Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE
Image: The NEW Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE mated to a Sony a7.
10th October 2016, Singapore – Following our recent review of Samyang’s NEW Auto-focus 50mm lens by our review Editor Trisha Lim, the new Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 is the 2nd Auto-Focus lens from Samyang which we were lucky enough to review. As mentioned in our Samyang 50mm article, with the new Auto-focus 50mm & 14mm, Samyang is putting all the competitors on their toes. In the past, other manufacturers pretty much ignores Samyang as they are making manual lenses, but now with Auto-focus & a very friendly asking price, we sense there will be a huge shift in market shares for lens shoppers.
Before we proceed with the review, I would like to (again) share that if you ended up here looking for technical in-depth review, then you are certainly in the wrong place. Over here we are only keen how does the lens performed, the image quality and handling of the lens.
The new Samyang AF 14mm is made and designed as an Ultra-Wide Angle lens with a near “full horizon” view. The lens barrel is made from a light weight aluminum alloy that seems to be ready for some heavy use or abuse. Weight at a mere 500gm (estimated) & measures at 97.5mm length, this lens is compact too! The focusing ring is creamy smooth which makes the 14mm a joy to use as the “feel” is expensive and for some moments, it feels like some SGD$3,000.00 lens but the Samyang is only asking for 1/3 of that price.
Optical wise, we went wild after knowing that this little monster was designed with image quality in mind as the optics were corrected with a whopping 14 elements in 10 groups!!!!! And among the elements, Samyang included 03 aspherical glasses! For the asking price, this is like striking slots bonus 3 times in a row! A 7-blader, the aperture opens from F2.8 to F22 which is pretty much standard. Although Samyang did not indicate the style of the aperture blades, it looks semi-curved blades to us that means the bokeh will be decent and for F2.8, this lens is a great lens for wide-angle portraits too – for day or night. And this lens starts focusing from 20cm distance and with a magnification ratio of x 0.12, this lens will be loved by wedding photographers too. (go figure.)
Those who are on Sony’s APS-C bodies, this 14mm will become a 21mm F2.8 which is also great for low light street photography!
Our Review Editor Trisha Lim was so thrilled with the new Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 while doing the review, she begged us to let her review the 14mm too. And so we did. Let’s hear her views on this Ultra-Wide monster of a lens.
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Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE User Review
by Trisha Lim
Image: ASUS Store Opening, shot by Sony a7 + Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE.
Trisha: Yes, I was thrilled and amazed by the Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE while doing the review! And definitely I wanted to try the 14mm! When Editor AL (also Singapore’s Ambassador for Samyang) passed me the Samyang AF 14mm, I decided to use it for one of my assignment – a store opening event. (ASUS). For such assignments, going wide is the way as most retailers will want to have a “wide open” feel of their stores and the Samyang 14mm is a perfect fit. What amazed me further is the low level of distortion – a common phenomenon with such ultra wide angle lenses. This Samyang 14mm has very little distortions which is just really great!
Image: ASUS Store Opening, shot by Sony a7 + Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE.
On handling, the Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE is pretty light on my hands and after using it for a full assignment, I do not feel tired holding the lenses after several hours. I like the focusing of this lens, it is fast despite it is an ultra-wide angle lens. Some ultra-wide angle lenses hunts a bit during focusing due to the much larger area and the number of possible subjects within a frame but not this Samyang. It auto-focus fast and it is very accurate. Always spot on every time I start to focus!
Operational noise are minimal too, in fact when I was using it, I can barely hear the focusing motor at all!
I tried focus-peaking with the new Samyang AF 14mm on my a7 too and surprisingly it is equally easy to use an the accuracy is meticulous! However since this lens was made as an AF lens, I was 99% on auto-focus hahaha!
With all ultra-wide angle lenses, this lens will also be very suitable for landscapes and other applications. If you do interior shoots for properties, this is a super good lens to use too! And so, recently I have some time to attend photo events by this site so I use the new Samyang AF 14mm for some light-painting against a cityscape.
Image: light-painting against a cityscape, shot by Sony a7 + Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE.
Image: light-painting against a cityscape, shot by Sony a7 + Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE.
From the above images, you can see that distortion is very, very low and the amount of details captured are awesome! Not forgetting that the colors are rendered accurately with good balance.
If you are into nightscapes or cityscapes, this 14mm is the lens to use!
Image: Editor AL at close range, shot by Sony a7 + Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE.
In conclusion, the new Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE is a brand experience for me. Initially I thought this is just a mutated 14mm where Samyang squeezed in an autofocus motor into the old manual 14mm UMC lens and man I was so wrong. This lens was designed from scratch and presented to the world as a new lens. From handling to the optical quality, this lens is a performance lens and yet, the asking price is ridiculously low! Readers, yes, I will be BUYING this Lens! Go get yours soon!
– Trisha Lim, Review Editor.
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Thanks again Trisha for the sharing on your thoughts and user experience of the new Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE lens & the nice images that you had shared from using this lens. OK people, you heard the lady, time to get yours!
Thank you Samyang Singapore for the lens!
Buy your Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE here.
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