First night trials with Samyang 14mm 2.8

[Stagecoach]

What luck to be able to get out and have a play with a new 14mm 2.8 Samyang I have just received because now we have gone back to cloud and rain

This is a low budget lens, USD$279 widely talked about in astro photography due to it's image quality especially with respect to coma control. It's manual aperture with no feedback and manual focus although it supposedly activates the viewfinder 'in focus' indicator.

So I familiarised myself with it taking a few daylight shots and as soon as the tide allowed waded out with gear, tripod and a chair along a coral spit to this old jetty and set up. First was to focus on Mars using liveview and with it set to f/2.8 and not touched again I shot away until the tide started coming in again.

There are many reviews of this lens, some good, some bad, but my initial impressions are excellent value for money.

No 1


No 2


I don't believe my pp skills at present with night scenes are really doing these justice and more work is needed with respect to the distortion control.

[FujiXuser]

I have this lens in a Fuji mount. I think it is excellent value and quite fun to use.

[Stagecoach]

I have this lens in a Fuji mount. I think it is excellent value and quite fun to use.

It's certainly fun Allen.

[Stagecoach]

Now I've almost mastered its distortion and perspective correction we can get the light reflections in the water vertical

No 3

[ST1]

Nice work Grahame, I was considering this lens for this type of photography. Having looked at this series of yours I may have to splash some cash .

[FootLoose]

Astro is not my thing Grahame but these look good to me. I like to see the stars as pin points in the sky rather than little rectangles. I look forward to more your work as you master the lens and skill for this genre.

[Shadowman]

Nice scenes, looks like a winner.

[Stagecoach]

Nice work Grahame, I was considering this lens for this type of photography. Having looked at this series of yours I may have to splash some cash .

Thanks Peter. I would say it's worth considering if you have access to areas with little light pollution.

[Stagecoach]

Astro is not my thing Grahame but these look good to me. I like to see the stars as pin points in the sky rather than little rectangles. I look forward to more your work as you master the lens and skill for this genre.

Thank you Greg.

With this first batch I have shot with it I'm not going to rate it's sharpness of the stars yet as the tripod was on loose wet dead coral and for most of the time the legs were submerged up to 9 inches. I'm also suspecting that the amount of perspective correction (due to having the camera pointed upwards) may affect the results.

Once we see the stars again here I'll set up on concrete and do some tests at different speeds and apertures.

[Stagecoach]

Nice scenes, looks like a winner.

Thanks John.

Having read reviews of peoples concerns of poor manufacture, sticky aperture and focus rings I must have been lucky to get a good one

[Donald]

Having read reviews of peoples concerns of poor manufacture, sticky aperture and focus rings I must have been lucky to get a good one

Or maybe you took the lens as is, for what it is and got on with enjoying it and making images, as opposed to obsessing about your gear.

[Manfred M]

I'd have to say that you have some successful shots from your experiment here Grahame. I'm a bit jealous as I would like to try this type of photography sometime, but I live in a place with lots of light pollution, which means I really haven't got a chance unless I can get to a "dark sky" area, which is several hours of driving away from where I live.

I suspect that your images will be even stronger on your next try.

[John 2]

…………………………..

Having read reviews of peoples concerns of poor manufacture, sticky aperture and focus rings I must have been lucky to get a good one

I have two Samyang lenses, an 8mm fisheye and a 10mm super wide. Both are excellent and have never given me a moments concern. Beautiful image. I am in Manfred's camp. I would have to travel a very long way from here to find a dark sky.

[xpatUSA]

Now I've almost mastered its distortion and perspective correction we can get the light reflections in the water vertical

No 3

Apart from the lens, I'm impressed (as a Foveon user) by the D800's performance at 25sec shutter time.

(sigh) ...

[Stagecoach]

Or maybe you took the lens as is, for what it is and got on with enjoying it and making images, as opposed to obsessing about your gear.

That's exactly it Donald. It's too easy to obsess of graphs, reviews and figures when it really comes down to whether the result is going to be adequate for your needs.

[Stagecoach]

I'd have to say that you have some successful shots from your experiment here Grahame. I'm a bit jealous as I would like to try this type of photography sometime, but I live in a place with lots of light pollution, which means I really haven't got a chance unless I can get to a "dark sky" area, which is several hours of driving away from where I live.

I suspect that your images will be even stronger on your next try.

This location is just a 15 minute drive for me Manfred and the great thing is that it's got some close foreground interest. It also gives the opportunity to assess the affect from some nearby lighting depending upon the shooting direction.

In just 40 minutes I can be within the mountains where there is no local light of any significance or on a sandy beach

The biggest challenge is getting a night without cloud and rain

[Stagecoach]

I have two Samyang lenses, an 8mm fisheye and a 10mm super wide. Both are excellent and have never given me a moments concern. Beautiful image. I am in Manfred's camp. I would have to travel a very long way from here to find a dark sky.

Thank you John.

I'm jealous of your 8 and 10mm.

I can certainly see the advantage for the wider options with certain framing where you want to include more of the sky to include say the Milky Way without having to tilt the camera so far upwards giving increased distortion to your foreground.

[Stagecoach]

Apart from the lens, I'm impressed (as a Foveon user) by the D800's performance at 25sec shutter time.

(sigh) ...

I have some of these shot at 20/25 seconds at ISO3200 Ted but not sure I have PPd one yet. I'll have a go, I need the practice and it will be useful info.

Here you go, I thought an almost SOOC would be a better example.

[lunarbo]

I have this lens and I'm still learning - (!)

Number 3 looks a fine image to me. Can you let us know your EXIF for this- f 2.8 I presume but I'm interested in your ISO /SS

Thanks!

[Stagecoach]

I have this lens and I'm still learning - (!)

Number 3 looks a fine image to me. Can you let us know your EXIF for this- f 2.8 I presume but I'm interested in your ISO /SS

Thanks!

Hi Barbara,

No 3 was shot at 25 seconds, f/2.8 and ISO1600.

I'll post up the SOOC image later to give you an idea of how much pp has been done. Can't open it at present as I have a batch in ACR I'm working on.

Grahame

Here it is ......................