I bought this for a fuji aps-c. It has really bad edges if focusing maybe farther than 3 meters, (the left, right & corners). It is blurred and has a blue tinge, not like the one shown in the video. I've experienced this same behavior before with adapting a film camera tiny 18mm lens to the fuji. The problem is because the angle of light on the edges is too extreme, especially at infinity since it's at its closest to sensor. To correct, I just created a preset to sharpen, brighten and warm the edges in Snapseed (on Android). It is kinda usable afterwards. And it isn't true 14mm. There is very little difference in fov if compared to the 1x (26mm equivalent) of my phone. I feel like this is more of an 18mm.
So I got it from my girlfriend for birthday and this is not bad everyday lens, small and cheap and this 14mm is really easy to handle. My copy was pretty sharp far near to the corners- but only on right side. Third of a frame on left was simply useless. Lens isn’t razor sharp but when you’re on Fuji somehow it’s still not a big issue, colours but on a cool side. Just get a good copy and have fun
@@RyougiVector most likely and Its a shame because I somehow liked how this lens rendered. It might be a Rockstar lenses “thing” in general to produce not perfect but somehow pleasing images- I had its 10mmf8 fisheye for w while as well and despite not being very good from optical point of view left me with a bunch of nice pictures 😅
I thought a 21mm focal length (FF equivalent) prime is weird, but I love mine, especially that it has f/1.5 max aperture. Not in any way have a great IQ, but it really is fun and easy to focus.
I imagine I'd be annoyed to have to use a ND filter so soon. Theyd better go wider and darker. Ps: you can stretch the frame of a 10mm F8 apsc pergear fisheye and end up with a rectalinear fullframe image without losing what you captured. Apply the Samyang 7.5mm profile in Lightroom. Of course edges ain't gonna be best, but that's not what pancakes are for anyways. Rockstar also makes a 10mm F8 but with focus ring instead of lever.
Did you happen to notice if the sharpness falloff in the corners was consistent? Another review I saw said one lower corner was far worse than the other. Wondering if this is typical, or if there is just poor quality control on top of mediocre quality, and if others may be more consistent. Thanks!
You can see easily in the picture for checking distortion that some corners are not that bad (left corners I think) and some are way worse (right corners)
Colors are nice, but everything seems a little flat and dull. It lacks micro contrast?, so probably can’t do much in post. On a small camera it’s probably worth it for the overall size. On a bigger camera, it kinda negates the pocketability, street photography use.
I'm a bird photographer who spends all day hauling large and heavy gear. I often see beautiful landscapes whilst birding and never really have the opportunity to photograph them. Even if i bothered to bring a wide angle lens with me, you don't just switch out lenses in the middle of a hike when your lens weighs over 3 kilos. So getting a little sony body and lightweight wide angle lens is on the list. This lens plus an a6000 Is looking like a lovely cheap option!
And that corner darkness and softness isn’t ideal for landscapes, bare minimum you’ll have dark corners in the sky. Colors are nice, but overall contrast is kinda flat. It’s the micro-contrast so you can’t just fix it later.
There was someone who told me... there is a connection between size and quality. The smaller you get the uglier the quality gets. This lens is really interesting, not that bad IQ, but F4.5? come on... its a prime!
@@trym2121 Well if i understood right the aperture is fixed? Then its fine. Still, i would rather go for the RF 24 mm on canon mirrorless for example (or RF 16mm at APS-C for similar focal lengh)
@@harrison00xXx yeah sure. This is just 80$ (it's on sale at Aliexpress for 68$). I'd rather spent that amount for focal length that I'd rarely use and just have fun. It'll be in focus anyway so no need for AF tech
Hmm honestly I'd argue that the price is a bit high. Effectively it reduces the image quality of your camera and you have 0 flexibility. You pay 80 bucks for the privilege of making your actual camera probably worse than your phone? It's a fun format for a lens but definitely a pass on my end.
Thank you for being one of the VERY few lens reviewers making an actual technical review. And for being straight to the point without fluff.
I bought this for a fuji aps-c. It has really bad edges if focusing maybe farther than 3 meters, (the left, right & corners). It is blurred and has a blue tinge, not like the one shown in the video. I've experienced this same behavior before with adapting a film camera tiny 18mm lens to the fuji. The problem is because the angle of light on the edges is too extreme, especially at infinity since it's at its closest to sensor.
To correct, I just created a preset to sharpen, brighten and warm the edges in Snapseed (on Android). It is kinda usable afterwards.
And it isn't true 14mm. There is very little difference in fov if compared to the 1x (26mm equivalent) of my phone. I feel like this is more of an 18mm.
