I have it for the a6400, use it for talking head videos at home. Don't do much vlogging, but for what I do, it works very well for that too. Sold my sigma 16 1.4 and replaced it with this. Sigma was better optically, but larger, heavier and a bit too tight for my needs. All in all, good cheerful little lens, happy I got it.
The manual version was one heck of a gateway drug to ultrawide photography for me. Something that I never truly got deep into until I got an ultrawide zoom lens earlier this year.
I will buy it as soon as it's on Fuji X. Big Samyang fan and I have tons of their lenses, I especially want an AF 135mm F2 though. That's their best lens.
Thanks for your helpful review. I look forward to watch your video reviewing new Tamron 11-20 f2.8 as well, then a comparison between two these wide-angle lenses, and if the Tamron is worth an extra payment.
Hey man. I'm glad you spoke of this lens vs the 18mm f2.8 for full frame. However, isn't the f2 aperture of this lens a major advantage over the full frame 18mm?
Yes…and no. Aperture is complicated when you change sensor size. For light gathering, the F2 APS-C lens has an advantage. But the crop factor does altar depth of field, so the F2.8 on the full frame lens has equal performance for depth of field to the F2 on APS-C. In this case, though, shallow depth of field isn’t really a priority (wide angle lenses), so I would say that the F2 lens does have an advantage. That’s rather meaningless if you are a full frame shooter, however, as the 12mm lens doesn’t cover the image circle on your camera, meaning you would have to shoot in APS-C mode.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Ahh I see, so depth of field is definitely affected. Ok so since you said it’s meaningless, a better clarification question to ask you is that if you’re in APSC mode on a full frame camera with the 12mm, does that mean that it will no longer be gathering an f2’s worth of light, but rather a f2.8’s worth?
@@DustinAbbottTWI But didn't you show that you can use it in full frame mode and just crop into the picture? Wouldn't that allow you to take advantage of the wider aperture's light gathering advantage? Is depth of field still altered when you use this method?
Which is better out of this and the Zeiss 12mm? I don't like the distortion from the Sony 11mm even with corrections, and the viltrox 13mm is a bit big
It's been a long time since I reviewed the Touit, so it's a little hard for me to make that comparison. I would probably recommend getting this Samyang from a place that you can return it if need be and see if it meets your needs.
Dustin, great review. I currently have the manual version of this lens which I mainly use for Astro, is the new AF version easy to focus to infinity for astro use ? The manual version is very easy to focus to infinity as you always know where that point is. The old lens is very good and I do like it and use it a lot, tempted to change to the AF model if the manual focus for astro works well and is easy to use.
Hi Glenn, the process isn't radically different other than there is no hard stop at infinity. I typically just magnify a bright point (north star, for example) and make the dot as small as possible :)
This lens is an obvious choice for so called "vlogging". I really would like to know how it compares to the new 11-20 from Tamron especially if the difference from 2.0 to 2.8 is noteworthy in low light
The full frame lens is stronger in the corners, though the newer 12mm lens is a little more refined (slightly better AF, has weather sealing, etc...). Probably more similar than different, though.
Thanks Dustin for comprehensive coverage, every time. I use a Sony A7III and looking for an inexpensive bang-for-buck ultrawide lens. Despite AF 12mm F2 being an APS-C lens would you recommend this lens for my needs?
I used to have a samyang 14/2.8 for Canon full frame. That lens was not sharp at F2.8, needed to stop down to F4. Is this lens sharp at F2.0? I need the F2.0 for urbex and astrophotography but after reading many reviews I am still not convinced if this lens is sharp wide open. Please help me out here.
If we compare Samyang 12mm Vs Rokinon 12mm lens for Sony ZV-E10 camera to shoot indoor Real Estate videography so which one will be the best choice ? Also I read some bad review about two lens with Sony ZV-E10 camera what is your opinion are you still satisfied ?
Hey Dustin, why isn't there a lens similar to the Sigma 18-35 1.8 for Sony apsc emount? I mean, that lens already exists, it's not impossible to do. Even with 18-24mm I would settle.
That's a fair question, and I wouldn't be surprised for Sigma to produce something similar for Sony as the 18-35 has been VERY popular among videographers.
Hi there, that's a difficult comparison, as the resolution results are very different. My A1 gives me 50MP on full frame, but 21MP on APS-C. There's not much meaningful you can draw from that.
