This is honestly and truly the best review I've seen, not just on this lens, but in any lens. I love how you immediately mentioned what kinds of camera this lens works for, and later on how wide 12mm actually is, the real world uses, and I especially love the Revelation that distortion and compression is due to subject distance and not final length. Absolutely amazing!
Nice to hear a review actually talk about how the focal length affects the photos rather than 10 mins of going on about the mechanical workings and numbers
Thanks! Glad it was helpful to you. I don't have a lot of equipment, but there's a few I tend to use pretty heavily, so I figured I have enough to say something about it. Quality over quantity, as the saying goes.
I just bought this lens and learned a ton from your video! The test were perfect and extremely educational, easily one of the best reviews I've seen, not only on the lens, but also wide-angle photography. Thank you!
As someone who is new to photography, I have to say that this is one of the most informative reviews I've seen of ANY lens. Thank you for including all those samples and reference points, as well as making everything so easy to understand.
That's great to hear, I'm glad you found it so helpful. Welcome to photography! And always remember that the art of photography is always more important than the gear of photography. Your wallet will thank you for it :)
lol thanks. I used this thing for almost a year before I put my thoughts together on it, so I guess that amount of experience helps. On the other hand, it takes a year to review something for me...
Brilliant. Not a wasted word not a wasted second. This presentation quality has the ability to keep the listener glued to your explanation from start to the end.
Thanks so much. This was probably the best 'practical' review of a lens i've seen. Having never owned such a wide focal length, I found the examples of distortion extremely helpful.
I seldom comment, but that was one of the most helpful and nicely done reviews I’ve seen in a while. I feel like I got a product review an a mini course in photography all in one.
As a M43 user I've been looking at getting the Olympus 12mm, so good to know that there is this alternative & at a lower price. Thanks very much for taking the time and your approach, both the lens review and application were very helpful.
You're welcome and I'm glad its helped you. I may be too late with my reply, but I hope you also found one of the other highly viewed videos on this lens, which actually uses an Olympus M43 (and I think a Sony later on) in their video.
Wow! You really make me think about this material. And at just the perfect time. My copy of this lens arrives tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Just take a note of your settings when shooting, and note them on flickr or wherever you upload them. That's one way to keep track with lenses like this with no cpu info. Great review btw, you've explained everything so well.
Thank you for your review of this lens and for the excellent structure in your presentation and your scientific knowledge and examples. That really was good.
One of the best reviews i think i have ever seen in my (albeit rather short) life. So much useful content you cant find anywhere else, concise yet interesting and helpful. Thank you for this kind sir. Take my sub. You should go all out. Make a review channel. You have a future in this :D
As a result of watching your review I ordered this lens at B&H photo at their discounted price of $299.00. I feel it has a lot of advantages which well outweigh the drawbacks - especially at the price. I can't wait to try it out for both stills but primarily video on my Panasonic Lumix G7.
That's pretty cool - I'm sure you'll like it. It's a great value of a lens. My question is (and I ask this because I don't know anything about the G7) what about stabilization when you shoot video? If the G7 has in body stabilization, then you're all set. Otherwise, might need an external camera stabilizer.
Gotcha - very cool! Be careful with your wallet lol - video is a slippery slope. Video tripod, video head, shot gun mic, lav mic, external recorder, slider, video light, and a follow focus later, and you'll be wondering how in the world it got to this point :P Just don't forget to enjoy what you're doing.
Very useful and practical review of this remarkable lens from an obviously practised and experienced photographer. Users of mirrorless cameras with a x1.5 or x2 crop factor have some difficulties finding luminous wide angle lens whose price is not astronomical, typically a thousand or more dollars. If you're not a pro and the lens isn't going to earn you actual money, then even the Samyang/Rokinon $300+ price tag may give you pause - it's a question of your photographic passion and wanting or needing the perspective that this lens will give you. This review allows you to judge the lens' perspective and undoubted qualities very thoroughly.
