2016
Samyang 12 f2 - Well worth the price
Alright, this modern Korean lens is not vintage at all, but it is a manual focus lens, so it's somewhat in keeping with the purpose of this site. It's also probably the most affordable ultra wide angle offering for the Nex-mount and could be successfully used on a high megapixel full-frame A7-series camera in APS-C mode (giving an 18mm-equivalent focal length).
The Samyang 12mm F2 NCS CS specs:
Build Quality/Handling (Good enough/Good)
The lens is mostly plastic but it's rather well put together and feels solid enough. Of course, it's nowhere near the quality of old lenses, even Canon FDns (which are not known for their solid build). However, the aperture ring is actually very nice with well-defined, precise clicks. The focusing action isn't great on my copy, though. It's pretty stiff compared to most of my old lenses.
The Samyang is a great fit for the Sony a6000 - it's small, it's light, it's just the right size and weight. It balances well on the camera and the two make a compact package that's easy to bring anywhere.
Image Quality (Very good)
This lens has (mostly) great image quality. Let's start with sharpness.
The Samyang 12mm F2 NCS CS specs:
- 12 elements in 10 groups (3 ED, 2 aspherical)
- Weight - 245 grams
- Length - 59.1 mm
- Filter size - 67 mm
- Min. focus distance - 0.2 m
- Aperture - 6 blades, f2 to f22 in half-stops
Build Quality/Handling (Good enough/Good)
The lens is mostly plastic but it's rather well put together and feels solid enough. Of course, it's nowhere near the quality of old lenses, even Canon FDns (which are not known for their solid build). However, the aperture ring is actually very nice with well-defined, precise clicks. The focusing action isn't great on my copy, though. It's pretty stiff compared to most of my old lenses.
The Samyang is a great fit for the Sony a6000 - it's small, it's light, it's just the right size and weight. It balances well on the camera and the two make a compact package that's easy to bring anywhere.
Image Quality (Very good)
This lens has (mostly) great image quality. Let's start with sharpness.
100% centre crops. From top left to bottom right: f2 - f2.8 - f4 - f5.6
100% corner crops: f2 - f2.8 - f4 - f5.6
f2/ISO 100
100% crop
f5.6/ISO 100
100% crop
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f2/ISO 100
100% crop
f5.6/ISO 100
100% crop
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This lens is sharp! In fact, it's almost as sharp wide open as it is stopped down (with the exception of extreme corners). One problem, however, is that my copy focuses just slightly past infinity, which can sometimes result in missed focus. I know now that I need to move the ring back just a little from where the lens tells me infinity is. Otherwise, the lens performs wonderfully on the 24 megapixel sensor.
Bokeh isn't really something that appears often when shooting with something this wide. But the relatively fast aperture combined with the very close minimum focus distance (only 20 cm) make it possible to get some blur in the background. When it's there, it's not bad looking either.
Bokeh isn't really something that appears often when shooting with something this wide. But the relatively fast aperture combined with the very close minimum focus distance (only 20 cm) make it possible to get some blur in the background. When it's there, it's not bad looking either.
Which brings us to flare. The NCS in the lens name stands for "Nano Coating System" which, according to Samyang, reduces flare, ghosting, and internal reflections, thus maximizing contrast. As can be seen above and below, the lens can flare up spectacularly when pointed at a direct light source. The contrast always remains high, though, so the coating seems to be doing a great job as far as that goes. Ghosting is another story, but I'm not sure whether it's even possible to avoid it on a lens this wide. It's worth noting that the Samyang is shipped with a lens hood which I never use, but probably should.
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There's slight barrel distortion visible in some situations, but it should be easy to correct (unlike the moustache distortion of my FDn 24 f2.8). None of the photos in this review have been corrected.
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I love the sharpness, contrast, and colours coming from this lens. There's one let down though - chromatic abberation seen as purple fringing. It can appear often and at all apertures. Lightroom generally deals with it quite well, so it's not a huge problem.
f8/ISO 100
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100% crop
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Conclusion
CA aside, I really like this lens - it's well-priced, and performs great. Other reviewers have compared it favourably to Zeiss offerings and other much more expensive ultra wides. For the price, there's nothing that comes close to this performance on APS-C E-mount.
What I might like most about this lens is the combination of focal length and aperture. 18mm is really much more versatile than I anticipated. I love using it for
CA aside, I really like this lens - it's well-priced, and performs great. Other reviewers have compared it favourably to Zeiss offerings and other much more expensive ultra wides. For the price, there's nothing that comes close to this performance on APS-C E-mount.
What I might like most about this lens is the combination of focal length and aperture. 18mm is really much more versatile than I anticipated. I love using it for
- Landscapes (obviously!)
- Architecture (exteriors)
- Architecture (interiors)
- Street shots
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- Hand-held slow shutter shots
- Long exposures
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- Night sky shots (f2 helps)
- Abstracts
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I use the Samyang 12/2 a lot. It's a great travel lens due to its weight, size, excellent image quality, and a useful focal length. Highly recommended!
A video shot with the lens is on its way, too, and I will add it to motion studies soon. Also, check out my Moscow Metro photo series shot entirely with this lens.
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Sample Images
A video shot with the lens is on its way, too, and I will add it to motion studies soon. Also, check out my Moscow Metro photo series shot entirely with this lens.
Related reviews
Sample Images
