Samsung NX 12 24mm F4 5 6 ED Review | 54 Data compared

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Samsung NX 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED lens as a highly portable, lightweight ultra-wide angle zoom for APS-C mirrorless cameras, boasting high-quality construction and fast, quiet autofocus. It offers excellent center sharpness and low chromatic aberration, though it suffers from significant barrel distortion at the 12mm end and some contrast loss in high-contrast lighting situations.

📸 PCMag's Take on the Samsung Ultra-Wide Zoom The Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Wide-Angle Zoom easily secures PCMag’s Editors' Choice award due to its incredible sharpness, lightweight build, and overall great value. Built for Samsung NX cameras with APS-C sensors, this compact 7.3-ounce lens delivers a 2x zoom ratio equivalent to an 18-36mm field of view in full-frame photography. PCMag’s lab tests reveal exceptional resolution across all settings, noting 2,385 lines at 12mm f/4 and maintaining over 2,300 lines even when zoomed completely in. It further stands out for its impressive 9.5-inch close-focusing distance that allows shooters to isolate subjects with smooth background bokeh, as well as its useful iFn control ring and non-rotating front element that accommodates landscape polarizers. Despite the glowing recommendation, the review highlights a few clear limitations that buyers should consider. On the downside, the variable f/4-5.6 aperture is relatively slow at the telephoto end and less ambitious than competing fixed-aperture wide lenses. The lens can also exhibit noticeable rectilinear distortion in certain shooting situations. However, PCMag notes that these trade-offs keep the physical lens small...

📸 Insiders Weigh In on the Ultra-Wide Samsung NX 12-24mm Lens The Samsung 12-24 mm f/4-5.6 ED NX lens stands out as a highly portable, budget-friendly wide-angle zoom tailored for dramatic landscape and interior photography on APS-C cameras like the NX1 and NX500. Weighing only 2 ounces and measuring a mere 6.5 cm in length, this plastic-bodied lens with a solid metal mount is about half the size and weight of rival lenses like the Canon EF-S 10-22mm. It treats users to rapid autofocus, an incredibly tight 17 cm close-focusing distance, a non-rotating 58mm filter thread, and a highly customizable iFunction (iFn) button for on-the-fly camera adjustments. Optically, the lens punches well above its weight class with exceptionally low vignetting and impressive center sharpness that easily pairs with demanding 28-megapixel BSI sensors. On the downside, this ultra-wide zoom compromises heavily on background bokeh, which appears noticeably noisy rather than soft and buttery. While its center remains tack-sharp, resolution drops off towards the edges, meaning corner sharpness is noticeably weaker. It is also burdened by a relatively modest brightness (f/4-5.6 maximum...

The Imaging Resource overview highlights the Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED NX as a highly portable, ultra-wide-angle zoom lens designed for APS-C system cameras. It provides an 18-36mm full-frame equivalent focal range, making it an ideal choice for dramatic landscape photography and tightly confined interior spaces. A standout feature is its remarkably lightweight design, weighing in at just 208 grams, coupled with a compact form factor that serves as an excellent companion for travel photographers. The optical construction leverages one extra-low dispersion (ED) glass element and two aspherical glass elements specifically integrated to maximize sharpness and reduce chromatic aberration.

The Photodo review of the Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED lens highlights excellent illumination uniformity, with light falloff limited to 0.7 stops at maximum aperture, and well-controlled, straightforward-to-correct distortion for an ultra-wide zoom. Designed for the Samsung NX system, this lens features specialized elements for sharpness, though it is limited to a slow, variable f/4-5.6 aperture that hinders low-light performance and, despite advanced design, can still exhibit noticeable color fringing on high-contrast edges.

The Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Wide-Angle Zoom is a highly-rated ultra-wide lens designed for the APS-C Samsung NX camera system, earning an Editors' Choice award with a 4.5 "Outstanding" rating. Measuring just 2.6 by 2.5 inches and weighing 7.3 ounces, it is noted for its compact, lightweight design that supports 58mm screw-in filters without a rotating front element. The lens provides a 35mm equivalent field of view of 18-36mm, making it ideal for landscape photography, and features a close-focus distance of 9.5 inches to allow for creative background blurring even at wider apertures. The review highlights several significant pros, most notably its exceptional sharpness across all focal lengths; it recorded 2,385 lines at 12mm, far exceeding the 1,800-line standard for a sharp image. It also features convenient iFn control for adjusting camera settings via the focus ring. However, the lens does have cons, including a relatively slow variable aperture (f/4-5.6) compared to competitors and some rectilinear distortion if not used carefully when framing subjects near the edges. Despite these minor drawbacks, the review concludes it is the sharpest lens of...

The Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Wide-Angle Zoom lens for the Samsung NX camera system is a highly praised, ultra-wide optic that easily earned PCMag UK's Editors' Choice award. Designed for APS-C sensors, it delivers a modest 2x zoom ratio equivalent to an 18-36mm field of view in full-frame photography. The review highly commends its remarkable sharpness across all tested focal lengths and apertures. For instance, testing recorded an impressive 2,385 lines at 12mm f/4, 2,330 lines at 18mm f/4.5, and 2,349 lines at 24mm f/5.6. Beyond its strong image resolution, the lens stands out for its compact size, excellent overall value, and an impressive close-focus capability that allows photographers to generate a pleasing background bokeh despite the wider focal length. PCMag Australia However, the lens is not without a few drawbacks. The primary disadvantages highlighted in the evaluation include its relatively slow variable aperture, which narrows significantly to f/5.6 at the maximum zoom end. Additionally, the lens can exhibit noticeable rectilinear distortion under certain shooting scenarios, requiring manual adjustments if photographers choose to shoot and process images in Raw format....