+mikeonthemarne Thanks for your thoughtful words. My goal was to provide a holistic review of this lens. I know what its like when getting interested in a new bit of kit. I'll spend so much time searching for every detail I can about it, because as you pointed out, every dollar counts when it's just a hobby. I've benefited from others' work so often that I figured it was time to give back to the community too.
I'm glad it helped. Yeah it can be confusing. Just remember that a "normal" lens is different for every sensor: its the focal length that is the closest match to your sensor's diagonal measurement. And also remember that the physical distance of the camera sensor to the subject (and not the focal length of the lens) dictates distortion, unless you're using a fisheye or something on purpose. Thanks for watching.
This lense is amazing for the price, the dof is out of this world. Great for nightscapes and milky ways to portraits to architectural to even just a nice bokeh shot. With the a6000 it is incredible.
Thanks, a very informative, review with the kind of detail that is very important in photography when buying a Lense. I'm going to buy one as a result of watching your review, I can think of so many scenarios where I will use this lens. A grateful M43 user, thanks once more, professionally done.
Great review! i purchased this for the xt1 a few weeks ago and am amazed how sharp it is even when compared to some of the canon L lenses i have. worth the price!
+dsoupashis Thank you! I too am always surprised by how sharp my fuji with a 3rd party lens can be. I never had an L lens to play with, but it would definitely be interesting to try. To be fair, from what I know about the L lens pedigree, they have to work on razor edge precision in everything from a snow storm to a war zone. The Rokinons are comparable on sharpness, but let's remember that's all they were developed for, and that's perfectly fine for a lot of us.
this is the first mf lens of mine (previously I need af and oss lens for street photography because I need to catch instant moment). I recently purchased this lens and your review assessment and specific detail can help me understand more about it. thanks for your effort and dedication for this video, good health and good luck
+Hoài Nguyễn Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you found the video helpful. Things certainly get interesting when using this lens for street photography. I never feel close enough to the action when I use it, but then if I get too close, people get distorted. You'll have to use that fact to its best advantage. There are some people who have done great street work by using a fish eye on purpose, so it can certainly be done. Would love to hear your experiences with it.
Dear, sir, thank you so very much for this excellent review! Needed your review before my purchase! Great help! Wishing you all the best always! Best Regards from Sweden!
I received this 1hr ago. All I can say is that the build quality is superb!!! Paired with My X-T3 and seems I will not be unmounting this very soon. lol! The apreture ring feels nice and the focusing is so clean and well damped.
This was an amazing review. I have been on RU-vid researching photography and videography and this review taught me more about to use my camera than most things I watch. Great Work!
Hey, this is such an excellent review! As a former academic, I applaud your teaching style which was fun and informative both in one. I've been thinking about this lens for a couple of months, but had bought a bunch of Olympus/Panasonic kit and so was trying to slow myself down w.r.t. spending. However, what I'm going to do now is to try and use two lenses I have - the M.Zuiko 9-18mm and the 12mm end of the Oly 12-40 f/2.8 that came with my E-M1. Well, m4/3 has a more severe crop factor, so I guess it's really the 9mm end of the wider zoom that will compare with the perspective issues you have revealed. What I liked about this review is that I learnt quite a bit about photography, not just about the lens which I had read quite a bit about and also seen reviewed on RU-vid. Wishing you all the best, and thanks, again. Rama Lakshmanan
Well thanks for the kind words! I'm always happy when someone gets some benefit out of these videos. Honestly, based on what you have already, I can't really see what value this 12mm would add for you. The only things this lens would do better than what you have is...astrophotography. And maybe time lapses, depending on how well your camera and auto lenses handle aperture flicker. I applaud you for trying to reign in the gear acquisition - that stuff can really get away from us quickly. I've acquired a bunch of mid-grade stuff over the years, and what got me to slow down was realizing this: history's most influential and impactful photos were taken by photographers with cameras that were only 10% as capable as the cheapest dslr today. They spent more time finding stories and content, and didn't worry about the gear. Of course, if someone's thing is multi exposure composites of distance galaxies, that's a niche that only a large check can address, but thankfully that's on the fringes of the photographic bell curve. Thanks for watching and writing.
