Samyang MF 14mm f/2.8 Z

£359/$399 Huge viewing angle, small price

The wide-angle counterpart to the 85mm Samyang prime, this 14mm lens delivers a mighty viewing angle on FX bodies, and a still very wide one on DX cameras, with a 21mm effective focal length. As a fully manual lens, it has all of the same pros and cons of the other Samyang Z-mount lens here but, thanks to its wide-angle nature, the lack of stabilization is less of an issue with DX bodies.

Handling is good with smooth action to the long-throw focus ring, plus depth of field markers for ‘zone focusing.’ This enables you to line up the min and max distances on the focus scale that should appear sharp in the resulting image, against aperture markers on the lens barrel. The construction feels solid and includes weather-seals. High-quality glass includes aspherical, hybrid-aspherical, ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and HR (High Refractive index) elements.

Performance

Sharpness is ace across the entire frame, even when shooting wide-open at f/2.8. But barrel distortion can look pronounced in architectural shots.

N-photo verdict

It’s a smart buy for shooting landscapes and architecture. The f/2.8 aperture makes it useful for astro as well.