultrawides I have tried (K18/3.5, DA16-45, Tamron SP 17/3.5 and K20/4)in resolution. It has quite nice colour rendition too. Since it is A-lens its use on Pentax is very convenient. Focusing is tricky, because lens has a huge focusing throw for an ultrawide....Live view may be handy, but it also has a huge depth of focus.
Overall I'm very positive about the lans but since I like to use ND filters for long exposure I decided to sell it eventually and look out for K20/4, a great lens too.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2009 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 3,757
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $379.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | incredible sharpness corner to corner, good microcontrast, bokeh (yes, bokeh), build, price | | Cons: | distortion, weight, no AF | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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I have been long looking for a UWA lens. I had two copies of the Sigma 10-20, which I returned. I wasn't satisfied with the border sharpness of the Sigma, and the two copies I tried had slight decentering. After examining hundreds of photos taken with all the UWA's available in K mount, I bought this one, which has exceeded my expectations. My impression confirms the enthusiastic reports on the various photo forums.
The Samyang 14mm is a pretty amazing lens, especially considering the price. Frankly, I didn't think a UWA could be so sharp. Much sharper in the corners than the two copies of Sigma 10-20 I tried, at any aperture.
A bit heavier than the Sigma. Nice build, but heavy--it can't compete with the DA 15mm in the "weight" department.
Distortion is apparent, but nothing I can't easily deal with in PP. I took the lens for a Fall photowalk, and the 5% distortion pointed out by the otherwise glowing Photozone review didn't seem very serious in practice. I needed to correct only 2 pics out of about 20, and the correction required only two clicks. But distortion is an aspect which those who don't like to shoot raw definitely need to consider.
Excellent flare resistance (see my shots against the sun in the threads linked to below).
Surprisingly nice bokeh, for the f2.8-f4 close-up shots.
I found the lens was easy to focus for normal UWA scenes. You don't need to look through the viewfinder--except, of course, at larger apertures--; a rough (educated) idea of the appropriate focusing distance will do in 99% of the situations.
For a couple of test shots taken wide open, take a look HERE. My Rokinon 14mm Fall set is HERE. Another set with many UWA shots by Roki 14mm, HERE.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2008 Location: Hawkesbury Posts: 1,896
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 8, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $280.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price, performance and reasonable handling | | Cons: | Lack of filter facility, not able to focus close up. | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 10
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The Samyang 14mm F2.8 is yet another great lens to go with their series of large aperture, high quality, manual focus primes.
The lens is not rectilinear, showing noticeable barrel distortion with straight edges, but it is by no means a fish-eye design either. Making such a wide rectilinear lens is of dubious value anyway and the linear distortion of this lens is nice and even and may be correctable in PP. The barrel distortion is actually useful just to remind the viewer that they are looking at an image covering over 90° from corner to corner.
The obvious lens to compare the Samyang with is the Pentax DA14. Each has it's strengths and if the price of the Pentax (currently about 3x) is not an obstacle to acquisition, then it would be a difficult choice.
The Samyang achieves better sharpness at large apertures.
The Pentax is generally superior at smaller apertures.
The Pentax will focus extremely close and has autofocus with the manual override focus clutch (not that auto focus is really a big selling point at this focal length).
The Samyang has a significantly longer minimum focus distance (possibly its single worst feature)
The Pentax is closer to being rectilinear although it does show some unusual distortions towards the corners.
The Samyang is "full-frame" making it a super-wide-angle lens for film users.
Both lenses have good colour reproduction although the Pentax gives a bit more punch when stopped down and the Samyang has slightly better contrast when wide open.
Both lenses are reasonably solidly made but the front element of the Samyang would be more vulnerable to scratching, particularly since you can't add a protective filter.
Both lenses are reasonably bulky. In particular the Samyang can not have its hood removed and even its 35mm deep lens cap won't just slide into your pocket.
The long-throw focus ring on the Samyang is probably a little excessive. You need to shift your grip at least once to go from infinity to minimum focus. The focus ring feels nice and solid and is lightly damped.
Overall, it is great to see a quality and affordable alternative for the wide-angle Pentax shooter. Neither lens is perfect, but hopefully having competition will see an improvement in this segment of the market.
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