Samyang 14mm AF FE on a Sony A7iii

chunshine

chunshine

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Alan
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Hi, I am trying to find out if the quality of these images are what to expect for this lens or would you say there was a fault with it, like decentered or calibration problem.

It just seems really bad, even stopped down to f16!

Anybody who has one have these results?

Thanks in advance

Alan
 

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F16 isn't the best aperture to test sharpness, probably f8 or f11.

Your tests aren't well controlled. You need the focus plane to be flat or a flat subject like brickwall.

Here's a guide for a quick test
phillipreeve.net

How to check how decentered your lens is - phillipreeve.net

How to check if your lens is decentered? You may have already heard of sample variation or decentered lenses. In this article we will show you how to easily test your lenses for proper centering. If you know how it works it will take you less than 5 minutes per lens! Where this test originates …...
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

so it's not possible to draw a confident conclusion but as a guesstimate (especially looking at first shot) it's looks pretty bad to be honest. Hope you are able to return the lens in case it turns out to be as bad as it seems.
 
That looks heavily de-centred to me, although some images are less bad than others. wide angle lenses seem to suffer this sometimes - I would return it.
 
One test I've done before is to focus with the aperture wide open on something in the centre of the frame then reframe without refocusing so that the something is in each corner, so you end up with 5 pictures. You may want to have the camera on a tripod for this. Now compare them all and hopefully all the corners will be the same.
 
nandbytes said:
F16 isn't the best aperture to test sharpness, probably f8 or f11.

Your tests aren't well controlled. You need the focus plane to be flat or a flat subject like brickwall.

Here's a guide for a quick test
phillipreeve.net

How to check how decentered your lens is - phillipreeve.net

How to check if your lens is decentered? You may have already heard of sample variation or decentered lenses. In this article we will show you how to easily test your lenses for proper centering. If you know how it works it will take you less than 5 minutes per lens! Where this test originates …...
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

so it's not possible to draw a confident conclusion but as a guesstimate (especially looking at first shot) it's looks pretty bad to be honest. Hope you are able to return the lens in case it turns out to be as bad as it seems.
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Hi, thanks for the link.

It turns out that the lens is indeed decentered and I think the seller knew it as he has accepted a return for a full refund without any questions or problems (so far!)

Thanks for you help.

Alan
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I had the MF version on a Sont FF and it was diabolical.

The QC on Samyangs isn't the best.
Click to expand...
I've got the manual version too and don't have any problems with that one. I also have the 24mmm f/1.8 and that seems like a good lens too.

I never expect too much from budget lenses like Samyang, but with this one, I think it's way too bad to accept!

Alan
 
woof woof said:
One test I've done before is to focus with the aperture wide open on something in the centre of the frame then reframe without refocusing so that the something is in each corner, so you end up with 5 pictures. You may want to have the camera on a tripod for this. Now compare them all and hopefully all the corners will be the same.
Click to expand...
I didn't try that this time, but I'll keep in mind for the future.

Thanks
Alan
 
chunshine said:
Hi, thanks for the link.

It turns out that the lens is indeed decentered and I think the seller knew it as he has accepted a return for a full refund without any questions or problems (so far!)

Thanks for you help.

Alan
Click to expand...
I'm glad your return is sorted
Not sure what you are after and your budget but that lens isn't the best option to be honest, even if you get a decent copy

I understand not everyone wants to spend Sony level money but there are other options like laowa 15mm f2 or viltrox 16mm f1.8 which are much better lenses
 
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nandbytes said:
I'm glad your return is sorted
Not sure what you are after and your budget but that lens isn't the best option to be honest, even if you get a decent copy

I understand not everyone wants to spend Sony level money but there are other options like laowa 15mm f2 or viltrox 16mm f1.8 which are much better lenses
Click to expand...
It was just a cheap lens for doing some architecture shots. I used to own the Laowa 15mm Zero-D a few years back, I might go for that one again once this is finally sorted out.

Thanks
Alan
 
chunshine said:
It was just a cheap lens for doing some architecture shots. I used to own the Laowa 15mm Zero-D a few years back, I might go for that one again once this is finally sorted out.

Thanks
Alan
Click to expand...
For architecture you may not necessarily need a fast lens.
There's options like viltrox 14mm f4 which is super cheap but performs incredibly for the price.

Plus samyang 14mm f2.8 has very complex distortion which isn't great for architecture.

If you let us know your budget it might be easier for people to suggest things
 
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nandbytes said:
For architecture you may not necessarily need a fast lens.
There's options like viltrox 14mm f4 which is super cheap but performs incredibly for the price.

Plus samyang 14mm f2.8 has very complex distortion which isn't great for architecture.

If you let us know your budget it might be easier for people to suggest things
Click to expand...
I didn't want to spend more than around £300 (used) as it's not going to get used that often to be honest. That's what made me buy this Samyang, the price was only £250, now I know why!

I've seen the Viltrox at really good prices brand new, would you recommend that lens? I have the Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 and I find the CA a bit much. Do you know if the 14mm suffers the same?
 
My Sigma 14mm was under £150 a few years back and is fine on the D750. Not sure it was ever produced for Sony AF though.
 
Nod said:
My Sigma 14mm was under £150 a few years back and is fine on the D750. Not sure it was ever produced for Sony AF though.
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They do an ART version for the Sony mirrorless system, but that's more than I want to spend on a lens that's not going to get used much :)
 
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nandbytes said:
For architecture you may not necessarily need a fast lens.
There's options like viltrox 14mm f4 which is super cheap but performs incredibly for the price.

Plus samyang 14mm f2.8 has very complex distortion which isn't great for architecture.

If you let us know your budget it might be easier for people to suggest things
Click to expand...

+1 for the Viltrox

I am very happy with mine; it keeps up well in IQ with the Sony 24-105 f/4 - I often use them together on an A7III



Chapel of Christ the Servant by Rob Telford, on Flickr

A few other samples here

www.flickr.com

Flickr Search — “Viltrox 14mm”

www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
 
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chunshine said:
Thanks for sharing Rob, I had already put it in the basket and after seeing this I'm placing the order! 10% off this month too! :)
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if your not in a hurry for it hold off and register for their mailing list. They often run 20% off offers.
 
f/1.2 said:
if your not in a hurry for it hold off and register for their mailing list. They often run 20% off offers.
Click to expand...
I've got some things to shoot next week, so I've placed the order now, but thanks for the tip anyway
 
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