Thanks for the good advice. Have never tried astrophotography (other than some horrible attempts at the moon, and not the recent phenomenon) but I suppose if I had bought (or do buy) the 2/12 Rokinon/Samyang I would/will try it at least. I think the draw was the light gathering - though my Oly 12-40 is only a stop behind. I am a bit of a sucker for "subject isolation" which on a small m4/3 sensor is probably most difficult amongst the mirrorless/DSLR group. Have seen some photos with superb colour rendition (which was not on a Fuji and so can't be put down to that line's agility with this) and lovely contrasts. I confess a certain amount of "toy fix". Was in a depression for over 2 years (now lifting through use of the cameras and lenses bought in the last couple of months) and so my spending was next to nil. However, my mental illness is severe enough to prevent me from working (last 12 years) and though I do get support for my disability, I have to not to be too foolish as well. Earlier this year I had my two-year "capability for work assessment" and I was bumped up a notch on the severity scale, but also it was determined that I should have been at this level in the past and so I got £4500 in "back pay" as well. I've managed to hold onto most of that, but I downplayed my camera splurge in the earlier comment ... Total damage: Pana GX80 w/12-32mm kit + Pana/Leica 25mm f/1.4 + Pana 42.5 f/1.7, Oly E-M1 w/12-40 Pro, M.Zuiko 9-18mm. Plus a few other peripheral bits and bobs. I did get some special deals on the cameras, but ... a LOT of change!!! (Been able to save about half of it back.) So what I mean to say is that your caution is a timely and appropriate one. Your point about standout photos being taken with less agile gear is of course an excellent one and my friend who was teaching me photography long distance (also an academic :-) ) would show me some great photos of his own with throw away 35mm cameras and such. I think what I lack in talent and gifting I try and make up for with learning the tech and trying to apply it!!! (Engineer by training.) Anyway, thanks again for the feedback. I'll hold off the Samyang for the immediate future at least!!! Had anyway promised myself I would experiment with taking 12mm photos with my other gear as well. Rama
Rama, I commend you for persevering through what you've been dealing with - that sounds like a tough situation, and I'm glad to hear you're doing a little better now than before. Still sounds like you've got a long battle ahead, so keep up the fight. As far as photography goes, I think it's a great way to connect or reconnect with life. And don't worry too much about any lack of talent or such. Cameras are a very technical subject, so it takes some time to digest. It's like an instrument in a way, in that its hard to learn, and all you do is copy others at the beginning, but eventually your own style and identity comes through. A camera gives everyone their own voice, and in a way I think that's therapeutic. There’s definitely a motivating effect after buying new gear, but that’s an expensive way to sustain a hobby. If you’re just starting out, I’d advocate more for buying photo books, like LIFE’s 100 Photographs That Changed the World or any number of such books with similar titles. Those books cost like $8 used, and most of their pictures could’ve been taken with today’s iphones, which serves as a reality check to keep me grounded. I’d imagine a huge strong point for micro 4/3rd cameras are how small they are, and can be taken almost anywhere and not attract undue attention. People are so nervous about looking bad in photos that I think the smaller the camera, the more at ease they are about being in a picture. As far as subject isolation goes, big apertures help, there’s a lot you can do to “cheat” the effect. 3 distances are involved - the lens length, the distance from the camera to subject, and the distance from the subject to background. Let’s say you had something like an 80mm equivalent telephoto; by bringing the subject as close as possible to the camera, and by having a lot of distance behind the subject, you can completely blow out the background even at f8 or 10. Adjust those 3 parameters inversely (use a wider lens, lengthen the distance from camera to subject, shorten the distance from subject to background), and the isolation effect decreases.
