Rokinon 16mm F 2 0 ED AS UMC CS Review | 54 Data compared

The Samyang 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS is a budget-friendly, manual-focus, ultra-wide-angle prime for APS-C sensors that delivers excellent center sharpness, particularly from f/4, and smooth, well-damped handling. Its bright f/2.0 aperture and well-controlled chromatic aberration make it a strong, cost-effective option for both stills and video, featuring a robust build with ED and aspherical elements. ePHOTOzine However, the lens lacks autofocus and electronic coupling, requires 77mm filters, and presents slightly soft corners at f/2.0 along with noticeable vignetting and 2.41% barrel distortion. Additionally, it is quite large and heavy, and the included petal-shaped lens hood can feel loose and prone to detaching.

The LensTip.com review of the Samyang 16 mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS highlights it as a highly compelling manual-focus prime lens specifically designed for APS-C format sensors. A major praise of the lens is its sensational, excellent image quality in the frame centre, which remains incredibly sharp even when shooting wide open at f/2.0. It also delivers good image quality on the edges of the frame. Optically, the lens corrects aberrations exceptionally well, featuring slight lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberration, good correction of spherical aberration, and negligible astigmatism. Combined with a very solid build quality and a smooth, well-damped focus ring, it offers an advantageous price-to-performance ratio for wide-angle shooters. However, the review details a few notable optical and functional drawbacks. The lens exhibits a weak performance against bright light, generating visible flares and artifacts when the sun is inside or just outside the frame. There is also distinct, significant vignetting at the maximum relative aperture of f/2.0, where brightness loss in the corners reaches 42%. Furthermore, the lens suffers from barrel distortion measured at -2.53%, which is higher...

The Rokinon 16mm f/2 is a highly praised, specialty manual-focus prime lens designed specifically for APS-C crop-sensor DSLR cameras, offering a fields of view roughly equivalent to a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera. The reviewer highlights its rock-solid construction, exceptionally buttery-smooth focus ring, and superb edge-to-edge sharpness that easily resolves details on demanding high-resolution sensors from f/2 all the way down to f/16. For astrophotographers and videographers, its standout pros include beautifully controlled flare, gorgeous sunstars, and an almost complete absence of traditional "wings of flare" coma when shooting points of light wide open. Additionally, it boasts impressive close-focus macro capabilities that retain biting sharpness, and it provides a more lightweight, affordable alternative—costing easily $1,000 less—than full-frame equivalents. Despite its high marks, the lens does come with specific limitations and cons. Its primary drawback is aggressive wide-open vignetting that heavily darkens the frame, requiring photographers to bump up their exposure by roughly a third of a stop when shooting wide open at f/2. The extreme outer corners of the image also suffer from minor softness when shot wide open,...

The Rokinon 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS is a large, high-speed manual-focus ultrawide lens designed for APS-C cropped-sensor cameras. In terms of performance and build, it delivers excellent sharpness with laboratory SQF scores in the low-90th percentile. It features a high-quality matte-black stippled finish, a large ribbed-rubber manual-focus collar with a long 170-degree turning radius for precise adjustments, and an exceptionally detailed f/4 to f/22 depth-of-field scale. Its strongest advantage is its high speed and affordability, costing roughly $449 to $499, which is nearly $400 less than its autofocus competitors from Fujifilm and Zeiss. However, the lens has several distinct drawbacks, most notably its lack of an autofocus motor and its bulky physical profile. Weighing 1.45 lbs and stretching 3.4 inches long, it is a full pound heavier and an inch longer than comparable lenses, requiring large 77mm filters and casting a physical shadow when using an on-board flash. Optically, it exhibits a visible 0.34% barrel distortion, failing to match the near-perfect distortion control of its pricier rivals. Testers also noted the lack of a weather-resistant O-ring on the...

The Samyang 16mm F2.0 ED AS UMC CS lens is a highly capable wide-angle manual focus prime lens designed specifically for APS-C sensor cameras, providing a 24mm equivalent field of view. In performance testing on a Canon EOS 7D, it achieved an excellent DxOMark score of 18 points and a peak sharpness of 12 P-Mpix, outperforming more expensive alternatives like the Carl Zeiss Distagon 15mm. Its primary advantages (pros) include outstanding overall image quality, excellent peak sharpness, and superior edge-to-edge uniformity across the field when stopped down to f/2.8 and beyond. Additionally, it features high-quality optics consisting of one ED glass element and two aspherical elements, offers exceptional control over lateral chromatic aberration, vignetting, and distortion, and comes at an incredibly affordable budget-friendly price of $399. Despite its strong optical performance, the lens has several notable drawbacks (cons) rooted in its purely mechanical, non-electronic design. Because the Canon mount variant lacks electronic contacts, it has no automatic diaphragm and cannot record EXIF data, making it impossible to log the aperture used for a shot. This lack of electronic communication also...

