Great new Samyang 24mm F1.8

Samyang recently released this affordable 24mm in their new line-up. Seems like it hasn't got much attention on the forum, so I thought I'd create an account to show you all!

Dustin Abbott review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kqVfIka_ds

It's tempting. I want to try.

I've had mine about a week. So far, results have been great.

I haven't yet tried it under all conditions (flare, etc.), but initial impression is that it's very, very good.

Sharpness doesn't seem any different from my 25 Loxia at equal apertures and overall contrast and rendering also seems similar, though, as mentioned, I haven't tried it in many different situations yet.

The Samyang 35 1.8 turned out to be a "Loxia killer", making me decide to get rid of my 35 2.0 Loxia (truth be told, the 35 Loxia had never really impressed me). I'm curious if the 24 1.8 will also end up being a Loxia killer as well...

MitchF97 said:

Samyang recently released this affordable 24mm in their new line-up. Seems like it hasn't got much attention on the forum, so I thought I'd create an account to show you all!

Dustin Abbott review here:

Click to expand...

Rol Lei Nut said:

I've had mine about a week. So far, results have been great.

I haven't yet tried it under all conditions (flare, etc.), but initial impression is that it's very, very good.

Sharpness doesn't seem any different from my 25 Loxia at equal apertures and overall contrast and rendering also seems similar, though, as mentioned, I haven't tried it in many different situations yet.

The Samyang 35 1.8 turned out to be a "Loxia killer", making me decide to get rid of my 35 2.0 Loxia (truth be told, the 35 Loxia had never really impressed me). I'm curious if the 24 1.8 will also end up being a Loxia killer as well...

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On testing the flare looks very impressive indeed.

I would consider looking at the MTF chart, I think this could compare with the Sony 24mm f/1.4...?

Please let me know how this fairs in low-light, as that is the deal breaker for me!

MitchF97 said:

Seems like it hasn't got much attention on the forum, so I thought I'd create an account to show you all!

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I was looking for any info since the announcement (and honestly since the 35/1.8 as 24 was their logical next step). Favorite focal length, so pre-ordered on the strength of the Abbott review (looks better than my Canon 24LII!). Have their 45/1.8 and picked up the Yongnuo 85/1.8 (wanted a 100/2 or 135/2.8, maybe someday?) so the 24/1.8 should complete my Goldilocks set. 24/45/85 for $1100 / 700grams.

Truly a magical time to be into this, historically the first we have been offered such small, auto-focusing, bright FF optics... I'm pretty certain? Maybe the Pentax limited series, but those focal lengths weren't as varied. The wisdom was always "sharp, bright, small... choose two" yet somehow we managed all three with "cheap" thrown in! Achieved the mirrorless promise in full frame terms thanks to Korea and China!?! Time to retire my m43 setup (14/20/45) .

MitchF97 said:

Samyang recently released this affordable 24mm in their new line-up. Seems like it hasn't got much attention on the forum, so I thought I'd create an account to show you all!

Dustin Abbott review here:

Click to expand...

Can't wait for the price to come down a bit in the UK, looks like a fabulous lens. Couple more reviews:

Chez Wimpy said:

MitchF97 said:

Seems like it hasn't got much attention on the forum, so I thought I'd create an account to show you all!

Click to expand...

I was looking for any info since the announcement (and honestly since the 35/1.8 as 24 was their logical next step). Favorite focal length, so pre-ordered on the strength of the Abbott review (looks better than my Canon 24LII!). Have their 45/1.8 and picked up the Yongnuo 85/1.8 (wanted a 100/2 or 135/2.8, maybe someday?) so the 24/1.8 should complete my Goldilocks set. 24/45/85 for $1100 / 700grams.

Truly a magical time to be into this, historically the first we have been offered such small, auto-focusing, bright FF optics... I'm pretty certain? Maybe the Pentax limited series, but those focal lengths weren't as varied. The wisdom was always "sharp, bright, small... choose two" yet somehow we managed all three with "cheap" thrown in! Achieved the mirrorless promise in full frame terms thanks to Korea and China!?! Time to retire my m43 setup (14/20/45) .

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Only reason I'm keeping my M4/3 gear is the teles, there's no small FF AF 135/2.8 or 135/3.5 but the Oly 75/1.8 on a small body still weighs less together than a Batis 135/2.8 (and that's itself the lightest FF AF 135mm I'm aware of)... Then there's the 35-100s, the 42.5/1.7 with it's short short MFD, etc. I don't think small FF lenses are solely coming from 3rd parties tho, stuff like the Sigma i-series (35/2 & 65/2 in particular) and Sony's new G trio + the 35/1.8 (even the 28/2 to an extent) round things out nicely for E mount IMO.

The SY 45/1.8 is seriously underrated and has sorta flown under the radar even after the Sony G f2.5/2.8 trio came out, which is curious because there's even less of a size difference between it and the 40G or 50G than between the SY 24/1.8 and the slower 24mm options from Sony or Sigma. The SY 75 might not be an ideal pair with the 45 but it's even better optically, I think the SY 24 & 75 f1.8 might be the best in the SY tiny series, easily the most unique balance of speed/size given what else is currently available.