Thanks. I've taken to putting more of my pics on Facebook than Flickr this year ... That has resulted in my posting more "personal" photos rather than ones I feel I need to "showcase". Am much happier as a result! Eric, my "photography tutor" used to challenge me very aggressively whenever I thought about buying new kit - but he did so honestly to reveal to me that I didn't really need x/y/z! However, he is now a senior professor at University College London and doesn't have as much time to engage in email back and forth. His last message said he tends mainly to use his mobile phone (but which he said has a good camera) and his old G1 (which was my first foray into m4/3 as my basic EOS cameras plus couple of lenses were so heavy!) I still really like my G1 - it is really IBIS and a pocketable body that makes my GX80 more appealing. He has a few M42 legacy lenses adapted to m4/3 and other than that uses his 20mm pancake on the G1 (and I've lost my similar pancake lens but chose to buy the 25mm f/1.4 instead of replacing). Regarding my disability ... Well, I've known about it since 1989 when I had my first breakdown in Boston while writing up my PhD thesis. Nearly three decades has given me some resilience but also an understanding and awareness of bipolarity. Been in hospital 35 times all round the world! Do take care, and once again thanks for reigning me in! As for cameras being a technical subject, I find every time I wax eloquent about what I think I've learnt I find that I'm speaking to a well-versed film devotee more often than not which is quite humbling ... But in a nice way. I had fun watching your clip on the Samyang and look forward to other videos as well even if not directly related to something I'm considering buying.
Sounds like you've got a good friend and mentor in Eric the professor. Yeah its definitely a big step to post personal subjects than just showcase photos. Some people like to keep their online persona separate from their personal lives, and others lay their whole lives before the camera. Everyone has to find their own balance with it. At the end of the day, it should still always be enjoyable, and not a source of stress or anxiety. At that point, things have gone too far. I wish you the best on your dealings with bipolar. I can't fathom what that's like to live with. But I'm glad you got something out of the video. Take care!
There have been issues w/ this lens focusing past infinity if you go to the end of the focus ring movement. Should double check your infinity focus w/ a depth of field chart as with f/8 on a 12mm crop sensor lens set to infinity focus, everything past 3 ft should be in focus.
To make it more interesting, this 12 mm lens mounted on a full frame camera, will give you a full, no vignetted 15 mm photography! Yes, crop factor will make it an 18 if you use apsc mode, for isntance, on a sony. But if you take the full frame and snap a picture, it will deliver a 12mm photograph with vignetting that, when manually cropped, becomes a marvelous 15 mm instead of 18 mm. Kind of a hidden gem of lens.
Having to manually focus doesn’t bother me but you need to have good vision imgs.love/RokinonLens or wear your glasses/contacts. I use this for weather, architecture, landscapes, family portraits, and sometimes even birth photography. I need more equipment for astrophotography but that is on my list.
NearlyFromAfar, thanks this is a great review, thanks for this wonderful tutorial. I just got this lens for my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. I will share the link to the videos once I get to the point.
Great review. I liked the listing of applications. I can see you are trying to explain how the lens can be applied within the constraints of a wide angle. It's a type of lens that takes a great deal of understanding to use properly. I have used wide for street photography a lot over the years and even ordinary people shots. I recently purchased a Sony A6000 to accompany my Nikon D600 which I already have a range of prime lenses for within the 24 to 35mm range (f/2.8 to f/1.4). I recently purchased the Sigma 19mm 2.8 Art for the Sony and have been looking for something wider which is why I am seriously considering the Rokinon 12mm f/2. It appears to work great in low light which I would love for indoor and outdoor night street photography. I was thinking of the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DN Contemporary lens instead, but 45mm to 50mm on my ASPC A6000 is something I could get manual with the Sigma 35mm 1.4 with the F to E adapter if it came down to it for street portraiture which I do a great deal of. At which F stop were you to get the "gun and run" shots you discussed? I am comfortable getting in close as possible without losing context --it's what I do. Though recently I have been forcing myself to work more with my 50mm and 35 on the D600, but it's huge compared to the A6000. Anyhow, would you recommend this lens for journalistic/street style shooting? I admit I am still on the fence and may jump for the Sigma 30mm 1.4 even if it means waiting for the "right" wide angle lens in the future.