The PCMag review highlights the Rokinon 16mm F2.0 ED AS UMC CS as an affordable, manual focus wide-angle prime lens for cropped-sensor cameras, praised for its fast f/2.0 aperture and exceptional edge-to-edge sharpness. Key pros include a short 7.9-inch minimum focusing distance and a precise, tactile manual focus system, filling a unique market niche. Conversely, the lens lacks autofocus and optical image stabilization, with notable illumination fall-off (vignetting) at the corners requiring post-processing corrections. It is significantly bulky and heavy for its class, as it is designed to accommodate SLR focal flanges, making it less than ideal for smaller mirrorless bodies.

The Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS is a manual-focus-only, ultra-wide-angle prime designed for APS-C sensors, featuring high-quality construction and a smooth focus ring. A significant advantage is its remarkable center sharpness, even when used wide open at f/2. Conversely, the lens operates as a fully manual, heavy, and bulky option that lacks autofocus, requiring a deliberate shooting style. It features 77mm filters and exhibits prominent vignetting and peripheral softness at f/2, requiring users to stop down to f/4-f/5.6 for optimal performance.

The Rokinon 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS is a budget-friendly, manual-focus wide-angle prime lens designed for APS-C cameras, retailing for around $320. In terms of pros, the lens offers excellent sharpness at the center of the frame across all apertures, which peaks alongside contrast between f/4 and f/5.6. It features a buttery smooth focus ring with a short throw for quick adjustments, well-controlled longitudinal chromatic aberrations even when shot wide open, and an impressive close-focus ability of just under 0.66 feet. Additionally, out-of-focus bokeh highlights remain smoothly circular up to f/4, and the lens produces minimal veiling flare, keeping contrast high in bright conditions. Conversely, the lens suffers from notable cons rooted in its physical SLR design and budget optical formula. It is bulky and heavy at 20 ounces, making one-handed mirrorless shooting uncomfortable. Optically, it exhibits heavy vignetting that never truly disappears and is difficult to correct in post-processing. It also displays prominent field curvature and a severe lack of corner sharpness until it is stopped down to f/5.6, making it prone to smearing stars in astrophotography. Furthermore,...

The B&H Photo Explora review highlights the Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS lens for APS-C and Micro Four Thirds as a durable, fast-aperture option (f/2.0) with effective flare protection, producing rectilinear images with a 24mm-equivalent view. The lens features robust construction and smooth, precise manual focusing, making it a versatile choice for low-light scenarios, though it is limited to manual focus and manual aperture control on most mounts. Conversely, the lens is notably large and bulky, extending to 4.5 inches on mirrorless cameras, which can lead to off-balance, less portable setups, while requiring manual operation for both focus and aperture settings.

The Samyang 16mm F2.0 ED AS UMC CS is a fast, budget-friendly wide-angle prime lens designed strictly for smaller crop sensors (APS-C and Micro Four Thirds). Tested on the Sony Alpha SLT A77, the lens earned an excellent overall score of 22 points, demonstrating impressive optical engineering that features 13 elements, including one extra-low dispersion (ED) and two aspherical elements. Its core pros highlight a great balance between its modest $399 price tag and solid image performance, boasting a fast f/2.0 aperture, very good peak sharpness (11 P-Mpix) when stopped down, a close minimum focusing distance of 7.87 inches (20cm), and excellent control over chromatic aberration, vignetting, and distortion. However, the lens comes with notable technical and physical compromises. The primary cons revolve around its complete lack of mechanical or electronic contacts (except for the Nikon variant), which strips away autofocus, full-aperture metering, automatic aperture control, exposure mode compatibility, and EXIF data logging. Optically, its performance wide-open at f/2.0 is merely good rather than outstanding, requiring photographers to stop down to f/4–f/5.6 to achieve optimal sharpness across the whole frame....

The Samyang 16mm F2.0 ED AS UMC CS is an affordable, fast wide-angle manual focus lens designed specifically for APS-C SLRs and mirrorless cameras, earning an "Excellent" 4.0 rating in this review. It delivers a field of view equivalent to a 24mm prime lens on a full-frame sensor and stands out in the market because major SLR systems do not offer a comparable wide-aperture autofocus alternative for cropped sensor bodies. Built with a sturdy composite plastic barrel, the lens features a smooth manual focus ring with a 180-degree throw that allows focusing as close as 7.9 inches. Optically, it provides strong image quality with impressive center-weighted sharpness (scoring 2,483 lines at f/2) that improves further when stopped down, peaking between f/5.6 and f/8. The lens offers several key advantages, including its nice price point, excellent edge-to-edge sharpness even when shot wide open, and broad availability across multiple camera systems like Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm. However, it comes with notable drawbacks, such as its inability to cover a full-frame image sensor without resorting to an in-camera crop or dealing with...