Rokinon FE14M-C 14mm F2.8 Ultra Wide Lens for Canon (Black)

One of my favorite Nikon lenses is an old 16mm fisheye from about 1977, I think. It has two problems: it is a fisheye and curves straight lines at the edges and it's a non-CPU lens, like many of my aged old Nikon lenses. Non-CPU means I have to remember to select it from my list of non-CPU lenses using that menu feature of the D800, and that there is no focus assist. It's full frame, however, and now that we're back to shooting full FX 24x36 sensor, the old lenses are making a comeback.That 16mm fisheye costs a pretty penny today and the 14-24mm Nikon f/2.8 zoom is even more. And I'm sure they are both fine lenses.So I bought a Samyang/Rokinon 800mm f/8 mirror lens for two bills and said, "that ought to be fun, even if it's not that great a lens for such little money." Funny thing: it's a pretty good lens.That good purchase experience allowed me to select this 14mm Rokinon f/2.8. It is surprisingly good considering it's one third the cost of its Nikon equivalent. Even wide open at 1.5 feet, it is tack sharp.The main difference between this and the Nikon is that this Rokinon is a fully manual focus lens while the 14mm Nikon is auto focus, although I'm not sure how accurately a 14mm lens can focus automatically. I've often simply estimated the distance and set the lens to that distance using the barrel markings. The focus ring is a pleasant long throw, with the ring rotating about 270 degrees around the lens from infinity to .28 meters (less than 1 foot). Focus drag feels silky smooth. Focus happens internally -- the front element does not rotate.This Rokinon has a clickstop f/stop diaphragm. It also has a chip in it, giving it enough smarts to qualify as an AI-S lens. To use it on a D800, you have to set it to minimum aperture (f/22) or you get the flashing "fee" in the viewfinder. Ah, takes me back....Setting it to f/22 (marked in orange) tells the camera what f/stop the lens is working at and allows control of the f/stop from the front selector wheel on the D800. The focus indicator in the eyepiece also works -- you see the left/right arrows and the little ball that verifies it's in focus. It also automatically records f/stop and focal length data in the metadata with the shot. In other words, it's a real lens, just without auto focus, for one third the cost. Old Nikon AI-S lenses have a little lock that holds the f/stop ring at minimum aperture that's not present on this lens, but the click stops are secure and the f/stop ring stays where you set it.The front element is radically curved and is protected somewhat by the flower petal shaped built-in lens shade. Be careful: that front element is really exposed to the weather.The front lens cap is terrific and very well designed. It's a durable hard plastic unit that slips over the flower petal lens shade and snaps securely in place against detents in the the lens shade. You have to squeeze both plastic flush-mount buttons on the front edge of the cap to release it. It won't fall off by accident under any circumstances. Only drawback it that it's about 1-3/8" deep and 3-5/8" diameter, so it doesn't exactly slip into a back pocket when it's off the lens.The cosmetics of the lens are appealing. Even has a brass/gold colored band around the front that mimics real Nikon lenses. The focus ring rubber grip is good and the the body of the lens, minus the front element, is about the size of a 50mm f/1.4 lens. Focus distances in feet and meters are clearly engraved. One nice thing it has that I wish all lenses had is the focal length clearly and largely printed on the side of the lens so you can tell at a glance what it is. Nice. The mount is precision machined and fits the camera like it should. There are five little electrical contacts that interface with the camera body to communicate exposure info. For transport, it comes with an unpadded velour drawstring pouch. May want something a bit more padded if it's bouncing around inside a camera bag against other gear. But the bag's adequate, folds flat when not in use and is compact.As for performance, I'm not going to go into lines/per millimeter sharpness. What I can say is that it's great for architectural interiors and wide, WIDE rectilinear shots. And in analyzing a snap of my dog I pushed in on his eye as far as I could looking at the D800's rear screen and could see the finest of eyelashes, showing off both the resolution of the lens and the remarkable resolution of the D800's 36 megapixel sensor. The lens distinguishes itself from all the wide/medium wide 24mm/35mm lenses out there. Do I really need to have a heavy, giant, hyper-expensive zoom lens that zooms 10 whole millimeters from 14mm all the way to 24mm? Not hardly. If I need serious wide angle this 14mm will fill the bill nicely, even wide open.No filters for it, of course, because the front element is so deeply curved.I'm particularly interested in using the 14mm for video shoots, which I use the D800 for more than for still photography. I'll be able to see the whole world with this lens, even in the most cramped of situations.This will be a fun lens. Highly recommended.

I bought this lens hoping to photograph the sky. You know the kind of pictures I’m talking about. The ones that show the sweep of the Milky Way over a serene lake or dramatic mountains… Well, those kinds of pictures are yet to come but I did get that decent shot of the sky just sitting on my doorstep on a warm summer night. This lens is sharp. I’m told that sharpness can vary from copy to copy and if that is so then I got a good example. If you could see that second picture at full resolution you would see that the stars are fairly sharp almost to the edge when some mild coma appears, but that could be cropped out.I got mine on sale back around tax refund time and did not really expect much but then again, I really could not afford much, either. And I really did not want to spend much. I planned on matching it with a battered Nikon D3 that I also got on the cheap. Right out of the box I was impressed. It came very well packaged and the build quality was also very good. It’s fairly bulky and the front element sticks way out there, somewhat protected by its petal-type lens hood. It leads one to believe that it will inevitably pick up a thumb print but it looks really cool. People who don’t know better will probably think you actually know what you are doing, so that’s a plus. The provided lens cap works well but it’s so big I bet it could hold half a pound of M&M’s. The regular kind, not the peanut ones.It’s manual focus of course and mine seems to focus past infinity. That’s not a big deal in the daytime when its huge depth of field makes that moot but at night it could be a problem when trying to get correct focus. Just check for sharpness with your zoom function in between shots.In conclusion, this lens punches above its weight. I have a Canon Series 1 16-35 zoom that of course provides a better image in every way but it cost five times as much as the Rokinon; it is not five times better than the Rokinon.One last thing, this lens is also sold under the Samyang label. They are identical, I’m told; I bought the Rokinon because I thought the name sounded cooler.