Rokinon FE14M C Ultra Canon Black
I bought this lens about a month ago to be able to use with my canon Xsi and also D5. This lens performs very well with Xsi giving about 22.4 mm equivalent. The main reason why I bought this lens is the capability of using F2.8 considering that most of the Canon lenses with this F stop and focal length are really expensive (at least 3 times). I used the lens for wide field astrophotography, land escapes and northern lights. The lens is fully manual so focus and aperture have to be set by hand; however, it can be still used with AV function of the camera.
Pros
Aperture ring sets very easily
Optics are quite good, almost no flare when taken in front of the sun. E.g. Sunset or sunrise, moon set or moon rise
Color is exceptionally good
Distortion at F 2.8 is not bad and easy to correct using Photoshop if you are taking picture of buildings.
No vignetting when used with Xsi
So far I have not notice to much distortion at the corners Compared with my expensive L series lenses (F4). The distortion at the corners is surprisingly less
Chromatic aberration seems to be well controlled. Actually, It seem very similar to canon L series.
Cons
Still significant vignetting when used with canon 5D. However, not worse than that for the 17-40 mm L F4 canon.
It is hard to focus. Basically in Xsi, I can use the live view at 10X to get a sharp focus. The lens has focus measurements but they are not well calibrated so you need to find your own. To make your focus easy, you need to do it at maximum aperture to be able to get enough light then go to your desired aperture according to the deep of field you would like to achieve.
You can't have a filter on top of the lens, so you need to be extra careful. However, I am not sure if this is a con, since night photography (including northern light) is all done without filter so this prevents me from forgetting taking the filter off.
In conclusion
This manual lens has very good optics. All very well corrected and not that different form the premium once or at least the canons F4 (17-40mm and 24-110 mm). It is one rare combination of quality and price because usually you get what you pay. Perhaps the fact that the lens is all manual makes it significant cheaper.
Great sturdy well-built lens, my only fault is that since it is a manual lens and can't be controlled by the camera, it is a little difficult to properly adjust the focus especially when you are moving around, but this is no fault with the lens. The focus adjustment is very smooth and the glass seems very high quality!
BalasHapusI was looking for a low cost wide lens and found this one. After reviewing sample images on the internet, I didn't hesitate to buy it because the images looked very sharp. Moreover, after I got the lens and tested it myself, I was stunned by the sharpness. Wow !!! What a lens. I used to have tokina 11-16 f.28 for my dx which I thought it's very sharp. However, when I use this with my d600, this lens beat it by a mile.
BalasHapusEven though it's manual focus, I don't find it a problem for this super wide focal length. Also, I bought the focus confirm chip version so it does help.
Another drawback is the distortion, but you can fix it with adobe lens profile or PT lens easily.
I am using this lens on a Canon 5D Mark II. I have several zoom lenses in this range, but was looking for a fast, superwide prime. The choice would be this or the Canon 14L II. This is the same as the Samyang, rebranded.
BalasHapusAfter receiving the lens, I ran some tests against 16-35 2.8, and sigma 12-24, and was floored. The corner to corner sharpness of this lens is fantastic. I peaks at around 5.6, but the corners at 2.8 are better than the other 2 lenses at f11. the microcontrast and color is very good. The barrel distortion is hefty, and complex with a mustache distortion, however, often not well visible in landscape, but visible in architectural images. It is correctable using a $25 program called ptlens, and there is also a profile for acr 6.1 out there, which works great. It is an absolute bargain. I purchased a focus confirmation chip for 14 from ebay, glued it on, and I get focus confirmation too.
feb 2012 update
I have had this lens along side Nikon 14-24 2.8, adapted to canon with use on my 5d2, and at 2.8, the rokinon is sharper in the corners has less flare and less CA than the mighty Nikon. However the nikon has less distortion, and catches up by f 5.6 even in the corners. Additionally, do not rely on the distance markings on the focus ring. On my copy infinity focus is achieved at the 3 meter marking. 3 meters is achieved at 2m. for my style of shooting I dont find this troublesome at all. for landscape shooting I focus with live view anyway. for hand held, my focus is between 1 and 2 meters most of the time and it works fine.
I'll premise this review by saying that I've spent most of my adult life as a professional photographer. My images have appeared in Life, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and others. I've shot for many of the major wire services in America.
BalasHapusSo, when I write this review, it comes from a professional prospective.
When I first opened the lens, I thought the packaging (not shipping packaging but the retail box) was a little lacking. That however is about the only negative thing I can say about this lens.
