Photography News Issue 41

Photography News | Issue 41 | absolutephoto.com

51 First tests

Samyang 12mmf/2 £279

Specs

Price £279 – all fittings Format APS-C, MFT Mount Canon EOS M, Fujifilm X, Sony E, Micro Four Thirds Construction 12 elements in 10 groups Special lens elements 2 aspherical Coatings Nano Crystal System (NCS) Filter size 67mm Aperture range f/2-22 Diaphragm 6 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes Minimum focus 20cm Focus limiter No Maximummagnification No Distance scale Yes, feet and metres Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood Supplied Weather-sealed No Dimensions 59.4x 72.5mm Weight 260g (Fujifilm X) Contact intro2020.co.uk

Samyang’s product range is growing apace and recently we have seen lenses for full-frame and video users. This manual focus ultra-wide is for mirrorless cameras so suits Canon EOS M, Micro Four Thirds, Sony E and FujifilmX – I tested this lens with the FujifilmX-T2. For a fast aperture ultra-wide lens this Samyang is very compact and sits nicely on an X-T2. The lens is manual focus but you know that when you buy it. There are other points to be considered when you get it on the camera though. Comments here relate specifically to the X-T2 and there might be more or fewer set-up parameters depending on the camera it’s attached to. If you want the correct focal length to show in EXIF data the X-T2 has a Mount Adaptor Setting option and here I dialled in 12mm. For exposure, you canuse aperture- priority or manual metering. The lens aperture is manual, ie. set f/8 and the lens closes to that aperture immediately, not at the instant of exposure. So that you don’t get a dark viewing image at smaller f/ stop settings, remember to turn off the manual exposure preview in the menu. As the aperture is adjusted there is a short delay as the camera EVF catches up to lighten or darken the provided viewing image. The quality of the viewing images does vary and with small apertures, the viewing image gets noisy in low light. This is obviously a function of the camera and not the lens. In manual metering mode the exposure scale works fine so that can be relied upon for correct meter readings but the f/number reads as f/0 on the monitor and EVF regardless of the setting on the lens so a quick

My enjoyment mainly stems from the fact

visual check might be needed if you are uncertain of what you’ve set. The light metering pattern function of the camera still seems to work. This includes the spot meter but there is no metering pattern indicator either in the EVF or the monitor. I rarely manually focus with X lenses but it does happen especially when it’s dark. The manual focusing barrel of FujifilmX lenses you have to turn anti-clockwise (from behind the camera) for closer subjects. On this lens it’s clockwise so that is one small thing to remember. If you regularly manually focus Fujifilm’s lenses this could be a sticking point until you get used to it. You don’t get the support of focus peaking or the AF illuminator but push the rear input dial and you get a magnified image and that does help with focusing. Of course, with such a wide lens and the potential of extreme depth-of-field with distant scenes accurate focusing on the viewing image is not a serious issue. Move in close and focus is more critical so having a way of double-checking before taking the picture is good. I enjoyed using this wide-angle although it did take me a while to that this lens is a very impressive performer

Above The Samyang 12mm f/2 is a cleanly designed lens that works very smoothly. The manual focus barrel rotates with the right amount of friction and stays put when you let go. It looks nice too.

get used to it. The main thing was remembering to focus which was something I forgot on a couple of occasions, and this is because the viewing image seems fairly sharp more or less wherever the lens is focused. Set 1m on the focus barrel and even infinity is acceptably sharp through the EVF. With the extreme depth-of-field mentioned previously this isn’t a major issue unless you’re at wider values shooting a close-up subject. My enjoyment mainly stems from the fact that this lens is a very

impressive performer. You get very crisp, contrasty, flare-free images almost irrespective of set aperture, so much so that your aperture choice is a depth-of-field consideration rather than having to close the lens to f/5.6 or f/8 for better sharpness. And these positive comments apply to the edges as well as the centre. I’m not saying that wide-open performance is perfect but it is impressive so the benefits of using smaller apertures is less apparent. All round, a fine performer. WC

F/2

F/2.8

Original image

Verdict

F/4

F/5.6

If you like wide-angles (and I do!) the Samyang 12mm f/2 is a little cracker and for Fujifilm users, there are extra reasons to consider it. There is no direct Fujifilm rival. The nearest is a 14mm f/2.8 and the 10-24mm zoom is 2EV slower at f/4. Both are more expensive too though they have the benefit of autofocus among other features. Therefore, with a very attractive price and capable of a very fine performance, this manual focus Samyang ultra-wide deserves serious consideration. Pros Small and lightweight, great price, high performance Cons Minor one: focus barrel rotation direction different from Fujifilm lenses

F/8

F/11

F/16

F/22

Above This set of test pictures using the Samyang 12mm f/2 fitted with a lens shade was taken on a sunny day at London’s Canary Wharf – no flare was seen despite that glaring sun reflection. The camera used was a FujifilmX-T2 set to ISO 200. The Raws were processed through Lightroomwith default sharpening only.

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