Samyang/Rokinon is the same lens only with different name (Rokinon in US and Samyang in Europe). I bought that Samyang 14mm f/2.8 for photographing Northern Lights and it's great. I also use it for landscape and I though it would be difficult since it's a manual lens, but it's very easy to use as long that you know about DOF and hyperfocal distance. At my 1,5x crop Nikon i manual focus at 1 meter at f/11 and everything from around 45cm and to infinity is in focus. It have a some distortion, but there is lens correction on web for use in LR so it's not a problem.
Heres my hands on review with the popular Rokinon 14mm 2.8 lens! Been wanting to make this for awhile! #photography ruclips.net/video/-z7iQiQzGVo/видео.html
Thank You Eric. Just got mine today. Had the issue with the error message...aperture that is. Let me go and fix it... Now that I watched your video. Nice review.
Thanks for a clear and concise review on this lens - I needed a lens that could get the job done but prices on the brand named lenses are ridiculous! I had a lot of questions and you've answered them one by one. Thanks for your knowledge. Peace.
The pins for the focus beep are only on the Nikon, for some reason they don't do Canon with a beep. I know you know, but I don't think you mentioned that on a crop sensor it gives the same width as a 22mm on a full frame. Personally I like the long throw to give me more accurate focusing, but I'm the sort that would struggle with fine focussing on anything less and end up getting frustrated.
I've heard of this lens before but now I'll give it another look. You're right, most hobbyists and some pros can't justify the cost of the Nikon 14-24 no matter what accounting they use. I'm also trying to keep up with the 15-30 2.8 VC that Tamron just announced.
Thanks for the review, I cannot decide between this and the Tokina 16-28 at 1 3/4 times more in price. Both are bulky and I have a nice small 20mm already. The fstop ring, I really like, would work with my Nikon Df and I have a Tokina 11-16 for my D300s, they make some great lenses too. This lens stopped down some would have almost everything in focus so the manual focus it no big deal. I wish it had the focus scale on it however since zone focusing would be very easy.
+Eric Rossi B&H has it for $239 used, $320 new! Your right about it being a very good value..... I went ahead with the used one with a 90 day warranty, 30 day return...
The fisheye look is terrible in my opinion. I would never use a fisheye for any kind of photography. So keep that in mind, yes its wider but its terrible fisheye distortion.
I found a lens correction profile to add to LightRoom and it takes care of the distortion issues quite well trying it out on a downloaded jpeg shot with the lens, since I do not have my lens yet.
Hey Eric! Quick question, I know you said this lens is compatible for both crop sensor and full frame. But I want to know if it's DESIGNED for crop sensor or full frame. Was is it mainly made for?? Thanks in advance.
+sergio clavel Yes it is designed for FX mainly so it will easily work with both! I'd say its for someone who likes landscapes, wide angles in general or real estate type photography
I know this is an older video and I am wondering if you would still recommend this lens on a D500 to try Astrophotography? Does it vignette on APSC. Also would one need to get it with AE chip if they are just using it for nigh photography? Thanks great review!
Hi Eric, thank you for your insight into this lens. Quick question though. I was a bit confused when you were talking about putting the aperture on 22. Do you leave it on 22 all the time, or just when you mount to the camera? It sounded like you said it was a constant 2.8 anyway, but I may have misunderstood.
Great question Paul. So when you have a lens that has an aperture ring. For your camera to be able to read the lens and light meter properly it needs to be on that lenses highest aperture at all times. Now don't think that means when you photograph you are stuck at that aperture always. That just allows the camera to use the lens properly. So you set it and forget it essentially and use the camera like you normally would.
Hi Eric. Thanks for the great reviews. I just bought the Rokinon FE14M-C from Amazon. You mentioned that the one you have is not the cinema version. What is the difference between the regular version and the -C version?
Can you actually adjust the aperture when using this lens? I have a Nikon d3200 and thanks to your video I was able to see that you have to leave it locked in at f/22. Does the lens not change aperture then, or can you change it in the camera's settings? Thanks a bunch!
