SAMYANG XP 14MM F/2.4
A top-class lens from Samyang’s premium range of photo primes
SOUTH KOREAN MANUFACTURER SAMYANG
IS BEST KNOWN FOR ITS FULLY MANUAL PRIME LENSES THAT ARE GOOD QUALITY AND RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE TO BUY. SAMYANG LENSES ARE GENERALLY AVAILABLE IN A WIDE ARRAY OF MOUNT OPTIONS TO SUIT ALMOST EVERY MAKE OF FULLFRAME AND CROP-SENSOR CAMERA BUT TYPICALLY HAVE NO BUILT-IN ELECTRONICS, SO THE APERTURE NEEDS TO BE SET WITH THE LENS’S ON-BOARD CONTROL RING. NIKON-MOUNT OPTIONS TEND TO BE A NOTABLE EXCEPTION, USUALLY HAVING THE INCLUSION OF ELECTRONICS.
THE XP (XPERT) RANGE OF LENSES IS
RATHER MORE EXOTIC, AIMING FOR TOP OPTICAL PERFORMANCE. THERE ARE CURRENTLY FIVE IN TOTAL, INCLUDING 10MM, 14MM, 35MM, 50MM, AND 85MM PRIMES, ALL IN CANON EF MOUNT WITH BUILT-IN ELECTRONICS. THE 14MM LENS ON TEST IS THE ONLY ONE THAT’S ALSO AVAILABLE IN NIKON F MOUNT. AS WITH THE IRIX 15MM LENS, THE SAMYANG DELIVERS THE SAME BONUSES OF CAMERA-DRIVEN APERTURE CONTROL, FOCUS ASSIST/CONFIRMATION LAMP ILLUMINATION AND STORAGE OF LENS-BASED EXIF DATA WITH IMAGES.
WELL-SUITED TO LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY, SAMYANG’S XP LENSES ARE DESIGNED TO DELIVER OPTIMUM SHARPNESS AND CLARITY, TO MAKE
THE MOST OF HIGH-RESOLUTION, 50-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA BODIES. THE OPTICAL PATH IS COMPLEX FOR A PRIME LENS, MATCHING THE TAMRON ZOOM ON TEST WITH ITS TOTAL COUNT OF 18 ELEMENTS. IN THE SAMYANG, THESE INCLUDE TWO ASPHERICAL ELEMENTS, ONE HYBRID ASPHERICAL ELEMENT, TWO ED (EXTRA-LOW DISPERSION) ELEMENTS, AND THREE HR (HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX) ELEMENTS.
BUILD QUALITY FEELS JUST AS SOLID AS IN
THE IRIX LENS, AND HANDLING BENEFITS FROM A RUBBERISED FOCUS RING WITH LONG ROTATIONAL TRAVEL AND SUPER-SMOOTH OPERATION, ENABLING VERY PRECISE ADJUSTMENTS. HOWEVER, THE SAMYANG HAS NO WEATHER-SEALS, AND ALTHOUGH IT FEATURES A FOCUS-DISTANCE SCALE, THERE ARE NO MARKERS FOR DEPTH OF FIELD OR HYPERFOCAL DISTANCES. THE VIEWING ANGLE IS MARGINALLY WIDER THAN WITH THE IRIX LENS, BUT THE SAMYANG’S BUILT-IN HOOD PRECLUDES THE EASY FITMENT OF FILTERS.