A Quick Yet Comprehensive Guide To Rokinon Lenses

Our friends over at The Phoblographer published something really useful: a survey covering all Rokinon lenses for DSLR cameras. Among lenses for other mount types, the following lenses with Canon mount are covered: 8mm Ultra Wide Angle f/3.5 Fisheye Lens, 8mm T/3.8 Fisheye Cine Lens, 14mm Ultra Wide-Angle f/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens, 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Wide-Angle Lens, 35mm f/1.4 Wide-Angle US UMC Aspherical Lens, 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens. Don’t miss the survey!

To see all Rokinon lenses for EF mount on B&H click here, to see all Rokinon lenses on Amazon click here.

Shot using the Rokinon 14mm Ultra Wide-Angle f/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens – Image Credit: Chris Gampat/The Phoblographer

[Review] EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM and EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM (and why it is better to have newer lenses for new gear)

ephotozine reviewed Canon’s new EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM ($850, click here) and EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM ($800, click here). Both lenses are the second iteration, adding Image Stabilization and USM to its features. They replace some rather old, and affordable, lenses, the EF 24mm f/2.8 ($374, click here) and the EF 28mm f/2.8 ($259, click here). These lenses are somewhat discussed. They have good performance but it is common opinion that the price tag is a little exaggerated. However, all reviews I saw are crediting these lenses having good optical properties and overall performance. These lenses are particularly useful for videographers. ephotozine wanted to have a closer look on both lenses.

Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM Pros (click here for the review)

  • Good build quality
    Lightweight
    Image Stabilisation
    Excellent sharpness
    Focuses close

Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM Pros (click here for the review)

  • Good build quality
    Lightweight
    Image Stabilisation
    Outstanding sharpness
    Focuses close

Finally, I want to feature a post by Scott Bourne about how important new glasses are for new DSLRs. The article takes AF performance as an example: if you are not using pro glasses on pro gear you can’t expect that your DSLR will perform as expected. And there is more (emphasis mine):

I spoke with Canon representatives who prefer to remain unnamed and they admitted that the new AF systems on the 5D Mk IIIand 1DX are optimized to work with the newest, fastest glass.

So the thing to know is this. If you expect a remarkable improvement in AF just because you buy a new 5D MK III or 1DX you may be slightly disappointed. You need that fast, new glass too.

Simple, isn’t it? :-) Good that there is a huge Canon lenses August discount program going on (click here)!

EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Three New Samyang VDSLR Lenses To Be Released Soon (14mm, 24mm and 35mm)

Video making with a DSLR is having a big momentum. No surprise that Samyang just announced three new VDSRL lenses (with Canon mount). The lenses are  35mm T1.5 AS UMC , 24mm  T1.5 ED AS IF UMC and 14mm T3.1 ED AS IF UMC. The lenses will be released “in sequence”: the 35mm starting next week, the 24mm at the end of August and the 14mm in September. No prices have been communicated so far.

PRESS RELEASE 9th AUGUST 2012

Soon on sales!

SAMYANG T1.5 35mm AS UMC SAMYANG T1.5 24mm ED AS IF UMC SAMYANG T3.1 14mm ED AS IF UMC

Cracow, 9th August 2012 – Samyang Optics gladly informs, that Samyang Family has been enlarged by three new lenses dedicated for digital cinema purpose.

Lenses with focal 35mm, 24 mm and 14mm will be available on sales in sequence next week, at the end of August and in September.

The construction of the new lenses has been based on previous types dedicated for photography. Their main feature are racks co-operating with follow – focus system, and a ring rotated continously. Thanks to these alterations it is possible to precisely and silently operate focus and depth of field. Another facility is putting aperture and focus scale parallel to the axis of the lens and aperture marked with number of transmission T. Lenses are compatible with Nikon and Canon cameras.

Prices will be announced soon.

14mm
24mm
35mm

[Review] Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC In Depth Review

Photography blog has another helpful review. This time about the Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC, an affordable lens with excellent optic properties, and with no AF nor electronic metering. However, this lens is a valid alternative if you are on a budget, having a price tag of $699, and are looking for a fast lens (f/1.4!) with very good optical quality and perfomance.

The Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC’s build quality is reassuringly good […] makes an ideal partner to a full-frame like the Canon EOS 5D Mark III t[…]. Focusing manually is straight-forward thanks to the responsive focusing ring […], with Live View mode proving essential for closer focusing distances. […] video shooters will positively embrace the de-clicked aperture version of this lens.

Image quality is generally excellent. Chromatic aberrations are very well controlled, geometric distortion is impressively low for an ultrawide lens […], and the coatings successfully prevent contrast loss attributable to flare. The only real optical issues are obvious corner shading at the maximum aperture, something that every full-frame shooter has to put up with especially when using wide angles, and a lack of sharpness wide-open at f/1.4 and stopped-down at f/22.

Amazon US has a kit with the lens, bundling an UV filter, a cleaning kit, a memory card storage wallet and more, for $699.95 (click here)

Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[Rumor] More Canon Mirrorless Speculations

Canon Mirrorless Concept By D. Riesenberg

More Canon Mirrorless newsbits (aka rumors, :-)) have shown up. CR reports that the mirrorless camera will «launch with at least 2 lenses and an EF adaptor. One lens will be a wide angle “kit” lens as well as a telephoto lens». Let’s hope the adapter will also be able to take EF-S lenses (we all hope so!). Moreover, the rumors CR is reporting are saying that Canon’s new primes – the 24mm f/2.8 IS USM, 28mm f/2.8 IS USM and the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM – have been thought to go along well with the upcoming mirrorless camera Canon is working on. Makes sense IMO. No exact information about the camera body: «the camera will use the 14mp CMOS G1 X sensor. A “good” ISO range and “average” video performance. A video focused camera could be “in the future”». The rumors make sense. There is only one thing that continues to baffle me: the supposed date for the announcement, July 24th. In the midst of the summer? Strange day for a new camera announcement.

Price check of the cited gear:
EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA EF 40mm f/2.8 STM: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[via CR]