+Kyle Boulanger Great question! So with this lens you have to set it physcially on the lens to be f/22 so the camera will register the max it can go and let you use it. But besides that it means NOTHING to what you are able to do. You control the aperture through your camera, not on the lens.
Not really because of how its bulb like. Actually like most wide angles with that shape. The easiest thing is to get a lee type or square filter and either rubber band or hold it in front. But there is no screw mount.
Thank you, I'm waiting mine (arrive on friday) for my a7rii, for sony it only has the annoying extention tube making it bigger but there are no so many other option...
I'm not to versed with Sony, but in a quick search it looks like they make them for Sony Alpha mounts. does that sound familiar? So my guess is yes and its like 300 bucks
Nice review! Im between Rokinon 10mm 2.8(for crop sensors) and Rokinon 14mm 2.8(for full frame). Which one do you suggest for Nikon crop sensors? Which one is the sharpest?
Eric Rossi Ok thank for your reply Eric. I suppose i must sacrifice the extra field of view (15mm on crop) for better image quality overall. I hope im making the right choice!!!
Eric Rossi if you still have this lens I'd be very grateful if you could measure it with a ruler in mm as I want to do a diy mod I did that worked with a similar other wide angle but element lens with fixed petal lens hood (Olympus 7-14mm f2.8 pro for m43) like this Rokinon one for full frame where I purchased a cheap larger separate lens hood on eBay that is slightly larger than the diameter of the petal lens' diameter that fits snuggly around it and screw in a circular variable ND filter into the filter thread of the secondary eBay lens hood..
I just recently bought Rokinon 14 mm T3.1 lens. Is vignetting a normal thing in that lens or I have got a broken lens? It looks really unprofessional with vignetting. I am using this lens with Sony A7s. Please help me.
Does this lens stop down if you put it at f/22? Will I be able to see anything through the viewfinder at this aperture??? Can't I leave it at f/2.8 and let the body stop it down... I have a Nikon D750.
+Anton Slegers yup. So you need to put it to f/22 on the lens itself for it to work on your d750. Put once you set it, you can forget it. You can use your aperture as normal from f/2.8-22. The camera just needs to see that setting on the lens for it to work properly.
+Eric Rossi Thanks but you didn't answer my question about the viewfinder. If I put it on f/22 I know I'll be able to control everything from the body aperture dial. My question is will the image through the viewfinder be almost black because it's at f/22 or will the body open up the aperture to f/2.8 as soon as you turn the camera on?
Looks like a nice lens for the price. Manual focus is a pain on modern DSLRs because there is no real focus aid in the viewfinder like old manual focus film SLRs had. The mirrorless cameras would be good with it if they have focus peek and the outlining. By the way, 28 centimetres is 11.02 inches, not 3 inches.
You don't really need to focus a 14mm on full frame. Just tape it at infinity. I bought mine for 295 then added a $7 focus confirm chip strip and some glue.
Unfortunately when I looked for that chip, there were too many to choose from on ebay....and gluing..(what kind)..? scared me to death! And they all came from Ukraine or those countries.....Adorama has a chipped flange that seemingly could replace the current one...but the fellow wasn't sure about what or how or IF it would work.....PS: I have a canon SL1
Cool video....but let's say it's on a dx camera would you say value for money the tokina 11-16 mm is the better buy and it auto focus. ...The lens you review is really just for full frame
Yeah thats a good and common question I forgot to put in. Honestly its just a very similar and tight range. So its almost pick your poison. The issue is with the tokina you cant really use this on fx if you move up later.
How is the camera going to know since this lens is manual focus, no motor, therefore no communication with the camera? And the photos you took with that lens? 🤔🤔
Samyang/Rokinon is the same lens only with different name (Rokinon in US and Samyang in Europe).
I bought that Samyang 14mm f/2.8 for photographing Northern Lights and it's great. I also use it for landscape and I though it would be difficult since it's a manual lens, but it's very easy to use as long that you know about DOF and hyperfocal distance. At my 1,5x crop Nikon i manual focus at 1 meter at f/11 and everything from around 45cm and to infinity is in focus. It have a some distortion, but there is lens correction on web for use in LR so it's not a problem.