My 24G/ SY45/ SY75 trio is like ~550g... Still faster by equivalency than anything I shot on M4/3 (at their respective FLs anyway), and the Samyang 75mm does double duty in my larger 20G / 35GM / SY75 trio. I think some people are definitely sleeping on how much FF can scale up or down right now, with primes anyway, tho there's even some relatively lightweight 165-600g zooms if you're just looking at UWA & 28-xx zooms.

Impulses said:

Only reason I'm keeping my M4/3 gear is the teles, there's no small FF AF 135/2.8 or 135/3.5 but the Oly 75/1.8 on a small body still weighs less together than a Batis 135/2.8 (and that's itself the lightest FF AF 135mm I'm aware of)...

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I keep using the Minolta AF 135 F2.8 -- 83 mm long, 365 g. I have the Minolta MD 135 F3.5 which is even smaller and lighter.

QuietOC said:

Impulses said:

Only reason I'm keeping my M4/3 gear is the teles, there's no small FF AF 135/2.8 or 135/3.5 but the Oly 75/1.8 on a small body still weighs less together than a Batis 135/2.8 (and that's itself the lightest FF AF 135mm I'm aware of)...

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I keep using the Minolta AF 135 F2.8 -- 83 mm long, 365 g. I have the Minolta MD 135 F3.5 which is even smaller and lighter.

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Nice! That's before adding an adapter tho, no? How well does it AF on a recent body? I imagine it's fine for still subjects but is there any potential to use it with moving ones? How well does it hold up on a high MP body? I recently got a cheap Canon nFD 135/3.5 (~$60) to experiment with, it's not that much lighter than that Minolta but I'd never messed with adapted lenses so I figured for the price it'd be interesting to try it out...

Some of the vintage teles seem quite good optically, specially the slower ones, I dunno why the entire market seems to have lost interest in bringing out any lenses like that lately...

I really want this lens.. main reason why i am hesitating (aside from price not being under $300) , i have the 35mm f1.8 and the 28-60mm kit lens (both of which i think are more useful generally speaking, so i have to keep them) . issue is 28-60mm f/4 might not be most suitable in low-light and 35mm may not be wide enough for some scenarios.

What do you guys think? does it make sense to add the 24mm? is there a formula to calculate how many steps of (un)zooming needed to match 28mm/35mm to 24mm ? is it even possible indoors? I am trying hard not to bite as i hardly use my camera, but this lens seems to be calling me. I am also debating between this and the 17-28mm f2.8 Tamron, but i do prefer smaller size.

essentially, what i want to know is, in exactly what scenarios will i miss the 24mm f1.8, given i have the 35mm f1.8 / 28-60 f4-5.6 ? usage is mostly family shots on trips/indoors at home/restaurants, casual stuff.

Desh Wasi said:

I really want this lens.. main reason why i am hesitating (aside from price not being under $300) , i have the 35mm f1.8 and the 28-60mm kit lens (both of which i think are more useful generally speaking, so i have to keep them) . issue is 28-60mm f/4 might not be most suitable in low-light and 35mm may not be wide enough for some scenarios.

What do you guys think? does it make sense to add the 24mm? is there a formula to calculate how many steps of (un)zooming needed to match 28mm/35mm to 24mm ? is it even possible indoors? I am trying hard not to bite as i hardly use my camera, but this lens seems to be calling me. I am also debating between this and the 17-28mm f2.8 Tamron, but i do prefer smaller size.

essentially, what i want to know is, in exactly what scenarios will i miss the 24mm f1.8, given i have the 35mm f1.8 / 28-60 f4-5.6 ? usage is mostly family shots on trips/indoors at home/restaurants, casual stuff.

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If you're penny pinching and simply wanna save a buck then just give it a couple months, Samyang lenses almost always drop in price a few months after release. The 24/1.8 debuted at a higher price than their other f1.8 lenses regardless so it might not drop near $300 like those but it'll surely drop $100 or so before long.

As for adding a prime, this is more subjective, I love shooting primes (so I'm biased) and it's not even like your current zoom covers 24mm, so I don't see why it would be redundant. For wide vistas you can simply stitch with your zoom or your 35mm, it's easy to do handheld, but panoramic stitching won't work with moving subjects and it's not a full replacement for the shift in perspective that shooting wider can achieve.

OTOH if you're hardly using your camera you should figure out why that is first and I'm not sure a new lens will address that...

Wider isn't necessarily better for shooting people unless you're often shooting groups of them. 28mm is like a step or two forward from 24mm, so a new 24mm prime isn't gonna transform your usage or what you can do with the camera. An UWA might as it opens up other creative possibilities but that's even less suitable for casual yet flattering shots of people.

Impulses said:

...I think the SY 24 & 75 f1.8 might be the best in the SY tiny series, easily the most unique balance of speed/size given what else is currently available.

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Rather unexpectedly and surprisingly, I've acquired Samyang 18 2,8, 24.2.8, 24 1.8, 35 1.8 and 75 1.8 lenses.

