Rexgig0
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Veteran Member
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Posts: 5,740
Re: Samyang 14mm f/2.8 for Astrophotography
Kabalyero wrote:
As the title suggests, I would want to get some idea from the community about the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 Lens, particularly about its performance on astrophotography.
I've read great reviews about the lens, particularly about its good wide open corner to corner sharpness along with minimal aberrations and commas with the primary downside being its strong vignetting (up to -3EV if I remember correctly) and mustache distortion. A specific review site (can't quite find the link) made a comparison between the optical performance of this lens and the Canon 14L which showed that the Samyang has some edges in certain areas over the Canon and vice versa, although it seems to me that the Samyang's optical advantages in terms of sharpness, lack of aberrations and comma outweigh its shortcomings.
In any case, I would just want to get feedback from the community about your experience with the lens, if it is indeed very good for astrophotography and if it actually gives the Canon equivalent a run for its money. As an additional note, I am a Canon shooter and won't really mind the manual aperture and focus as I set my focus manually along with the other camera settings during an astro shoot. Also, I have a Canon 6D plus a 16-35 f4 IS USM for general landscape and UWA shooting so the primary use of the Samyang 14mm would be for astrophotography only.
In the past, I found the 6D+16-35 combination to be quite okay for astrophotography given the low light performance of the camera but feel that its not optimal yet as the Samyang will give me an extra stop of light plus a wider coverage for the Milky Way (or maybe I am just lusting for gear). Some samples of my previous work:
Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 16-35 f/4.0 L IS USM (current gear)
Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (old gear)
I like these images! Good work; thanks for sharing!
I do not recall previously seeing any images of this type being shot with the EF-S 10-22mm lens. It is good, and quite interesting to me, personally, to see this modest lens' capability on a clear night. At the moment, my EF-S 10-22mm is my only ultra-wide Canon lens, and I may be about to leave on a short-notice road trip that will finally take me to some really dark-sky areas. I had thought about adding a Sam/Rok/Bower 14/2.8, before we leave, but I might decide to use my 10-22mm, and save my money until I see how the announced Irix lenses will perform. (It seems that they have missed their announced date?)
(I can, also, use my Nikkor 14-24/2.8G, on my D3s, but I want to aim my Canons at the night sky, too. The 14-24G is not without noticeable coma, though it was certainly a desirable night sky lens when it was released, and not a poor choice today.)
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I wear a badge and pistol, and make evidentiary images at night, which incorporates elements of portrait, macro, still life, landscape, architecture, and PJ. I enjoy using both Canons and Nikons.