Heres my hands on review with the popular Rokinon 14mm 2.8 lens! Been wanting to make this for awhile! #photography
ruclips.net/video/-z7iQiQzGVo/видео.html
Thank You Eric. Just got mine today. Had the issue with the error message...aperture that is. Let me go and fix it... Now that I watched your video. Nice review.
Got mine yesterday and so far it seems fantastic on Sony A7 iii. Heading out today to test it out properly!
Thanks for a clear and concise review on this lens - I needed a lens that could get the job done but prices on the brand named lenses are ridiculous! I had a lot of questions and you've answered them one by one. Thanks for your knowledge. Peace.
now there are more alternatives - irix 15mm f/2.4, laowa 15mm f/2 (pricey), yongnuo autofocus 15mm f/2.8, samyang 14mm f/2.4 sp (pricey)
The pins for the focus beep are only on the Nikon, for some reason they don't do Canon with a beep. I know you know, but I don't think you mentioned that on a crop sensor it gives the same width as a 22mm on a full frame. Personally I like the long throw to give me more accurate focusing, but I'm the sort that would struggle with fine focussing on anything less and end up getting frustrated.
I recently purchased this for my t5. Did a ton of research and interviews beforehand and everyone seems to love it. Can't wait to use it!!!!
congrats!
Thank you. You covered a lot of essential points. Appreciate it....
Thank you!
I've heard of this lens before but now I'll give it another look. You're right, most hobbyists and some pros can't justify the cost of the Nikon 14-24 no matter what accounting they use. I'm also trying to keep up with the 15-30 2.8 VC that Tamron just announced.
I'm very interested in seeing that lens
Real good review man... You seem very knowledgeable. Keep up the great work.
Thank you very much, just sharing what I know. Really appreciate it.
I have a canon mount version and love it.... There are lens correction profiles you can load into LR to correct the mustache distortion this lens has.
but it doesnt distort that bad either way
Thanks for the review, I cannot decide between this and the Tokina 16-28 at 1 3/4 times more in price. Both are bulky and I have a nice small 20mm already. The fstop ring, I really like, would work with my Nikon Df and I have a Tokina 11-16 for my D300s, they make some great lenses too. This lens stopped down some would have almost everything in focus so the manual focus it no big deal. I wish it had the focus scale on it however since zone focusing would be very easy.
+Larry L if you dont care about autofocus, this lens is a steal for the price. But if you want autofocus, this lens does not offer it.
+Eric Rossi B&H has it for $239 used, $320 new! Your right about it being a very good value..... I went ahead with the used one with a 90 day warranty, 30 day return...
Thanks for this review. I almost spent a fortune on a Canon product. Looking forward to my first jump into astrophotography with this lens.
Ed Douglas of course! For the price, this is really hard to beat lol
I just purchased this for my t2i. Thanks man
Britt Douglas congrats you'll enjoy it!
Thanks so much, I will probably get the 8mm fisheye which would be like a 12mm instead, what do you think of the 8mm Rokinon fisheye? Thanks.
The fisheye look is terrible in my opinion. I would never use a fisheye for any kind of photography. So keep that in mind, yes its wider but its terrible fisheye distortion.
Love this lens for astrophotography
Love how it distorts with the sky
I found a lens correction profile to add to LightRoom and it takes care of the distortion issues quite well trying it out on a downloaded jpeg shot with the lens, since I do not have my lens yet.
You don't need anything special. Any updated Lightroom will have the lens correction for this
Hey Eric! Quick question, I know you said this lens is compatible for both crop sensor and full frame. But I want to know if it's DESIGNED for crop sensor or full frame. Was is it mainly made for?? Thanks in advance.
+sergio clavel Yes it is designed for FX mainly so it will easily work with both! I'd say its for someone who likes landscapes, wide angles in general or real estate type photography
I know this is an older video and I am wondering if you would still recommend this lens on a D500 to try Astrophotography? Does it vignette on APSC. Also would one need to get it with AE chip if they are just using it for nigh photography? Thanks great review!
