Samyang MF 14mm F 2 8 RF Review | 54 Data compared

This summary analyzes user Lighty50's review of the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 MF Mark II ultra-wide-angle lens, which details his experience using a premiere European copy for astrophotography and night landscapes in Auvergne and Aubrac. Review Summary The Pros: The updated Mark II model successfully modernizes the classic ultra-wide lens formula. It keeps its staple features—like the wide 14mm focal length and bright f/2.8 maximum aperture—while introducing a completely redesigned optomechanical construction and optical formula. The reviewer highlights that Samyang "pulled out all the stops," offering full-resolution uncorrected RAW files on his blog to demonstrate impressive overall image performance. Additionally, technical specs reveal helpful physical upgrades, including weather sealing (a rubber gasket on the bayonet mount) and a 9-blade diaphragm (up from 6 on the older version). The Cons: While the initial review is highly positive, subsequent community testing exposes some hardware consistency flaws. A major issue raised by users is poor quality control and sample variation, leading to disappointing corner sharpness plagued by noticeable coma aberrations. Furthermore, mechanical calibration is imperfect; one user noted a frustrating misalignment where the actual...

The Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AF for Canon RF is an affordable, high-utility ultra-wide-angle prime lens designed specifically for full-frame mirrorless cameras. The reviewer notes that its design is modern and weather-sealed, featuring a rear gelatine filter holder since the prominent bulbous front element cannot accept screw-on filters. A key highlight is its exceptionally fast, precise, and quiet linear STM autofocus motor, which outperforms lenses like the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 in silence, making it highly suitable for both street photography and video. Furthermore, it surprisingly supports the in-camera distortion, vignette, and aberration corrections for JPEG shooting on newer Canon EOS R series bodies. Sharpness at the center of the frame is excellent right from the maximum aperture of f/2.8. On the downside, the lens exhibits a noticeable "moustache" distortion that requires manual correction profiles in post-processing when handling RAW files, as Lightroom does not feature a native profile specifically built for this exact RF variant yet. Corner sharpness is only mediocre at f/2.8, requiring the lens to be stepped down to f/5.6 or f/8 to achieve very clean, uniform resolution...

The Samyang 14mm f/2.8 MF Mark II is a manual ultra-wide-angle lens compatible with full-frame, APS-C, and Micro 4/3 sensors. Retailing for under €500, it introduces a weather-sealed bayonet mount, a focus lock ring, and a de-click option for smooth aperture control. The reviewer highly praises its optical improvements over the previous version, noting excellent sharpness at the center at f/2.8 and near-nonexistent coma or chromatic aberrations. When stopped down to f/4, image quality improves subtly with better-defined stars and significantly reduced vignetting. While the lens offers an exceptional performance-to-price ratio that rivals much more expensive alternatives, it does carry a few drawbacks. Its main optical flaw is heavy, vertical vignetting at its maximum f/2.8 aperture, which can result in overly dark night sky images if not corrected with software or higher ISO settings. Additionally, bright stars can appear somewhat large and blurry, while the aperture ring feels overly sensitive to accidental shifts in the field. The focus lock ring is also noted as somewhat superfluous on an ultra-wide lens, and the lack of filter threads requires specialized adapters for...

The Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC is reviewed as a highly affordable, 100% manual ultra-wide-angle lens that offers great value for full-frame photographers. On the plus side, it boasts a very robust, solid metallic body and excellent, consistent image sharpness alongside faithful color and contrast rendition. Thanks to the massive depth of field provided by its 14mm focal length, focusing becomes incredibly easy when shooting at f/8 or f/11, as users can set it to 3 meters and confidently shoot from a few centimeters to infinity without double-checking the viewfinder. Furthermore, its fast f/2.8 maximum aperture makes it an excellent, cost-effective entry point for night and landscape photography. However, the lens requires clear trade-offs, most notably the complete absence of electronic communication with the camera (such as autofocus or camera-controlled aperture) and a lack of weather sealing. Optically, the bulbous, protruding front lens element creates inevitable edge distortion and stretching on full-frame sensors, and its physical design completely prevents the use of standard screw-on filters. Ergonomically, stopping down the physical aperture ring severely darkens the optical viewfinder, forcing...

This review evaluates the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ultra-wide-angle lens as an affordable alternative to the much more expensive Canon 14mm f/2.8 for landscape and night photography. The reviewer notes that while the Samyang delivers excellent overall image quality, it possesses a unique "digital signature" that yields less smooth and less homogeneous results compared to Canon optics, particularly when pushing ISO settings or applying heavy corrections in Lightroom. Despite these optical differences and a noticeable amount of distortion and vignetting, the reviewer finds these wide-angle distortions aesthetically pleasing and highly manageable for the price point. The lens offers distinct advantages and disadvantages that prospective buyers must consider. On the positive side, its primary pros are its highly accessible cost of around €300, a robust build quality that inspires confidence, and its suitability for stationary nighttime and daytime landscape shots. Conversely, the cons center around usability: the lens lacks autofocus, featuring an imprecise manual focus ring with significant play, which makes framing via the viewfinder exceptionally difficult. Photographers must rely heavily on LiveView to achieve sharp focus—a process made frustrating at night...