Fisheye : Samyang vs ZD

ric S · Sep 25, 2012

Hi,

Right now, I have a Samyang 8 mm fisheye on my E-620. I use it for panoramic shots and astro/milky way pictures. I'm not satisfied with. I find it very soft at the largest aperture. There is some kind of silky effect. At day time, this is not a problem. I just use it a f/8.0. But at night, for stars, it is a pity using it at f/8.0. Even at f/5.6, coma is strong on such sharp lights sources.

I may have the opportunity to by a Zuiko Digital fisheye. Does anyone have an experience with booth fisheyes? Is the ZD sharp wide open?

RoelHendrickx · Sep 25, 2012

ric S said:
Hi,

Right now, I have a Samyang 8 mm fisheye on my E-620. I use it for panoramic shots and astro/milky way pictures. I'm not satisfied with. I find it very soft at the largest aperture. There is some kind of silky effect. At day time, this is not a problem. I just use it a f/8.0. But at night, for stars, it is a pity using it at f/8.0. Even at f/5.6, coma is strong on such sharp lights sources.

I may have the opportunity to by a Zuiko Digital fisheye. Does anyone have an experience with booth fisheyes? Is the ZD sharp wide open?

I have no experience with both.

But I own a ZD and it is one of my favourite lenses with which I have created some of the most interesting and creative images. I have never had any issue with sharpness at any aperture.

--
Roel Hendrickx

lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com

my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

dave gaines · Sep 25, 2012

The Olympus ZD 8 mm f/3.5 FE is an incredible lens. I use it for underwater photography and above water for special effects and when I need the 180 degree view. I've always been satisfied with the sharpness throughout it's range. Most of the examples I'm finding in my galleries are at higher f-stops, but here are two:

A jellyfish drifting through an oil rig in the murky green temperate waters of California. E-330, 8 mm FE at ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125 sec with dual strobes

The 1921 Pasadena YWCA designed by Julia Morgan. E-5 & 8 mm FE at ISO 200, f/8, 1/500 sec.

--
Dave
No thought exists without an image. Socrates
http://whaleshark.smugmug.com

CollBaxter · Sep 25, 2012

I Have experience ( Sort of) and I do own the Samyang version. Compared to the Olympus version it is only a 137deg lens as it was designed for APS-C. It is a great little lens ( It is quite small) though and is very well built. Its also very sharp. If there is not a real difference in price I would go for the ZD though as it gives you a full 180 also auto focus and no manual aperture ( But set both lenses to 5.6 F and anything after about 2 meters is in focus)

The Samyang does work well as a UWA as well.

The amount of FE effect on the Samyang is dependent on distance to subject and the angle. That can be seen in the first shot ( The far off stuff is not distorted. )

Close up

UWA

--
Collin

(Aficionado Olympus DSLR )

http://collinbaxter.zenfolio.com/
http://www.pbase.com/collinbaxter

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. (George Carlin)

New Seventh Wonder of the World.

Brad Ross · Sep 25, 2012

It put the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car,,

--
Brad Ross

ric S · Sep 26, 2012

As mentioned in my first message, I already own the Samyang FE. I know that his FoV is only 140°. This is also a reason to switch to the Olympus one for easier work when recording spherical pano. But my main concern with the Samyang is the softness at f/3.5. Up to now, I didn't found on the net full size pictures took with the ZD at full aperture.

Concerning the size:
Samyang : Ø75 x 75 mm. 428 g.
Olympus : Ø79 x 77 mm. 485 g.

I don't see big differences... and I don't find the Samyang small

Butchy · Sep 26, 2012

RoelHendrickx said:
I have no experience with both.

But I own a ZD and it is one of my favourite lenses with which I have created some of the most interesting and creative images. I have never had any issue with sharpness at any aperture.

I was fascinated by ZD 8mm when I bought it and it is also one of my favorites though not to everybody’s taste. I found that while most people don’t like big distortions it is the most interesting feature of this lens. It is build more like SHG than HG (all metal).

RoelHendrickx · Sep 26, 2012

Butchy said:
RoelHendrickx said:

I have no experience with both.

But I own a ZD and it is one of my favourite lenses with which I have created some of the most interesting and creative images. I have never had any issue with sharpness at any aperture.

Click to expand...

I was fascinated by ZD 8mm when I bought it and it is also one of my favorites though not to everybody’s taste. I found that while most people don’t like big distortions it is the most interesting feature of this lens.

Agree. My galleries are jam-packed with FE shots in all and any occasions (for sport, events, landscapes, you name it).

For some uses I hide the most obvious distortions (through composition or through cropping to square, never with defishing software). But most of the time I wear the distortions proudly like a badge of honour...

Butchy said:
It is build more like SHG than HG (all metal).

Agree. It's a chubby little tank.

--
Roel Hendrickx

lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com

my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

CollBaxter · Sep 26, 2012

Ops sorry I not read the ownership part. ( Bumbling on like a idiot ) I find do find my FE quite sharp at f/3.5 .
--
Collin

(Aficionado Olympus DSLR )

http://collinbaxter.zenfolio.com/
http://www.pbase.com/collinbaxter

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. (George Carlin)

New Seventh Wonder of the World.

ric S · Sep 26, 2012

Sometimes, I'm wondering if there is not something wrong with my sample. But I found other users on the net telling that it is soft wide open. So???

ric S · Oct 2, 2012

Finally, I add the opportunity to buy a second hand ZD 8mm for 350 €.

