Samyang 16mm f/2.0 Ed As UMC CS Lens For Nikon

The lens hood becomes just a trash it doesn't even toud the ring nd if falls off without you rotating it. And also after mounted the lens it feels shaky.But performancewise, it is good, has got a very good aperture. Clicks nice nd sharp photos. But build quality is also good.But the lens hood is a TRASH.

A long awaited APS-C wide-angle prime

There has been a lot of talk about a lack of wide-angle (16-18mm) primes for APS-C. It seems all the wide-angle lenses for APS are zooms, and most are F/3.5 or slower. This is my fourth Samyang lens. Samyang produces lenses that have exceptional optics (if you can get a good copy), but are much cheaper than the big name-brands, albeit with manual focus only. However, this lens is unique. Nobody else makes wide angle primes for APS. What really surprised me were the optics wide open. At F/2, there is almost no chromatic aberration (other than easily corrected lateral CA that all wide-angles seem to have). All my other fast glass (F/2 or faster) have lots of longitudinal chromatic aberration that degrades the view, especially in the out-of-focus areas. This lens is ... MoreThere has been a lot of talk about a lack of wide-angle (16-18mm) primes for APS-C. It seems all the wide-angle lenses for APS are zooms, and most are F/3.5 or slower. This is my fourth Samyang lens. Samyang produces lenses that have exceptional optics (if you can get a good copy), but are much cheaper than the big name-brands, albeit with manual focus only. However, this lens is unique. Nobody else makes wide angle primes for APS. What really surprised me were the optics wide open. At F/2, there is almost no chromatic aberration (other than easily corrected lateral CA that all wide-angles seem to have). All my other fast glass (F/2 or faster) have lots of longitudinal chromatic aberration that degrades the view, especially in the out-of-focus areas. This lens is almost completely free of this aberration. There are few lenses I have used that are F/2 and faster where F/2 is almost as good as F/5.6. This is one of them. The edges aren't perfect at F/2, but the next fastest 16mm lens is the Tokina 11-16mm, after that, they're all F/3.5 or slower. I used to own the Tokina 11-16mm, and it had significant field curvature at 16mm that this lens lacks. Optically, this lens is better at F/2 than the Tokina was at F/4. Great lens, but a specialized item. One of the best F/2 or faster lenses I've used. For those who care about full-frame equivalency, this will yield photos similar to a 24mm F/2.8 on full-frame.

Chose this over Fuji. Dont regret it.

This is a massive prime wide angle lens. At F2 it is able to drink in astonishing amounts of light and the results wide open are excellent. For: Affordable. Solid, confidence-inspiring build. Excellent optical quality, not just on a par with Fuji, but possibly better in some areas. Focus peaking on Fuji cameras works very, very well (cannot comment on other camera manufacturers). Focus ring feels precise, tactile and well-engineered. Aperture ring likewise. Very good petal-type lens hood. Samyang is a South Korean company with a track record, not a set-up-yesterday Chinese operation with no quality control, ripping-off Western technology and using the proceeds to fund military expansion in the Pacific. Against: Huge. Heavy. Manual focus only. No weather sealing. No ... MoreThis is a massive prime wide angle lens. At F2 it is able to drink in astonishing amounts of light and the results wide open are excellent. For: Affordable. Solid, confidence-inspiring build. Excellent optical quality, not just on a par with Fuji, but possibly better in some areas. Focus peaking on Fuji cameras works very, very well (cannot comment on other camera manufacturers). Focus ring feels precise, tactile and well-engineered. Aperture ring likewise. Very good petal-type lens hood. Samyang is a South Korean company with a track record, not a set-up-yesterday Chinese operation with no quality control, ripping-off Western technology and using the proceeds to fund military expansion in the Pacific. Against: Huge. Heavy. Manual focus only. No weather sealing. No metadata. No image stabilisation.

Close focusing, and excellent bokeh.

There are two minor quibbles with this lens.First of all it focuses beyond infinity, so with landscape shots you have to remember that and pull the focus back a bit when you are more than 15'/3M from your subject.Secondly, is that I find focusing at apertures of 2.8 and wider very difficult. I have a professionally installed split focus ring but this lens seems to back focus a bit at the very wide apertures. All of my other manual focus lenses (of which I have many) don't have this problem. However I can say that when I do nail the focus, the lens is sharp even wide open and very very sharp stopped down to f/2.8 or more.I own several prime and zoom lenses that are 16mm or wider and this lens has the best bokeh of them all. It's really nice to have a UWA lens that ... MoreThere are two minor quibbles with this lens.First of all it focuses beyond infinity, so with landscape shots you have to remember that and pull the focus back a bit when you are more than 15'/3M from your subject.Secondly, is that I find focusing at apertures of 2.8 and wider very difficult. I have a professionally installed split focus ring but this lens seems to back focus a bit at the very wide apertures. All of my other manual focus lenses (of which I have many) don't have this problem. However I can say that when I do nail the focus, the lens is sharp even wide open and very very sharp stopped down to f/2.8 or more.I own several prime and zoom lenses that are 16mm or wider and this lens has the best bokeh of them all. It's really nice to have a UWA lens that has bokeh as good as this one.I also find the close focusing qualities of the lens very good. It's minimum close focus distance is listed as 20cm but it seems to be actually closer to 18 or 17mm than 20. Of course it's impossible for me to measure this, but I do have several lenses that focus in the 18-16mm range and this lens seem to do as well as those lenses do. Color rendition is also excellent. There is some very minor CA in high contrast areas but it's not pronounced and easily fixed in PP.pros: Sharp, very very sharp at f/2.8 and above; great bokeh; close focus; and good color rendition.cons: focuses past infinity; and difficulty nailing focus at f/2.8 and wider.