@@DustinAbbottTWI oh, ok😊 Can you tell me if the resolution were same, which lens is better in terms of sharpness,, autofocus, vignetting, etc?? Which one do you think is better lens?? (example: 12mm on 24 mp apsc camera & 18mm on 24mp ff camera) I know it depends on camera too and different camera can make different result but I just wanted to know your opinion on this since you’ve tried both of them and know their flaws and advantages.
this or sony 14mm GM or samyang 14 2.8 hm hm. Probably mainly between 14mm 2.8 samyang and this. I love the idea of using same lens for both aps-c and ff but price of 350 ish is cool comapred to 600 other samy
Why am I getting so much of focus breathing (edit: I think I meant focus hunting) from this lens on my A5100 for video as oppose to Sigma 16mm which has good AF. There is no firmware information of this lens on its official site. Did I do anything wrong, can anyone help? =(
Could you clarify what you mean by "focus breathing"? I'm not sure the reference to "good AF" has anything to do with what is typically known as focus breathing.
@@DustinAbbottTWI My bad. I guess what I meant was "focus hunting". It pulsates focus in-and-out on the subject every 10~20secs in video mode even without much movements ie. Talking head video and it is very frustrating. This doesn't happen to my Sigma 16mm F1.4. I see you don't seem to suffer from the same problem and I would like to know your suggestion sir
Ahhh, I probably got better results in terms of hunting because I tested it on a newer camera with a better focus system. I'm actually surprised that you're getting great results with the Sigma on the a5100. You may not solve that hunting problem until you get a new camera.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Yes, Sigma 16mm has been awesome all this while, I just wished it is wider than 24mm full frame equivalent for vlogging/talking head. Thank you for your advice. Time to save up for the upcoming ZV-E10 APS-C! All the best in your RUclips journey sir!
I have the original 12mm f/2 for the NX mount, and had it for Fujifilm before that, and it's an amazing lens still. The only drawback I hoped they would fix was that it has only 6 aperture blades which makes for ugly 6 pointed stars when there are bright light sources. Even just 7 would make it look better as you'd get 14 points on the stars. Happy to see that they did that for this version, the stars look a lot better. Also: 7:53 A shirt-exploring bug :D
@@DustinAbbottTWI I agree, it looked a lot better. I still have to NX1 bodies, and don't want to sell them since there is no upgrade path with Samsung, but if I were to swap, this lens seemingly only being on Sony, I might choose that. Otherwise I Fujifilm is really nice in use.
I wish they make an EF version of this but I doubt it since third party lens companies has shifted their focus on mirrorless cameras nowadays especially on Sony. I've recently bought a 90D and I regret it now. I just realized that DSLR is dying. I should have got the a6600 instead so I could have access with these cheaper but optically great lenses.
I have it for the a6400, use it for talking head videos at home. Don't do much vlogging, but for what I do, it works very well for that too. Sold my sigma 16 1.4 and replaced it with this. Sigma was better optically, but larger, heavier and a bit too tight for my needs. All in all, good cheerful little lens, happy I got it.
Sounds like a great application for it.
The manual version was one heck of a gateway drug to ultrawide photography for me. Something that I never truly got deep into until I got an ultrawide zoom lens earlier this year.
Exactly. I think that's true of a lot of people.
I will buy it as soon as it's on Fuji X. Big Samyang fan and I have tons of their lenses, I especially want an AF 135mm F2 though. That's their best lens.
Agree on both points.
Great starter real-estate lens. Used the manual version when I started out.
Exactly.
Thanks for your helpful review. I look forward to watch your video reviewing new Tamron 11-20 f2.8 as well, then a comparison between two these wide-angle lenses, and if the Tamron is worth an extra payment.
I'm looking forward to spending time with that lens.
I am debating whether to buy a Samyang 12mm lens.
I'm going to watch Dustin Abbott's video a few more times and decide.
thank you.
I think about the fifth time does the trick ;)
Hey man. I'm glad you spoke of this lens vs the 18mm f2.8 for full frame. However, isn't the f2 aperture of this lens a major advantage over the full frame 18mm?
Yes…and no. Aperture is complicated when you change sensor size. For light gathering, the F2 APS-C lens has an advantage. But the crop factor does altar depth of field, so the F2.8 on the full frame lens has equal performance for depth of field to the F2 on APS-C. In this case, though, shallow depth of field isn’t really a priority (wide angle lenses), so I would say that the F2 lens does have an advantage. That’s rather meaningless if you are a full frame shooter, however, as the 12mm lens doesn’t cover the image circle on your camera, meaning you would have to shoot in APS-C mode.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Ahh I see, so depth of field is definitely affected. Ok so since you said it’s meaningless, a better clarification question to ask you is that if you’re in APSC mode on a full frame camera with the 12mm, does that mean that it will no longer be gathering an f2’s worth of light, but rather a f2.8’s worth?
@@DustinAbbottTWI But didn't you show that you can use it in full frame mode and just crop into the picture? Wouldn't that allow you to take advantage of the wider aperture's light gathering advantage? Is depth of field still altered when you use this method?
Which is better out of this and the Zeiss 12mm?
