21mm deathmatch: Kamlan 21mm F/1.8 vs Samyang/Rokinon 21mm F/1.4 (part 1)

After scouring threads about these lenses on this forum I could not find any direct comparisons between the two besides a few anecdotal comments and various downsampled photos. I decided to acquire a copy of both lenses and compare them head to head in a budget celebrity lens deathmatch.

Note! This is "part 1" where I just went to a favorite creek of mine to get some typical shots at typical apertures to get a rough idea about differences that I am especially concerned about. I will post a more thorough review at a later time with "brick walls" and different aperture comparisons and what not.

All photos below are shot on a X-S10 at F/8 and ISO 160 with auto shutter speed and AWB. The camera house maintained fixed position between lens swaps. I converted the RAF files to DNG with Iridium X-Transformer (default settings) and then applied a neutral profile in RawTherapee before rendering to JPEG. The images are provided in full resolution since I believe it's pretty freakin brain dead to pixel peep on anything else Will try to find a way to post the raw files as well.

My opinions so far:

• Differences
  • Samyang 21mm
    • Has a slightly wider field of view
    • Has less barrel distortion
  • Kamlan 21mm
    • Is slightly brighter (shutter speeds seems to be slightly shorter, but it could be a weather coincidence too, I did not control for that)
    • Has better corner sharpness in some cases* (see comment under Oddities below)
    • Has noticeably better contrast
    • Might be slightly more vulnerable to flaring -- needs more testing
• Similarities
  • Very similar center and mid-frame sharpness
  • Very similar CA at F/8
• Oddities
  • Kamlan 21mm seems to have better extreme corner sharpness at the lower corners, while Samyang has better extreme corner sharpness at the top corners. Might be a side effect of field curvature in the Kamlan? Needs more testing!

For now, I will conclude that the Kamlan 21mm is a sensible buy compared to the Samyang 21mm. Thanks for looking!

Scene 01: Kamlan 21mm F/8

Scene 01: Samyang 21mm F/8

Scene 02: Kamlan 21mm F/8

Scene 02: Samyang 21mm F/8

Scene 03: Kamlan 21mm F/8

Scene 03: Samyang 21mm F/8

Beautiful shots, by the way.

I have the Samyang 21mm F1.4, have not felt a need to find anything better. But the KamLan might actually be the better lens.

Which one do you think has better bokeh?  My guess would be the KamLan.

Tom Schum wrote:

Beautiful shots, by the way.

Thank you!

I have the Samyang 21mm F1.4, have not felt a need to find anything better. But the KamLan might actually be the better lens.

They are definitely close. The Kamlan seems to be a hair better for landscape detail (in the corners, in particular) but the Samyang seems to be a hair sharper on close subjects.

Which one do you think has better bokeh? My guess would be the KamLan.

I did a quick test at F/1.8 on the Kamlan and F/2 on the Samyang with a subject placed 30cm from the sensor. The focus point is on the rear lens cap. The Samyang has noticeably smoother bokeh in this scenario, but you have to compare them side by side to spot the difference.

Kamlan 21mm @ F/1.8

Samyang 21mm @ F/2.0

As mentioned above the Samyang seems to be just a hair sharper at these apertures and distances.

Keep in mind, the Kamlan can focus much closer than the Samyang though, and in those cases it will naturally have better subject separation and bokeh.

It's also very interesting to see the difference in optical distortion The Kamlan really seems to both shift the image circle slightly to the right, while also adding barrel distortion. You can see this behaviour in all the samples I have posted so far.

andrerav wrote:

Tom Schum wrote:

Beautiful shots, by the way.

Thank you!

I have the Samyang 21mm F1.4, have not felt a need to find anything better. But the KamLan might actually be the better lens.

They are definitely close. The Kamlan seems to be a hair better for landscape detail (in the corners, in particular) but the Samyang seems to be a hair sharper on close subjects.

Which one do you think has better bokeh? My guess would be the KamLan.

I did a quick test at F/1.8 on the Kamlan and F/2 on the Samyang with a subject placed 30cm from the sensor. The focus point is on the rear lens cap. The Samyang has noticeably smoother bokeh in this scenario, but you have to compare them side by side to spot the difference.

Kamlan 21mm @ F/1.8

Samyang 21mm @ F/2.0

As mentioned above the Samyang seems to be just a hair sharper at these apertures and distances.

Keep in mind, the Kamlan can focus much closer than the Samyang though, and in those cases it will naturally have better subject separation and bokeh.

Yes I agree with you: the Samyang bokeh is better!

It is as if the KamLan acts like F2.0 or even F2.4.  Distant details are slightly sharper in the KamLan image, just where you want them to be blurry.  But, the effect is subtle, as you said.

For a lens that is quite a bit less money, the KamLan is doing very well, though.

A couple years ago I bought KamLan from Adorama, but can't find the brand there now.  I had bought my Samyang 21mm F1.4 from B&H a few years ago, and do not see that focal length in the site.  Amazon seems to be carrying them.