Exactly what I need

I've had this lens for over 6 months and it provides great image quality even wide open, stopping down to 2.8 or 4 is ideal. It is fast enough to be useful in almost any lighting situation, and the focal length is as close enough to a 35mm(On MFT) to be just about right for you wide angle applications. The price makes it ideal for the independent filmmaker. The build quality is also fantastic. I flubbed up once and dropped it from a messenger bag at my waist and the thing just bounced away without a scratch. I just wish I got the cine version so I don't have to bother with follow focus adapters.

Fantastic performance

First things first: I knew this lens was manual focus and manual aperture when I got it. I have been quite satisfied with the sharpness and color of the images, even wide-open. I can easily get excellent focus for still subjects using 5x or 10x magnification on Live View. I don't really miss autofocus too much, nor do I think I'd pay extra for a chipped version just to get focus confirm. That having been said, on moving subjects such as a cat, it can be difficult to get focused in time to get the shot. This is especially true because as a rather wide lens, it has to be placed close to the subject to get good framing. Turns out my cat just wants to turn away or walk away when I shove a big piece of glass in her face.....I also don't mind the manual aperture ring, ... MoreFirst things first: I knew this lens was manual focus and manual aperture when I got it. I have been quite satisfied with the sharpness and color of the images, even wide-open. I can easily get excellent focus for still subjects using 5x or 10x magnification on Live View. I don't really miss autofocus too much, nor do I think I'd pay extra for a chipped version just to get focus confirm. That having been said, on moving subjects such as a cat, it can be difficult to get focused in time to get the shot. This is especially true because as a rather wide lens, it has to be placed close to the subject to get good framing. Turns out my cat just wants to turn away or walk away when I shove a big piece of glass in her face.....I also don't mind the manual aperture ring, in fact it's rather fun. However, I am very particular about knowing what settings were used for every shot so I can learn what worked and what didn't. Unfortunately, this means I live with the hassle of writing down what aperture I used every time. I know Samyang has some lenses with a chip and those all seem to control aperture electronically. I don't need to control aperture from the camera, but it would be nice to have the aperture automatically recorded in the EXIF. If Samyang even just had a version which still used a manual aperture ring but had an encoder to record the setting, I'd buy it.I got this lens primarily for the f/2.0 for astro, but I haven't had a chance to test that fully yet. However I really like that even though the imaging circle is APS-C sized, the rear of this lens does not protrude (unlike Canon EF-S glass). Thus it's possible to use, for instance, an in-body light-pollution-reduction filter using the "EOS APS clip" form factor.

Image doesn't match the product, but still a great lens!

The problem is that the image on the website shows a 35mm version of this lens and not the Mirrorless (X mount) I bought. Why does this matter, well the lens has the equivalent of a 35mm to mirrorless adapter between the aperture ring and the lens mount. So the lens becomes Huge!!! The good news is that the image quality is excellent and the build quality is much nicer than the 12mm (also a great, sharp lens). if you like to shoot wide, like a fast lens and don't mind the size (or the manual focus) you will love the results you get from this lens

Sharp

Fantastically sharp, and easy to focus, being wide lens. I also like rendering in general (and out of focus areas) and punchiness of the micro-contrast. Occasionally rendering reminds me of my Leica Summarit 35 2.5, in terms of micro-contrast. Im not claiming its the same, but that my brain makes that connection, and I especially like Summarit 35 for its pop. Anyhow, I feel this lens is a bit of a hidden jewel. All my comments need to be considered in the context of the price. If price were $1000+, it still would be good lens, but perhaps I would be looking for faults, rather than reasons to love it. Its not small, but its not heavy, so handling is ok ...

When you need that aperture...

Took this lens out to the middle of the Mojave and it worked great. Unfortunately the moon was out so we couldn't see the milky way, but it still captured a great star field. Much better than if I'd bought the 14mm f/2.8. The aperture is what really makes this lens shine, since it's awkwardly close to 18mm which any APS-C shooter already has. Decent construction, mine didn't have much difficulty mounting to the body (sometimes samyangs or rokinons exhibit a grinding feel). The lens hood feels a tad flimsy, just because it's fitting on such a large diameter lens. Focus marks are pretty accurate, though still takes time to dial in at night because the DOF is so shallow.

Wide angle lens - Soft around the edges

Not as sharp as I was led to believe from previously published reviews. Solid build is good, although the size of the lens is too big when traded off against the falloff in image quality. I have found that edge distortion is very noticeable and even stopped down the edge sharpness is noticeably soft. It could be that I just happen to have a bad example, although this was a brand new lens.