In summary
If you can live with the inherent distortion and the lack of autofocusing, the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens provides by far the cheapest way to get a really wide-angle lens that can produce sharp images. It’s roughly 1/5 of the price of Canon and Nikon 14mm f/2.8 lenses and roughly one third of the price of Sony’s closest equivalent: a 16mm f/2.8 that sells for AU$1299.
Usable for landscape shots and taking pictures in cramped situations, this lens could also be suitable for shooting portraits of large groups of people, where the inherent distortion can be worked around by aligning the subjects with the centre of the frame. Finally, on the creative side, the distortion alone presents plenty of possibilities for creative shot composition.
Full review
Although it can be used on both ‘full frame’ and APS-C DSLRs, Samyang’s 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC lens is best suited to ‘full frame’ DSLRs, where it covers a maximum angle of view equal to 115.7 degrees and can focus down to 0.28 meters (28 cm). On an APS-C camera, its coverage is equivalent to a 21mm lens for most cameras or 22.4mm with Canon DSLRs. Wide-angle zooms with autofocusing can cover the same (or wider) angles of view on cropped-sensor cameras, making the manual focus Samsung 14mm lens seem less attractive in many respects.
Side view of the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC lens with the supplied lens hood fitted. (Source: Samyang.)
The optical design of this lens is quite sophisticated, with 14 lens elements arranged in 10 groups. It includes two aspherical lens elements (one of them a hybrid element) and three elements with a high refractive index. All elements have been coated with anti-reflective UMC coatings to suppress internal reflections that cause flare and ghosting.
Versions of this lens are available with mounts to suit DSLRs from Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony A and also with mounts for Four Thirds and Samsung NX CSCs.
All versions only support manual focusing. The version with the Nikon F mount is said to be fitted with electronic contacts that allow users to control exposure parameters from the camera level and take full advantage of the benefits provided by the i-TTl flash system. Data that can be shared include the range of available apertures, focal length and focus confirmation.
The review lens was supplied with a Canon EF mount, which lacks the electronic contacts that enable the camera to ‘read’ the lens parameters so it can’t record Exif metadata. The petal-shaped lens hood was permanently attached and the lens cap fits over it. Like the cap for Samyang’s 8mm fisheye lens, it’s too big to slip easily into anything smaller than a large jacket pocket.
We tested the lens on an EOS 5D Mark II body, which automatically adjusted the shutter speed when the lens aperture was changed in both the Av and P shooting modes. There was little point in testing it on the EOS 7D body.
Who’s it for?
Purchasers of this lens will usually be cash-strapped amateur and professional photographers who have enough knowledge to work with its limitations: manual focus, no stabilisation and noticeable barrel distortion. They are also likely to own ‘full frame’ DSLR cameras.
Manual focusing isn’t a serious issue with 14mm ultra-wide lenses since most things beyond about a metre should appear sharp, regardless of the focus setting. Stabilisation is also largely irrelevant with such a wide angle of view. Severe barrel distortion is one of the sought-after features in lenses with this focal length.
Build and Ergonomics
Like other Samyang lenses, the 14mm f/2.8 lens is manufactured from a combination of metal and polycarbonate plastic, with a solid metal mounting plate. Build quality is excellent for the very affordable price.
Angled view of the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC lens, showing the metal mounting plate. (Source: Samyang.)
The aperture ring, which is close to the camera body, appears to be made of solid plastic and has very positive click stops, mostly at 1/2EV steps, with a full step between f/2.8 and f/4. The front element of the lens bulges outwards, making it impossible to fit filters. This is normal for fisheye lenses.
The focusing ring is located between the aperture ring and the trailing edge of the lens hood. It’s about 35 mm wide and carries a 20 mm wide double band of ridged rubber that is comfortable to hold. This ring turns smoothly and is well damped, making manual focusing relatively easy.
Stamped in white on the trailing edge of the focusing ring are distance settings that range from 0.28 metres to infinity. Equivalent distances in feet, starting at one foot are marked in orange just in front of them. The physical length of the lens remains constant at all distance settings and doesn’t change at all when apertures are adjusted.
The best way to use this lens is to open the lens aperture fully and focus upon the subject. Focusing should be relatively easy since the huge depth of field of the lens will mean most subjects a metre or more from the lens will be sharp, regardless of the aperture selected.
For closer subjects, it’s easy to estimate the camera-to-subject distance and select the correct focus setting. When in doubt, you can use the live view mode for fine-tuning image sharpness. Once the image is sharp, you can stop down to the desired aperture.
