A manual lens with superb picture quality and a sturdy, solid build.
I bought this lens because I was looking for a wide angle lens on my 7D that would not break the bank. This lens goes by a few names (Rokinon, Samyang, maybe a few more), but from what I have read, they are all produced by the same manufacturer. Overall it is an excellent lens and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
The first thing I noticed about the lens when I received it is the weight. This is not a light lens-- basically all of the components are metal and it has a nice solid build to it.
The second thing I noticed about the lens was that not only did the focus scale seem way off, I just couldn't get anything in focus. Everything was blurry and soft. I was devastated. Before throwing in the towel and sending it back, I did a little bit of poking around on the internet-- not only is this a common problem, it is easily fixed!!!!
Using the LiveView and digital zoom on your camera, find a distance you can get a crisp focus at-- whether that is at 2 feet or 20 feet, then look at the focus scale and see what this reads (0.3m to infinity). Next, roll back the wide rubber grip and you'll see 4 screws (the size you'd find in a pair of glasses). Don't touch the 1 Phillips head screw, but loosen the 3 flat ("minus") head screws (you may have to carefully scrape off a little bit of glue that is suppose to keep the screws from coming loose). This will allow you to spin the focus ring freely. So, if the object you focused at a few minutes ago was 3 feet away, move the focus ring so that it reads 3 feet, then snug the screws back down. It may take a couple of times to do this, but it is dead easy, it fixes the problem and all you need is a razor blade or tiny screw driver to loosen the screws.
Once you are sure you have the focus right, tighten the screws, and a dab or clear nail polish tot he heads if you are afraid they'll come loose, and then roll the rubber grip back over.
For using the lens, everything is a bit soft at f/3.5, but turn it to f/5 or f/8 and everything is crystal clear. Until you get used to the focus scale (or adjust it as I talked about above), you may have issues focusing it just because it is such a very wide angle. I use the LiveVeiw and 10x zoom on my 7D to tweak the focus and then I am ready for shooting.
This lens obviously has a bit of the fisheye distortion, but the color and focus is surprisingly sharp even at the corners of the picture. The lens handles lens flare (from, say, having the sun in a shot) remarkably well and does not seem to lose contrast or have the sun drown out your colors.
This lens may not have all of the automatic features (focus, f-stop, etc) from other lenses, but it also doesn't have the huge price tag those lenses have. The picture quality is second to none-- it performs well for night photography, star trails, daylight landscapes and everything in between. On my 7D, viewing angle seems to be about 160-170 degrees (not quite a full 180), which is just amazing.
Except for the initial focus scale/ring issues (easily adjusted with those screws and now fixed), I have no complaints about this lens, I only wished I had bought it months ago.Read full review
