Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 Wide Angle Review

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#141
Hey Dustin,
I always enjoy your photographs and your amazing artistry. My highest compliments!
I basically traded my 10-22mm for the Rokinon 14mm as my kit now includes a 6D. I have a strong interest now in doing nightscapes/Milky Way. My initial testing with the Rokinon seems to show a sizable difference in sharpness between f2.8 and f4 so I'm not sure if I have a good copy of the lens or not. :-\ Apart from that, what are your typical exposure settings for nightscapes? Do you usually shoot wide open at f2.8? Focusing in the dark also presents a challenge with this lens, at least for me.
 
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#142
RiceCanon said:
Hey Dustin,
I always enjoy your photographs and your amazing artistry. My highest compliments!
I basically traded my 10-22mm for the Rokinon 14mm as my kit now includes a 6D. I have a strong interest now in doing nightscapes/Milky Way. My initial testing with the Rokinon seems to show a sizable difference in sharpness between f2.8 and f4 so I'm not sure if I have a good copy of the lens or not. :-\ Apart from that, what are your typical exposure settings for nightscapes? Do you usually shoot wide open at f2.8? Focusing in the dark also presents a challenge with this lens, at least for me.
Click to expand...

I will often shoot at f/4 because of that extra bit of sharpness, particularly towards the edges. Learn to prefocus your lens. I will often have the focus set before I even go out to shoot at night, and usually pack a flashlight so that I can verify focus (on the distance scale). Don't rely on visually trying to focus the lens at night or you will just be frustrated. Also be aware that on many copies of the lens that infinity focus comes before the hard stop at the end. Don't focus that far!
 
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#143
Not sure if this is the right thread for this...

Here is my 1st attempt at star trails. The composition is not so good since my prime objective was to first get the star trails. Shot with Canon 6D, Samyang 14mm UWA lens @ ISO1600, F/4, 20s for combined 93 shots, stacked with StarStaX. Actually had to delete ~60 shots because I did not notice the lens was frosted up. Outside temperature was approx. -1C near Daejeon, South Korea.

I pre-focused (Jupiter) in live view to achieve sharpest focus. Surprisingly at F/4.0, the sharpest focus is set at the 'infinity' mark (hard stop) which is different than what I saw on my previous tests. At F/2.8, I could not get sharpest focus because I would have to move the focus ring beyond infinity and this is of course not physically possible.

Open questions:
1) How could I prevent frost from forming on the lens during cold winter nights?
2) How can I get sharpest focus now at F/2.8? Should I even consider shooting at F/2.8 anymore if F/4 is ok?
 

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#144
TLau74 said:
Not sure if this is the right thread for this...

Here is my 1st attempt at star trails. The composition is not so good since my prime objective was to first get the star trails. Shot with Canon 6D, Samyang 14mm UWA lens @ ISO1600, F/4, 20s for combined 93 shots, stacked with StarStaX. Actually had to delete ~60 shots because I did not notice the lens was frosted up. Outside temperature was approx. -1C near Daejeon, South Korea.

I pre-focused (Jupiter) in live view to achieve sharpest focus. Surprisingly at F/4.0, the sharpest focus is set at the 'infinity' mark (hard stop) which is different than what I saw on my previous tests. At F/2.8, I could not get sharpest focus because I would have to move the focus ring beyond infinity and this is of course not physically possible.

Open questions:
1) How could I prevent frost from forming on the lens during cold winter nights?
2) How can I get sharpest focus now at F/2.8? Should I even consider shooting at F/2.8 anymore if F/4 is ok?
Click to expand...

First of all, nice job. I'm surprised at your conclusion regarding infinity focus. I have mostly heard of people hitting infinity focus before the hard stop and having an issue with the lens focusing beyond infinity. I would say that for your star trails shot that shooting at f/4 is your best option.

I don't know how to solve your frost problem, unfortunately.
 
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#145
@TWI by Dustin Abbott

I have read your review and bought this lens (the Samyang version). Thank you for your review, I very like this lens!

Here is my shot from Barcelona:

justin_rush_barcelona_17.jpg
 
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#148
Hi folks,

I'm gonne buy this lens as soon as possible but before pulling the trigger i think i remember about two versions of this lens. Am i wrong ? Two versions, one was a crappy one and the second is the one you're all talking about.

Anyone about this ?
 
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#149
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#150
I got it as well, just a few weeks ago. Thanks for the review, it helped me decide between this and the Tokina 16-28 f/2.8 which is twice the price here in The Netherlands...

I have the Samyang version. The ultra-wide angle opened up a whole new view on photography for me :-)

Here are two shots from the beach.
 

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#151
RomainF said:
Hi folks,

I'm gonne buy this lens as soon as possible but before pulling the trigger i think i remember about two versions of this lens. Am i wrong ? Two versions, one was a crappy one and the second is the one you're all talking about.

Anyone about this ?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, an early version was supposedly not too great, but anything you buy new now, should be OK. Not sure how to distinguish between the two...

BTW: I positively love this lens!!!
 
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#158
Ewinter said:
Like some other people have said, I had trouble nailing focus with this lens at 2.8. The 5dIII focus screen was just not accurate enough to portray fine focus in such a wide FOV
Click to expand...

It's even quite difficult with the precision matte in my 5DII. The solution is to get an AF confirmation chip and calibrate it to give you confirmation at the aperture you desire. Be aware there is some focus shift in this lens depending on the aperture used! I use the precision matte to dial in the focus at f/2.8 to f/3.2, and have the AF chip calibrated for f/4 which gives reliable results from f/3.2 and up.
 
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#159
Just finished chipping my 14mm with a Canon EMF AF chip :)

I had to make a spacer to get the chip's contacts to the correct height, but after that installation and configuration was very easy.

Works like a charm! Very handy to have aperture and focal length data in EXIF. AF confirm and AF adjust also works, but because the DOF is so large there is quite a lot of margin. Live-view x10 works better :)

I find the focus ring a but spongy, there seems to be a bit of a dead area before it catches and changes focus, is that normal?
 

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#160
Kathode-Ray said:
Just finished chipping my 14mm with a Canon EMF AF chip :)

I had to make a spacer to get the chip's contacts to the correct height, but after that installation and configuration was very easy.

Works like a charm! Very handy to have aperture and focal length data in EXIF. AF confirm and AF adjust also works, but because the DOF is so large there is quite a lot of margin. Live-view x10 works better :)

I find the focus ring a but spongy, there seems to be a bit of a dead area before it catches and changes focus, is that normal?
Click to expand...

I also made a spacer, much in the same way. No complaints about my focus ring, it operates smoothly not spongy.
 
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