The brand new Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 EF canon mount lens is simply incredible. The first impression of having it mounted to the camera is that it is super light and looks very neat which is very different to the MF version.
The design is neat and tidy and the focus ring is smooth and sturdy. It is significantly lighter than the 14mm f/2.8 MF and of course the XP 14mm f/2.4. The material used is more rigid and metallic than the f/2.8 MF version.
P.S. No perspective correction was applied in the photos used in this review.
Ultra-wide view of field 14mm
It is a typical ultra-wide angle lens which allows me to capture a wide view of field, yet remarkably low amount of distortion.
Its biggest aperture f/2.8 enables me to capture star lights during night time with no difficulties. The size of the front element allows photons to be collected more efficiently therefore making focusing manually in the dark is no longer a problem, you can even see stars in live view in order to focus pin point sharp.
The diffraction spikes caused by the aperture blades are quite nice and the effect gives a nice tough for night time photography.
Speaking of autofocusing, it’s no longer a problem for sharp and perfectly focused snapshots on the street, what you have to do is press the shutter only and that’s it. Nonetheless, it’s also an advantage while you would like to take a photo of yourself when you don’t have a tripod. You can simply ask a passerby to take a photo for you and no need to worry about focusing (it is a huge problem for manual focus lenses).
Animals / Pets never stay still and it is always a nightmare to focus manually. With this lens in particular, the perspective is unique with a shallow depth of field with a wide angle view, which the object is significantly separated from the background.
Focusing at low light environment, e.g. a basketball court during night time is easy too, also, f/2.8 really helps at this occasion. Its auto focusing is fast enough for sport photography.
The coating of the elements is nicely done and thus the effect causing from lens flares has reduced to minimum. As you can see the lights at the top right corner of the below image are so bright, yet, no lens flares are formed.
To sum up, this Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens AF is really outstanding, it saves you a lot of time from focusing and less harassment caused by different settings. It is a good travelling lens, not just only its weight but its autofocusing system.