Samyang is a manufacture that produces high quality inexpensive lenses. One of their new lens they have produce was the Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 ultra wide angle prime lens for Sony and their second lens to feature Auto Focus which is only $974 AUD. This lens has a great build quality, it is smaller than the MF version and lighter. Having it mounted on my Sony a7 cameras and the a6500 it is nice and compact, also feels well balanced in your hands.
The focus ring is smooth and has a bit of resistance. The 14mm comes with a permanently attached petal lens hood which you won’t be able to use any screw on ND filters to use with it, but Nisi filters do cater for ND filter holders for the 14mm. Here is my amazon affiliate links below with the filter and filter holder.
http://amzn.to/2oSjXKp – NiSi 150mm Aluminum Square Filter Holder for Samyang 14mm Lens
http://amzn.to/2qe3Iey – NiSi 150X150mm Square ND Filter, AR ND1000(3.0), ND10 Stops
With the Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF it does have a bit of distortion which is to be expected with any ultra wide angle lens, but it can be fixed in lightroom coming close to perfect. Here is a sample image:
Samyang 14mm f2.8 without lens correction
Samyang 14mm f2.8 with lens corrections
This lens produces sharp images even wide open. Shooting wide open the edges are sharp but not as sharp as the centre. I did find shooting between f8-f16 the images are really sharp through out.
The 14mm has a minimum focus distance of 20cm, which you can get up real close to your subject and producing some nice seperation between your subject and background.
This was captured with Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 100, f2.8 Shutter 1/30. I just love the bokeh and separation this lens gives when shooting close up.
Samyang has done it again with their AF lenses. The 14mm providing a fast and accurate auto focus without any delays or hunting. Like the 50mm you can use eye AF and tracking with the 14mm and works really well but 14mm isn’t a lens I would use for close up portraits due to been a ultra wide angle lens that will cause distortion to the model been really up close. For landscape style portraits this would be a great lens, you just have to work out the best distance and angle to avoid strong distortion on the person you are photographing. I have also tested the AF for video and I got to say I found the AF to be fast and smooth without any hunting. I am also working on a video review where I will show the AF for video so keep an eye on my youtube channel for that review.
This is an image of my daughter i captured using the samyang 14mm. As you can see with the distance and angle i was shooting my daughter doesn’t show any signs of heavy distortion.
Sony a7rii + samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 100, f2.8, shutter 1/30
Using this lens for the past month I have not noticed any CA in any of my images.
The 14mm is a great lens for a variety of things to shoot. One thing I love using this lens for is architectural shots. Below are some more sample architectural images captured with this lens.
Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 100, f11, shutter 30 seconds. With this image I did not use lens correction.
Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 1250, f4.5, shutter 1/250
Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 100, f11, shutter 1/30
Here are some sample shots of some landscapes I have captured using this lens
Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 50, f22, shutter 20 seconds
Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 100, f2.8, shutter 1/2000
Sony a7rii + Samyang 14mm f2.8 AF ISO 100, f2.8, shutter 1/1000
Conclusion:
The samyang 14mm f2.8 Autofocus lens is something I would strongly recommend especially for capturing a variety of styles such as landscapes, architectural shots, astrophotography and more. I haven’t gotten a chance to do some astrophotography yet due to only starting to get into season but i will be out with this lens to capture some shots. I just love how well the AF performs on this lens and even with the distortion it is very bearable as you can see with my architectural shots and can always be corrected in lightroom or photoshop. Samyang continues to provide lens that produce amazing sharp images and now providing AF to 2 of it’s lenses. The 14mm AF is one of my most used and favourite lenses for landscapes and architectural photography, I have not put down this lens ever since i received it.
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