The 24 2.8 is probably going: despite its tiny size. Stopped down, it's sharp, but I just don't like its rendering.

For the others, I'd rate them as 18 2.8<75 1.8<35 1.8=24 1.8. I haven't has the 24 1.8 long enough to fully rate it, but it's at least as good as the 35 1.8.

I just finished reviewing a shoot on a North Sea island, where I mostly used the Samyang 35 1.8: the lens is outstanding. I sometime used a 21mm Zeiss Loxia as well, but I can't really see any differences in the shots, apart the the coverage....

The 28-60mm zoom is smaller than this 24mm Samyang, and like you said, diff between 28-24mm focal doesnt seem to be all that significant to me. I wonder where exactly would a 28mm f4 not suffice and i would "need" a 24mm f1.8?

btw, is there a dedicated panorama/stitch mode on A7c ?

Desh Wasi said:

The 28-60mm zoom is smaller than this 24mm Samyang, and like you said, diff between 28-24mm focal doesnt seem to be all that significant to me. I wonder where exactly would a 28mm f4 not suffice and i would "need" a 24mm f1.8?

btw, is there a dedicated panorama/stitch mode on A7c ?

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If you're trying to shoot an environmental portrait with shallow DoF and/or are just shooting a low light scene the extra two and 1/3 stops would help, as with any prime just to different degrees given how people use different FLs... If you do more of that with a different FL and/or mostly shoot at 28mm in daylight then the kit zoom will suffice and it's just a matter of getting acquainted with it and your camera.

You don't necessarily need a dedicated pano/stitch mode, they're nice to preview results or get something you can share quickly but then your phone can often accomplish that too... Simply shooting the individual shots with your camera can often yield much better results, handheld will do fine unless you've got a very prominent foreground element and are shooting very wide, the long end of your zoom might work better at times.

Simply aim at the brighter side of your scene, lock exposure, then try and rotate the camera about the lens' axis rather than around the camera's own axis... None of that has to be done perfectly, it just helps your end result. Allow for plenty (~30%+) of overlap between your shots and feel free to hold the camera in portrait so you get al taller and less skinny pano (tho that'll take more shots to go very wide). I'm probably making it sound more complicated than it is in practice.

You can then feed those shots into free software like Microsoft ICE and it'll seamlessly handle everything for you and stitch/correct the pano with just a few taps. Once you compare what you can get doing that vs the auto modes you might end up preferring it, or you might just end up wondering why us geeks bother with all this, heh.

dont care for DoF as the 35mm will cover that if/when needed. i am more concerned about low-light usage in casual settings like outdoor at nite or inside restaurants. i thought these newer cameras do pretty good with higher iso, making f4 very usable in low light? I am thinking carry at most two small lenses (incl one on camera) and i think the 28-60mm f4-5.6 is the most versatile i have, so want to keep that default on camera, then maybe carry one of 35/75/24 f1.8 in pocket (for low-light/Dof) depending on situation. of the 3, i think 35mm is most useful (ofcourse i am biased because i own the 35/75 already) but want to make sure in situations where 35mm maybe too tight, i can fallback on 28mm f4 (without sorely missing 24mm f1.8). if not for desire to tryout some astro at home, i would for sure hold off on the 24mm. even for astro, i am going to try my current lenses first to see if its something worth hanging out at night by myself

Desh Wasi said:

The 28-60mm zoom is smaller than this 24mm Samyang, and like you said, diff between 28-24mm focal doesnt seem to be all that significant to me. I wonder where exactly would a 28mm f4 not suffice and i would "need" a 24mm f1.8?

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When using the Samyang 35 1.8, using the f-stops from f/2.0 to f/11 essentially just changes the DOF. It means I have plenty of leeway to shoot way past the golden hour, well into dusk handheld. Or selectively focus.

So far, the 24 1.8 behaves the same way.

in your experience, is it difficult to shoot handheld at f4 after dusk, in normal indoor/outdoor lighting?

The new Samyang F1.8 line is very good. I have the 75mm and it is amazing, expecially considering the price.

I also had the 18mm / F2.8. The first sample was bad (unsharp spot in the center), second one was good. In general the ouput wasn't bad, especially on 24 MP sensor, but now I got the Sony 20mm / F1.8 G instead which is a complete different level. I haven't seen such sharp lens yet, it is consistent across the whole frame, even at F1.8.

Rol Lei Nut said:

The 24 2.8 is probably going: despite its tiny size. Stopped down, it's sharp, but I just don't like its rendering.

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I had the 18mm / F2.8 and got the same feeling, but can't say what exactly was wrong. Now I got Sony 20mm / F1.8 G and there is absolutely nothing to complain about.

I also have the 75mm / F1.8 and really like the output. I am considering to get either the 35 or 45 mm one. It can be good for live concerts shots in small clubs (once there are any live shows again).

Desh Wasi said:

in your experience, is it difficult to shoot handheld at f4 after dusk, in normal indoor/outdoor lighting?

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Depends on what ISO values you're willing to use.

I have noticed a geat increase of keepers in low light level shots.