The sharpness is extraordinary, corner to corner and edge to edge. At f2.8 it's more then adequate and at f8 it's by far one of the sharpest lenses I have ever used.
It compares in overall sharpness to my 300 2.8, which is an extremely sharp lens.
The lens has good contrast (a little on the high side, but very good for such a wide lens) and the colors show no noticeable signs of shift.
The lens is fully manual. you set the aperture and the screen darkens. This lens is not for those wishing to point and shoot. It's not easy to manually focus a 14mm lens, and this is no exception.
I've found that Live View really helps. The focus ring is smooth and has a nice throw.
I've read some about distortion. Well, unless you're doing very specialized photos, you'll never notice it, however I did install PTLens and it corrected the distortion just fine. Honestly, I didn't think that the images looked any better when corrected.
Overall, I'd rate this lens a 10 out of 10 for VALUE. for the money, I don't believe you can get anything close.
Ed
I was skeptical about getting this lens being that there are no reviews for it on Amazon as of the writing of this review, but I will say, I was pleasantly surprised!
BalasHapusNow, I will let it be known that this is the first lens I have bought to add to my collection, so I am by no means an expert. That being said, this lens is perfect for me. The image is very sharp, which was a concern for me at this price range. The colors look great and the build seems very rugged. I shoot a lot of DSLR video, and this lens will make a great addition to my filming needs. Be warned, however, that the lens is fully manual. Complete with aperture ring and the works, so if you are look for something for a very amateur user, they may have troubles. All in all, I highly recommend this piece of equipment!
I purchased this lens several months ago to use on my Canon 5d mark 1 camera. This is by far the sharpest, most flare-and color fringing-resistant lens in its class. I owned the Nikon 14-24mm lens and this lowly lens beats the Nikon hands down on all counts, exept vignetting (easily correctable in Photoshop) and distortion - but get a PT Lens software, which has this lens correction pre-programmed in its database and distortion becomes a non-issue.
BalasHapusAdvantages:
Solidly built, operates smoothly, light (under 450 grams), much more compact than Nikon 14-24mm, incredible resolution, color balance and color fringing resistance - simply crushes Nikon 14-24mm (my personal experience and comparison and also see independent reviews on the Net), no flare, even when shooting straight into the Sun.
Disadvantages:
Fully manual - no auto anything, including the aperture (not an issue for this ultra-wide lens and actually is an advantge, since it greatly improves reliability).
No depth-of-field scale - not an issue for this ultra-wide lens; setting the focus to 1 meter and stopping down to f11 gives you the maximum depth-of-field (o.5 meters to infinity) at best optical performance. For wide-open shooting focus the lens manually.
Vignetting, especially at wide apertures - easily correctable in Photoshop, and gone by f11.
Significant complex distortion (5%) - get a PT Lens software, which has this lens' complete correction pre-programmed in its database and distortion becomes a non-issue.
Aperture blades may become sticky in temperatures below 32 degrees F (0 deg. C) - no significant impact, because the aperture control is fully manual. If this occurs, rotate the aperture ring back and forth a few times to take care of this in the field; there is no need to even remove the lens from the camera.
I highly recommend this lens.
BalasHapusI was really reluctant about this lens since I have the Pentax DA 15mm limited and I had some bad experiences with Korean made lens. What a surprise! This is a good surprise.
BalasHapusPositive points:
1. very affordable.
2. full frame capable.
3. very well built (except for the cap).
4. feel sturdy in hand but relatively light.
5. long and smooth throw for manual focusing, what a treat. (while not Pentax (K, M, A) smooth, good enough)
6. resolution high even at f2.8.
7. relatively resistance to flare.
8. automatic aperture on Pentax.
9. color rendition pretty good.
Negative:
1. no filter ring (no full frame lens like this has filter ring on the front).
2. big front glass element.
So far, I like it a lot.
This is truly an excellent lens. I use it on a Canon 5d II and I'm very pleased with it's sharpness and quality build. For the money it's a steal. The Rokinon, Bower, Proptic and similar Vivitar lenses are actually made by Samyang Optics Co. Ltd of South Korea. Their 8mm, 14mm and 85mm lenses are high quality and are true bargains. I also have the Rokinon 8mm fisheye which works great as an extreme wide angle on my Canon 20d. I bought the Rokinon brand from Cameta Camera because of their great customer service and very good prices. These are manual focus lenses which is not a problem on extreme wide angle lenses.
BalasHapus