I don't like the distortion from the Sony 11mm even with corrections, and the viltrox 13mm is a bit big
Viltrox also is missing weather sealing
It's been a long time since I reviewed the Touit, so it's a little hard for me to make that comparison. I would probably recommend getting this Samyang from a place that you can return it if need be and see if it meets your needs.
@@DustinAbbottTWI thanks
Dustin, great review. I currently have the manual version of this lens which I mainly use for Astro, is the new AF version easy to focus to infinity for astro use ? The manual version is very easy to focus to infinity as you always know where that point is. The old lens is very good and I do like it and use it a lot, tempted to change to the AF model if the manual focus for astro works well and is easy to use.
Hi Glenn, the process isn't radically different other than there is no hard stop at infinity. I typically just magnify a bright point (north star, for example) and make the dot as small as possible :)
@@DustinAbbottTWI thanks mate
This lens is an obvious choice for so called "vlogging". I really would like to know how it compares to the new 11-20 from Tamron especially if the difference from 2.0 to 2.8 is noteworthy in low light
F2 to F2.8 is a full stop of light gathering, so it does make a difference.
Do you have a review of the Nikon z7ii? I can't find one in your videos. Maybe I'm just bad at searching? I really appreciate your definitive reviews.
I'm afraid I don't do Nikon reviews. Sorry!
@@DustinAbbottTWI bummer! But understandable. Thx for the quick reply! :)
Considering this will get the same results on APS-C (in terms of FoV and DoF), how would you compare this lens to Samyang 18mm f2.8 on FF?
The full frame lens is stronger in the corners, though the newer 12mm lens is a little more refined (slightly better AF, has weather sealing, etc...). Probably more similar than different, though.
Do you thing this lens is better than the sigma 16mm f1.4? I am planning to buy a wide angle lens for the Sony aps-c
I wouldn't say better. Different. Wider focal length, more compact lens, while the Sigma has one stop faster maximum aperture.
Thanks Dustin for comprehensive coverage, every time. I use a Sony A7III and looking for an inexpensive bang-for-buck ultrawide lens. Despite AF 12mm F2 being an APS-C lens would you recommend this lens for my needs?
No, you might as well go with the Samyang AF 18mm F2.8, which is similarly compact but designed for full frame.
I used to have a samyang 14/2.8 for Canon full frame. That lens was not sharp at F2.8, needed to stop down to F4. Is this lens sharp at F2.0? I need the F2.0 for urbex and astrophotography but after reading many reviews I am still not convinced if this lens is sharp wide open. Please help me out here.
It is not the sharpest lens that I've seen, but it is sharper than comparative zooms that cover this focal length.
Is it possible if you can do a comparison between the samyang 12mm 2.0 VS samyang 18mm 2.8 on Fullrame cameras?
I'm afraid I'm pretty swamped at the moment, and about to be out of country for ten days.
@@DustinAbbottTWI enjoy your travels!
Good review and samples. I need this focal length for a project, I think this one is up to the task. Cheers
Enjoy!
Maybe this will be released for fuji
We'll see. It would be a nice fit there, but thus far we haven't seen any Samyang development for Fuji.
@@DustinAbbottTWI only a few manual lenses, no AF
If we compare Samyang 12mm Vs Rokinon 12mm lens for Sony ZV-E10 camera to shoot indoor Real Estate videography so which one will be the best choice ?
Also I read some bad review about two lens with Sony ZV-E10 camera what is your opinion are you still satisfied ?
Samyang and rokinon are same companies. Just different names.
Goresone is exactly correct.
Hey Dustin, why isn't there a lens similar to the Sigma 18-35 1.8 for Sony apsc emount? I mean, that lens already exists, it's not impossible to do. Even with 18-24mm I would settle.
That's a fair question, and I wouldn't be surprised for Sigma to produce something similar for Sony as the 18-35 has been VERY popular among videographers.
Nice job as always
Thank you
Great Video! Does this comes with OSS? Looking forward to pair it with my Sony A6400 vlogging camera.
Thanks
For $400, no way.
I'm afraid not. I'm not sure any APS-C prime this wide ever has.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Sony 10-18 has oss
@@TheOverfittedModel It's also twice the price lol
The lens is sharp I can notice a bug walking all around your shirt 8:00 😜 jokes aside amazing review and well detailed 👍
This time of year that's a frequent problem. It is hard to ignore them while keeping your train of thought!
going to wait for a sale, even tho i mainly now use a FF body
I suspect something in the holiday shopping season will pop up
What about bad "breath" when shoot video on the corners.. It's on your video too when you shoot with 12mm samyang test.
There's definitely some focus breathing.
So when are they actually going to come out with this lens I pre-ordered over a month ago.
I think we should be into the shipping phase by now.
Just bought it here in Delhi yesterday on Amazon.in. The delivery is scheduled for Thursday.