"Greetings photography buddies," better be your intro from now on :P
So I got it from my girlfriend for birthday and this is not bad everyday lens, small and cheap and this 14mm is really easy to handle. My copy was pretty sharp far near to the corners- but only on right side. Third of a frame on left was simply useless. Lens isn’t razor sharp but when you’re on Fuji somehow it’s still not a big issue, colours but on a cool side. Just get a good copy and have fun
sounds like the lens was de-centered
@@RyougiVector most likely and Its a shame because I somehow liked how this lens rendered. It might be a Rockstar lenses “thing” in general to produce not perfect but somehow pleasing images- I had its 10mmf8 fisheye for w while as well and despite not being very good from optical point of view left me with a bunch of nice pictures 😅
Pity it cannot be stopped down; that would certainly have improved the corners (a lot).
Here's hoping for a MK. II version someday maybe.
Given the weak corner performance and miniscule size, it seems well sorted to M4/3
I thought a 21mm focal length (FF equivalent) prime is weird, but I love mine, especially that it has f/1.5 max aperture. Not in any way have a great IQ, but it really is fun and easy to focus.
Why not test it on a 4/3 system? The vignetting and soft corners should be less obvious.
Imagine a full frame version!
I imagine I'd be annoyed to have to use a ND filter so soon. Theyd better go wider and darker. Ps: you can stretch the frame of a 10mm F8 apsc pergear fisheye and end up with a rectalinear fullframe image without losing what you captured. Apply the Samyang 7.5mm profile in Lightroom. Of course edges ain't gonna be best, but that's not what pancakes are for anyways. Rockstar also makes a 10mm F8 but with focus ring instead of lever.
Would be great for vlogging.
Can't wait to slap this on my Sony A7R5 :)
No autofocus? Sure
No EXIF chip? Okay...
No aperture? This is too much!
It's actually extremely freeing to not have to think about aperture.
There is a small error in the video. At 1:45 it shows that the lens is at f/16 and not f/4.5
Muscle memory I guess.
Have one on order for my Sigma fp…
It would have been nice to have seen this on your Canon R7 but no RF for now I am hearing.
Did you happen to notice if the sharpness falloff in the corners was consistent? Another review I saw said one lower corner was far worse than the other. Wondering if this is typical, or if there is just poor quality control on top of mediocre quality, and if others may be more consistent. Thanks!
You can see easily in the picture for checking distortion that some corners are not that bad (left corners I think) and some are way worse (right corners)
Actually it seems not to be really distortion-free, the lines near to the edges show a little bit oddy w-shape curvings
It would seem this is one of the best manual pancakes for MFT under $100. Would you (or anyone else) still recommend it?
Hey Mr. Frost. it doesn't seem like the genius links in your description work!
Can you please review 7Artisans UFO?
broth!Hey- omg,you shaared insane -=)
Interesting, but still overpriced compared to the alternatives; TT Artisan, and others
Colors are nice, but everything seems a little flat and dull. It lacks micro contrast?, so probably can’t do much in post. On a small camera it’s probably worth it for the overall size. On a bigger camera, it kinda negates the pocketability, street photography use.
How much smaller is it than the Sony 20 f/2.8?
I doubt it's any smaller. 20 is already small enough
I'm a bird photographer who spends all day hauling large and heavy gear. I often see beautiful landscapes whilst birding and never really have the opportunity to photograph them. Even if i bothered to bring a wide angle lens with me, you don't just switch out lenses in the middle of a hike when your lens weighs over 3 kilos.
So getting a little sony body and lightweight wide angle lens is on the list. This lens plus an a6000 Is looking like a lovely cheap option!
Go old Fuji or Canon ef-m mate. Sony color is wonky especially a6000 era. You aren't needing those AF anyway
And that corner darkness and softness isn’t ideal for landscapes, bare minimum you’ll have dark corners in the sky. Colors are nice, but overall contrast is kinda flat. It’s the micro-contrast so you can’t just fix it later.
There was someone who told me... there is a connection between size and quality. The smaller you get the uglier the quality gets.
This lens is really interesting, not that bad IQ, but F4.5? come on... its a prime!
Pancake 21mm eq. That's good enough. As you said not bad IQ, if it's faster with same size, I'm sure it'd be worse
@@trym2121 Well if i understood right the aperture is fixed? Then its fine.
Still, i would rather go for the RF 24 mm on canon mirrorless for example (or RF 16mm at APS-C for similar focal lengh)
@@harrison00xXx yeah sure. This is just 80$ (it's on sale at Aliexpress for 68$). I'd rather spent that amount for focal length that I'd rarely use and just have fun. It'll be in focus anyway so no need for AF tech
@@trym2121 still the sharpness is just poor compared to even very old primes
Hmm honestly I'd argue that the price is a bit high. Effectively it reduces the image quality of your camera and you have 0 flexibility. You pay 80 bucks for the privilege of making your actual camera probably worse than your phone? It's a fun format for a lens but definitely a pass on my end.
Yea... that's not really usable. :/
I always find it confusing if the lens is on a full-frame camera on the thumbnail. I am only really interested in the full-frame reviews.
Nope, not interested...
First?
Yep
First to down vote the 'first' post 😄