2.8 does vignette a little but with editing its simple to fix. I would def still recommend this lens!
Hi Eric, thank you for your insight into this lens. Quick question though. I was a bit confused when you were talking about putting the aperture on 22. Do you leave it on 22 all the time, or just when you mount to the camera? It sounded like you said it was a constant 2.8 anyway, but I may have misunderstood.
Great question Paul. So when you have a lens that has an aperture ring. For your camera to be able to read the lens and light meter properly it needs to be on that lenses highest aperture at all times. Now don't think that means when you photograph you are stuck at that aperture always. That just allows the camera to use the lens properly. So you set it and forget it essentially and use the camera like you normally would.
Hi Eric. Thanks for the great reviews. I just bought the Rokinon FE14M-C from Amazon. You mentioned that the one you have is not the cinema version. What is the difference between the regular version and the -C version?
Mainly it reads in T-stops and has a de clicked aperture ring if you need to change things during video without interruption.
Can you actually adjust the aperture when using this lens? I have a Nikon d3200 and thanks to your video I was able to see that you have to leave it locked in at f/22. Does the lens not change aperture then, or can you change it in the camera's settings? Thanks a bunch!
+Kyle Boulanger Great question! So with this lens you have to set it physcially on the lens to be f/22 so the camera will register the max it can go and let you use it. But besides that it means NOTHING to what you are able to do. You control the aperture through your camera, not on the lens.
is there any pin cushing or maybe its called fish eye type effect while using the lens?
Nope, its fish eye free!
My question is if this 14mm lens will become a 21mm on my Nikon D7000? Thanks for your help.
That is correct, because of the 1.5 times crop factor for Nikon dx cameras.
I did not catch what to use for ND, etc. filters. Will the lens support a filter system of some sort?
Not really because of how its bulb like. Actually like most wide angles with that shape. The easiest thing is to get a lee type or square filter and either rubber band or hold it in front. But there is no screw mount.
Thank you, I'm waiting mine (arrive on friday) for my a7rii, for sony it only has the annoying extention tube making it bigger but there are no so many other option...
I'm not sure it will be that great on a full frame sensor, since its a crop lens, but if you shoot in crop you should be good
No, this one is a ff, the one for a crop is the 12 f2.
Correct, sorry was thinking of a different cine lens. Yeah great choice.
Do you know if they make the "cine" version - 14mm T3.1 Cine Wide that mounts directly to sony A7?
I'm not to versed with Sony, but in a quick search it looks like they make them for Sony Alpha mounts. does that sound familiar? So my guess is yes and its like 300 bucks
is this lens relevant if you want to take wides of couples, showcasing a building or field etc? to print big prints!
its ok, itll render well but blowing up to huge prints not sure.
Nobody sells it in the Netherlands :( do you know a cheaper selling point?
Nice review! Im between Rokinon 10mm 2.8(for crop sensors) and Rokinon 14mm 2.8(for full frame). Which one do you suggest for Nikon crop sensors? Which one is the sharpest?
14mm no question
Eric Rossi Ok thank for your reply Eric. I suppose i must sacrifice the extra field of view (15mm on crop) for better image quality overall. I hope im making the right choice!!!
The reason the throw is long is they kept cine in mind. You want to have as much precision as possible.
It is possible to set up in camera menu to use aperture ring.
Sadly no
In D7000 menu f6 aperture ring.
awesome review eric thanks man
Pokéflirt Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
Hi, to shoot the milky way which is better between Samyang 14mm F2.8 and 12mm F2? I'll use it on Sony a6300. Thank you!
either are great options, no real deal breaker there!
Hey .. great video.. Do´s it work with a Nikon D3400 camera ?
yes it will
oki thx
do you think the tamron 15-30 would be in the same price range as this? If not, i'm not waiting =)
No not even close. I have an entire video talking about the Tamron
*****
oh okay thanks! will check that out too but i probably won't have the budget for it~
Is there any big differences between the 14mm and the 12mm f2.8, regarding quality of image?
from what I know, the 14mm is sharper wide open at 2.8
I am seeing many people on youtube complaining about huge barrel distortion of this lens. What's your experience with this?