Can you compare this 12mm at APSC with samyang 18mm 2.8 at FF??
Hi there, that's a difficult comparison, as the resolution results are very different. My A1 gives me 50MP on full frame, but 21MP on APS-C. There's not much meaningful you can draw from that.
@@DustinAbbottTWI oh, ok😊 Can you tell me if the resolution were same, which lens is better in terms of sharpness,, autofocus, vignetting, etc?? Which one do you think is better lens?? (example: 12mm on 24 mp apsc camera & 18mm on 24mp ff camera) I know it depends on camera too and different camera can make different result but I just wanted to know your opinion on this since you’ve tried both of them and know their flaws and advantages.
this or sony 14mm GM or samyang 14 2.8 hm hm. Probably mainly between 14mm 2.8 samyang and this. I love the idea of using same lens for both aps-c and ff but price of 350 ish is cool comapred to 600 other samy
This lens gives you the more dramatic angle of view on APS-C, but obviously isn't nearly as useful on full frame.
Can I find this lens in Sydney for
Canon eos M50? And how much
it's cost?
I'm afraid that 's a specific question that I don't have the answer to.
Why am I getting so much of focus breathing (edit: I think I meant focus hunting) from this lens on my A5100 for video as oppose to Sigma 16mm which has good AF. There is no firmware information of this lens on its official site. Did I do anything wrong, can anyone help? =(
Could you clarify what you mean by "focus breathing"? I'm not sure the reference to "good AF" has anything to do with what is typically known as focus breathing.
@@DustinAbbottTWI My bad. I guess what I meant was "focus hunting". It pulsates focus in-and-out on the subject every 10~20secs in video mode even without much movements ie. Talking head video and it is very frustrating. This doesn't happen to my Sigma 16mm F1.4. I see you don't seem to suffer from the same problem and I would like to know your suggestion sir
Ahhh, I probably got better results in terms of hunting because I tested it on a newer camera with a better focus system. I'm actually surprised that you're getting great results with the Sigma on the a5100. You may not solve that hunting problem until you get a new camera.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Yes, Sigma 16mm has been awesome all this while, I just wished it is wider than 24mm full frame equivalent for vlogging/talking head. Thank you for your advice. Time to save up for the upcoming ZV-E10 APS-C! All the best in your RUclips journey sir!
samyang 12mm AF need to use with more latest model camera . like SONY ZVE10, A6700 to get better video focus and less breathing . as i know.
Great review - thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Will this lens work with the Sony A7C Camera? Thanks
It will, but only in APS-C mode (fairly lower resolution on the a7C). The Samyang AF 18mm F2.8 is probably a better choice for your A7C.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Many thanks x
Is there a similar lense for canon EF/EF-s mount? I want to try shooting stars.
Their 14mm F2.4 is a very good lens. Manual focus, but excellent for astro.
Does this work with Panasonic GH4
No, it is only a Sony E-mount.
I have the original 12mm f/2 for the NX mount, and had it for Fujifilm before that, and it's an amazing lens still. The only drawback I hoped they would fix was that it has only 6 aperture blades which makes for ugly 6 pointed stars when there are bright light sources. Even just 7 would make it look better as you'd get 14 points on the stars. Happy to see that they did that for this version, the stars look a lot better.
Also: 7:53 A shirt-exploring bug :D
The upgraded aperture iris definitely makes a significant difference.
@@DustinAbbottTWI I agree, it looked a lot better. I still have to NX1 bodies, and don't want to sell them since there is no upgrade path with Samsung, but if I were to swap, this lens seemingly only being on Sony, I might choose that. Otherwise I Fujifilm is really nice in use.
Just struck me... Dustin looks kinda like if G-man (Half-Life) was doing camera reviews. :)
Anyway, great review as always. Thanks Dustin!
I get a lot of comparisons, for sure.
sir this is full frame
No, it is an APS-C lens.
Now bring this to Fuji pls :|
I can see that possibly happening
Seems the Viltrox 13 is eating Samyang lunch on performance although it is less wide by 1.5mm! I am disappointed by Samyang performance
The new Viltrox is pretty strong
Im like late-late , but that viltrox is like twice the size and costs more
I wish they make an EF version of this but I doubt it since third party lens companies has shifted their focus on mirrorless cameras nowadays especially on Sony. I've recently bought a 90D and I regret it now. I just realized that DSLR is dying. I should have got the a6600 instead so I could have access with these cheaper but optically great lenses.
I'm afraid much of what you say is true. It does seem like all the development energy is on the mirrorless front right now.
canon already has great wide angle lenses for APSC line up, also sigma have some option, you can go for tokina wide as well
There was a bug on ya
This time of year that's a frequent problem. It is hard to ignore them while keeping your train of thought!