First outing with Samyang 12mm f2.8 Fisheye

[paul_droluk]

<p>I was looking to add a FF Fisheye to my arsenal, and was intrigued by the announcement of the new Samyang (Rokinon) 12mm F2.8 ED AS NCS Fish-Eye. Well it came in last week, and I must say I'm very impressed. I used to own the Nikkor 16mm f2.8 AIS, so I am somewhat familiar with this type of lens. The Samyang lens is very well made... not quite as good as the AIS Nikkor, but a clear step above Nikon's current consumer grade lenses. The image quality is superb, easily besting the 25 year old 16mm AIS Nikkor... and that was a very good lens.<br>

<br /> I have a small portfolio of images here... http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=1077222<br /><br /> All were taken hand held on a D810 at f5.6. Jpg's from the camera with some minor straightening and cropping (I averaged about 1 degree off of horizontal).</p><div></div>

[dan_brown4]

<p>Congrats on a nifty lens. You have a very nice home as well.</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

<p>-Dan</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<p>A few years back, I had to have a fish-eye - and got the Nikon 10.5mm DX for my D300. Sold it last year - somehow got tired of the effect and also of the quite pronounced CA of that lens.</p>

[keith_b1]

<p>What camera?<br>

I ask because my copy caused the D800 and D800E meters to underexpose(across all modes) by about 1.3 stops. Other than the exposure meter interference---which was a deal-breaker for me---it was clearly superior in sharpness, especially at the sides of the frame, to my 16/2.8 Ais and the 16/2.8AFD that I had tried before.<br>

I mollified by 'new fisheye acquirement' desire by purchasing an ancient Nikon 16/3.5 K instead.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>I used to have a manual focus 8mm Peleng for my Canon cameras. I decided to push the boat out and got an autofocus 8mm Sigma when I switched to Nikon. I don't use it often (and I do have a 14-24 which satisfies most of my "wide" needs), but it's nice to have. It's good for night skies, and also for putting the camera down on its back and capturing 180 degrees of (somewhat soft) surrounding. Of course, if I had a 6mm, I could do better with the "soft", at least at 90 degrees!<br />

<br />

A fish-eye is a fun toy for a special effect (or, occasionally, for defishing when you can't get wide enough otherwise). It's a shame they tend not to be priced like a toy. But I've no intention of disposing of mine! (It's also responsible for me having a "100x zoom" on my DSLR - 8mm to 500mm + TC16A...)</p>

[chip_chipowski]

<p>Keith B, take another look at the original post: D810</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Incidentally, I'm interested that Keith found the D800 to underexpose. I've always had to spot meter with a fish-eye, because the black corners of the frame threw the metering. However, both the fish-eyes I've used have been circular ones that don't generate a full frame image. I'd still expect some vignetting from even a 12mm, but underexposure rather than overexposure surprises me. Maybe it was just a lens with sticky blades?</p>

[paul_droluk]

<p>Dieter - there is a very small amount of CA towards the edges of the image, easily fixed in PS.</p>

[paul_droluk]

<p>Keith - I just ran a test, tripod mounted, matrix metered, alternating between the 12mm and the Nikon 14-24 @14mm, both at the same manual exposure (1/640@f6.3). I then cropped the 12mm image to match the 14mm image, and the exposures were almost identical. The Samyang was a bit warmer and perhaps 1/3 stop brighter. That said, the remainder of the Samyang image was darker than the center, no doubt due to light fall-off. (There is a larger version of the attached image here: http://www.photo.net/photo/17947976&size=lg</p><div></div>

[john_hinkey]

<p>My UWA sharpness standard on my D800 is my 16/3.5 AI - much better than the 16/2.8 AIS or AF-D - I'll have to get one of these Samyang's to give it a go to see how it stacks up to the sharpest lens I own.</p>