In the last post I was ridiculing the sharpness of the 8 mm Samyang lens at wide open apertures. To illustrate the problem I have made a few test shots at different apertures. The focus ring has not been moved between the shots, only the aperture has been closed step by step. See what happens.
At f 3.5 it is the greasy Vaseline-look. It is not movement blur (shutter speed 1/1250 sec @ f3.5 !) and focusing is also not the problem. The lens just produces crap at this aperture. It’s that simple.
Vaseline on the lens ! The image is blurry and unsharp and completely not cool 🙂
Gradually getting better…
Ah, decent sharpness at f8….
…and very good sharpness at f11
The difference in sharpness between f11 and f16 is marginal.
What I really would like to know is if this is a general problem with the Samyang lens. Perhaps the Ghost of faulty technology struck again and I got the famous “Monday-lens”.
I accept the blurryness at f3.5 as a “feature” of the lens. It’s just made that way. It is a very cheap lens and for the price (around 250 Euros via www.foto-tip.pl) you don’t complain to get a still very good astonishing 8 mm fisheye.
Im having the same issue. I brought this lens for Nikon about 3 years ago and never had this problem. The images came out sharp even at 3.5. I recently got it again for a canon and the image quality is awful (just like yours). Are you shooting Nikon or Canon? Did you resolve this issue? Thanks,
Hi Rob,
I am shooting Nikon. Seems like the low price of the Samyang results in quality variations since you said your Samyang for Nikon is good.
I did not resolve this issue, I simply accepted that the lens is only good for shooting at f5.6 or higher. Of course I won’t do any low-light action shots with it this way, but for my personal way of photographing it is fine as it is.
Best regards,
Julian
Thanks for your quick response!
Im glad you’re shoot with a nikon! That must mean the lens is faulty and its not the adjustment ring for canon that’s the issue.
I do a fair amount of low light shooting so this is a big problem for me. I use this lens on a regular basis for my pano project (http://www.panodrop.com/) so I need the lens to work well under all conditions.
Ill let you know if I get a replacement sorted and if it resolves the issue.
Regards,
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