I did a quick test with my E-620 on a tripod. IS off. Self-timer 2 s. Mirror lock-up 1s. 200 ISO. A mode. jpeg out of the box. CROP 100 % slightly right of the center of the picture (black screen).

Olympus ZD 8 mm (autofocus using LiveView/CDAF and switch to MF before release):

f/3.5:

Similar results with smaller apertures.

Samyang 8 mm (I first tried to do the focus using LiveView with x10 but I was not able to determine the right position due to blur. Then I measured the distance from lens to subject and used the focus scale on the lens).

f/3.5:

f/5.6:

f/8.0:

So, there is a strong difference between my ZD and my Samyang. I still don't know if the poor quality of the Samyang is specific to my sample. But for sure, it was already present when I received it brand new.

Also note that the scale is not identical between the two lenses in the center with a difference of 4 %.

CollBaxter · Oct 2, 2012

ric there looks like there is something amiss with your Samyang.

Here is a shoot I took in the car with mine wide open.

Ok I nearly killed myself when I saw the road at 140 ish deg through one eye however.

--
Collin

(Aficionado Olympus DSLR )

http://collinbaxter.zenfolio.com/
http://www.pbase.com/collinbaxter

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. (George Carlin)

New Seventh Wonder of the World.

Trevor Carpenter · Oct 2, 2012

Hi Ric

I love my Samyang and it's performance but that might just be my less than critical viewing and I don't pixel peep. I see what you mean on the cropped comparisons but I 'd be interested to see uncropped originals posted at a viewable size to see the effect at the level I would normall view at.

--

My Galleries are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/trevorfcarpenter

Butchy · Oct 3, 2012

Both taken with ZD 8mm.

ric S · Oct 3, 2012

Both took at f/3.5:

Trevor Carpenter · Oct 3, 2012

My Samyang wouldn't dare produce something like that first shot and in truth I think it would do much better than number two as well. I have just returned from a holiday where I used mine wide open but because of the manual fit I can't see exif to show you a specific 3.5 example but I'll try and shoot some when I have time. Believe me mmy output is many times better than that.

Incidentally given my statemnt above why can I see full EXif on yours?
--

My Galleries are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/trevorfcarpenter

dave gaines · Oct 3, 2012

These are great shots. I love the blues and the UWA view. The shot from just above the water is really cool.

The horizons in both of these are curved because the camera was pointed slightly up or down. This can be eliminated by holding the camera level when shooting with an ultra wide angle lens. To make this easy I like to aim the center spot on a piece of the horizon as far away as possible which I know to be level with the camera/lens. If the horizon is not distant such as a building, small landscape or interior spaces aim the center spot on a point level you believe is level with the camera. In the case of your beach/cove scene from the top of a bluff, consider whether the composition is still what you want if you hold the camera level or try moving down the bluff until the beach is included when you aim level. The Olympus E-5 level gauge makes this easy too.
--
Dave
No thought exists without an image. Socrates

whaleshark

Structural Engineer, scuba diver, mountain biker, hiker, architectural restoration, structural repair. All photos copyrighted. Do not copy, print or use without permission. [email protected]

whaleshark.smugmug.com

msusic · Oct 3, 2012

Re: Samyang blur

Are you sure you set IS to OFF and if it's on, that the right FL is entered since it's a manual lens.

Anyway, I had ZD 8mm and I currently own Rokinon(Samyang) 7.5mm for m43.

ZD was very sharp but suffered a lot from purple frining even in RAW after ticking the CA removal box. Roknon is virutally perfect, it doesn't really have an CA/PF and it's equally sharp, if not sharper - amazing for such small and cheap lens.

Besides, Lenstip claims it's the best FE lens they've tested.

Butchy · Oct 3, 2012

dave gaines said:
dave gaines wrote:

These are great shots. I love the blues and the UWA view. The shot from just above the water is really cool.

The horizons in both of these are curved because the camera was pointed slightly up or down. This can be eliminated by holding the camera level when shooting with an ultra wide angle lens. To make this easy I like to aim the center spot on a piece of the horizon as far away as possible which I know to be level with the camera/lens. If the horizon is not distant such as a building, small landscape or interior spaces aim the center spot on a point level you believe is level with the camera. In the case of your beach/cove scene from the top of a bluff, consider whether the composition is still what you want if you hold the camera level or try moving down the bluff until the beach is included when you aim level. The Olympus E-5 level gauge makes this easy too.
--
Dave
No thought exists without an image. Socrates

whaleshark

Structural Engineer, scuba diver, mountain biker, hiker, architectural restoration, structural repair. All photos copyrighted. Do not copy, print or use without permission. [email protected]

whaleshark.smugmug.com

Thanks for commenting. Yes I know that horizon is curvy when not in the middle of the photo, however I like to play with it sometimes. To me a photo is not just a frozen picture of reality. I am calling it "bending the space", here is where i can be creative and shape the surrounding to my needs. That is why I love this lens so much.

Below I am posting two other photos. The first is with an almost perfectly stright horizon and the second is of course completely crazy but is showing behaviour of the lens.

Both taken with ZD8mm and E-1

ric S · Oct 4, 2012

msusic said:
Are you sure you set IS to OFF and if it's on, that the right FL is entered since it's a manual lens.

I'm sure IS was off. Even with the LiveView, I can see that the picture is blurred.

Fisheye : Samyang vs ZD

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