We found the focusing scale extended well beyond what would normally be considered as infinity (and there was no hard stop at infinity focus). If you set the lens to correspond with the marked infinity position, shots are likely to be unsharp. The optimal distance setting for subjects more than about five metres from the lens appears to be two to three metres, particularly when wide aperture settings are used.
Performance
Our Imatest tests showed the lens to be capable of meeting expectations for the EOS 5D Mark II’s sensor ““ although only near the centre of the frame. Edge softening was substantial, although nowhere near as great as we found with the 8mm Samyang fisheye. The graph below shows the results of our tests.
Subjective assessments of test shots confirmed our Imatest findings. When subjects were sharply focused they were detailed and finely resolved, as shown in the enlargement from a shot provided in the Samples section below.
Although we expected to see coloured fringing along sharp contrast transitions, our test shots were free of this problem, which is unusual for an ultra-wide lens. Imatest confirmed that lateral chromatic aberration was remarkably low and unlikely to trouble potential users. The results of our Imatest tests are shown below, with the red line separating the negligible and low CA bands.
Distortion will be an issue for some potential users, mainly because it is moustache-shaped distortion, which combines barrel distortion at the centre of the frame with a change towards pincushion distortion towards the edges. This type of distortion is difficult (or even impossible) to correct.
It’s less of a problem for landscape photography but limits the potential for this lens to be used for photographing subjects consisting mainly of straight lines, as would occur in architectural photography. Stopping the lens down has no effect on rectilinear distortions.
Vignetting was also fairly strong at wider apertures, but largely resolved by about f/5.6. This, too, is an inherent characteristic of ultra-wide angle lenses but is relatively easy to correct in post-production. Bokeh tended to be choppy and it was difficult to obtain truly out-of-focus backgrounds, even at the widest aperture, with this type of lens.
Conclusion
If you can live with the inherent distortion and the lack of autofocusing, the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens provides by far the cheapest way to get a really wide-angle lens that can produce sharp images. It’s roughly 1/5 of the price of Canon and Nikon 14mm f/2.8 lenses and roughly one third of the price of Sony’s closest equivalent: a 16mm f/2.8 that sells for AU$1299.
Usable for landscape shots and taking pictures in cramped situations, this lens could also be suitable for shooting portraits of large groups of people, where the inherent distortion can be worked around by aligning the subjects with the centre of the frame. Finally, on the creative side, the distortion alone presents plenty of possibilities for creative shot composition.
ADDENDUM
A new version of this lens has recently been released for the Canon EF mount to match the capabilities offered by the Nikon mount lens. The latest version includes electronic contacts that allow users to control exposure parameters from the camera and take full advantage of the benefits provided by the camera’s E-TTL flash system. Data that can be shared include the range of available apertures, focal length and focus confirmation.
This addition does not affect the performance of the lens but makes it more convenient for users because lens aperture and flash settings can be controlled from the camera in addition to the normal shutter speed adjustments. Local distributor, Maxxum Pty Ltd, supplied a sample lens for re-testing but we found any differences in performance between it and the previously-tested lens were effectively negligible. Consequently, there was no point in publishing a complete review.
SPECS
Picture angle: 115.7 degrees
Minimum aperture: f/22
Lens construction: 14 elements in 10 groups (including 2 aspherical, 2 ED and 3 HR lens elements)
Lens mounts: Canon EF, Four Thirds, Nikon F, Pentax, Samsung NX, Sony A
Diaphragm Blades: 6
Focus drive: Manual focus only
Minimum focus: 28 cm
Filter size: n.a.
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 96.1 x 87 mm (for Canon EF)
Weight: 552 grams (for Canon EF)
Standard Accessories: Front and end caps and soft carrying pouch
TESTS
Based upon JPEG files taken with the EOS 5D Mark II camera.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at f/2.8.
Rectilinear distortion.
ISO 200, 1/125 second at f/8.
ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/11.
Close-up; ISO 400, 1/100 second at f/2.8.
ISO 200, 1/30 second at f/5.6.
ISO 800, 1/10 second at f/5.6.
Crop from the centre of the image above, enlarged to 100% to show centre-of-frame sharpness.
ISO 400, 1/25 second at f/8.
ISO 800, 1/20 second at f/8.
ISO 1600, 1/6 second at f/5.6.
ISO 800, 1/2 second at f/8. (The camera was steadied by resting it on a railing.)
ISO 200, 1/25 second at f/11.
Rating
RRP: AU$549; US$379
- Build: 8.8
- Handling: 8.5
- Image quality: 8.8
- Versatility: 8.0