If you're buying the lens, for its price, I wouldnt worry about it. Its fine for what it is
thanks for your video- may I ask what the diameter of the lens hood is please? Thank you
not sure, its a bulb element, so no screw on filters will work for something like this
Eric Rossi if you still have this lens I'd be very grateful if you could measure it with a ruler in mm as I want to do a diy mod I did that worked with a similar other wide angle but element lens with fixed petal lens hood (Olympus 7-14mm f2.8 pro for m43) like this Rokinon one for full frame where I purchased a cheap larger separate lens hood on eBay that is slightly larger than the diameter of the petal lens' diameter that fits snuggly around it and screw in a circular variable ND filter into the filter thread of the secondary eBay lens hood..
I dont unfortunately, I've sold this years ago. Still a great lens though for the price!
Eric Rossi ok thanks
Is it worth paying an extra 100 for the chip version
I own this amazing lens.So small.Im using for real estate photos!
for the price, its a steal!
thank you the great video review of this lens.
I just recently bought Rokinon 14 mm T3.1 lens. Is vignetting a normal thing in that lens or I have got a broken lens? It looks really unprofessional with vignetting. I am using this lens with Sony A7s. Please help me.
Interesting, I havent heard of any of these lenses giving vignetting.
will af confirmation work with the ae chip?
It does but it doesn't autofocus
Will this work on a blackmagic camera
yup, as long as it has the ef mount, canon!
is the image covarage affected in full frame mode ?
razva001 Nope! It's a full frame lens actually
Can rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 work in my Nikon D750?
yes just make sure to get the nikon mount version
Does this lens stop down if you put it at f/22? Will I be able to see anything through the viewfinder at this aperture???
Can't I leave it at f/2.8 and let the body stop it down... I have a Nikon D750.
+Anton Slegers yup. So you need to put it to f/22 on the lens itself for it to work on your d750. Put once you set it, you can forget it. You can use your aperture as normal from f/2.8-22. The camera just needs to see that setting on the lens for it to work properly.
+Eric Rossi Thanks but you didn't answer my question about the viewfinder. If I put it on f/22 I know I'll be able to control everything from the body aperture dial. My question is will the image through the viewfinder be almost black because it's at f/22 or will the body open up the aperture to f/2.8 as soon as you turn the camera on?
it acts as a normal lens, nothing effects the viewfinder. You are good.
+Eric Rossi Thank you so much :-) Buying it tomorrow! Subscribed
Anton Slegers
of course, glad I could help man. Welcome to the channel!
Looks like a nice lens for the price. Manual focus is a pain on modern DSLRs because there is no real focus aid in the viewfinder like old manual focus film SLRs had. The mirrorless cameras would be good with it if they have focus peek and the outlining.
By the way, 28 centimetres is 11.02 inches, not 3 inches.
You don't really need to focus a 14mm on full frame. Just tape it at infinity. I bought mine for 295 then added a $7 focus confirm chip strip and some glue.
+Captain Zouave totally agree
Unfortunately when I looked for that chip, there were too many to choose from on ebay....and gluing..(what kind)..? scared me to death! And they all came from Ukraine or those countries.....Adorama has a chipped flange that seemingly could replace the current one...but the fellow wasn't sure about what or how or IF it would work.....PS: I have a canon SL1
Cool video....but let's say it's on a dx camera would you say value for money the tokina 11-16 mm is the better buy and it auto focus. ...The lens you review is really just for full frame
Yeah thats a good and common question I forgot to put in. Honestly its just a very similar and tight range. So its almost pick your poison. The issue is with the tokina you cant really use this on fx if you move up later.
How is the camera going to know since this lens is manual focus, no motor, therefore no communication with the camera?
And the photos you took with that lens? 🤔🤔
Know what? It’s a manual focus lens as described. Not hard to get used to if you need a budget lens.
is it weather proofed?
No it is not
It has this big hood here that just comes off?? See ya
No it's built on so it doesn't come off