Oh man sorry taking so long to answer your question, since I see you're in the middle of a debate between lenses. This isn't my first wide angle - I've shot with a Tokina 11-16 on a 1.6x Canon Rebel for a while beforehand, and found I was on the 11mm end most often. I quite like the wide view, because it shows space. Based on all that you wrote, yes, I would definitely recommend this 12mm for journalistic/street shooting. Sounds like it would fit into your style very well. I honestly don't use it wide open that often - mostly around f4 or below, to have good dof on purpose. In the run and gun segment of this vid, I was around 5.6 to 8, depending on light / shadow of the city. I was using that range again for dof. Let me know what you think of it if you get it.
Good review, but the "weaknesses" are inherent to any 12mm and have nothing to do with the Rokinon and I assume that most people will realize this. I just bought this lens and haven't been able to do a lot of shooting with it. I also use a Fuji X-T1 and really like the lens, a lot. I don't care about autofocus because I often use manual focus, anyway.
You're right, Danvil, that is the way wide angles are. I was trying to quantify it for people who have no previous experience with a wide angle. Congrats on the new lens, sounds like it'll suit you well!
Neat review with great insight thats helpful for a novice mirrorless user like me.I've been meaning to get wide angles lens for a do it all. now im rethinking my thought process and perhaps i should go for wide zoom instead of wide prime lens for less hassle control.
Good vid, thanks. Waiting for delivery of mine. But for Sony E, crop. I think sony E crops are more popular (in units out there) than their full frame counterparts. A5000, A6000 are good value mirrorless systems.
noticed that there is a "bulging front" ,But it's covered under the filter mount unlike lenses for eg. Nikon 14-24 2.8; so that means filters CAN mount Directly to the lens ( on the Nikon and other [8, 10 &16 mm ] lenses A separate filter adaptor mount from LEE MUST be attached for any filter to mount to these lenses, as the bulging front makes this prohibitive but some makes of telephoto lenses and Telescope eyepieces overcome this with a filter "drawer" or mounting 39 mm filters onto the rear element on a special thread mount/filter wheel.)
Very detailed review. Can you please explain what you did to change the image from 19:50 to 20:00 ? I would like to try those changes on some images I have taken previously. Thanks in advance.
Thanks, that was from using Lightroom's lens distortion correction feature. It tries to "fix" any distortion caused by a lens from pre-made (and downloadable) algorithms for all sorts of different lenses. Not sure what image editing software you use, but search for something like "lens distortion correction" in relation to your software. For example, searching those terms into google or youtube for Lightroom will bring up a ton of tutorials on how to use it.
Very nice rev! Clear and easy to listen even for a non-english person. I'm searching for a wide angle for my fuji and I have seen this 12 mm or the samyang 14 mm 2.8 + Zhongyi speedbooster which will turn the field of view of the apsc sensor in a full frame. I'm not a pro and I like to shoot architecture and produce videos of rooms/interior, which one do you think is better?
+Marco Sartoretto Thank you, I'm glad the video was easy to understand. I've never used any speed booster before, but from a quick search, the Zhongyi gives a 0.726x crop. Is that right? If so, then it will turn the 14mm 2.8 into almost a 10mm, which makes a big difference vs a 12mm when talking about wide angle lenses (remember to add the 1.5x crop factor back in from the camera itself). My personal opinion is: wide is necessary when you need it, but I wouldn't have a super wide lens be my only lens. Great for interiors, but not great for everything outside, as you saw in the video. Also, the 12mm is very compact. The 14mm 2.8 is big, and with a speedbooster it will be even bigger. If you have plans on buying a full frame camera in the future, then it might be worth going with the 14mm 2.8 now for the full frame mount you want, and get a speed booster that fits Fuji + whatever FF mount you plan on. Just some things to think about.
Sony has crop sensor E mount cameras. The full frame version you're talking about is the FE mount. Sony also has a the A mount, which is based off of Minolta's Maxxum mount, which is designed for more conventional cameras. Also the E mount is shared on their FS series video production cameras, which have a Super35mm -similar in size to APS-C.
+ingaman Thank you for commenting - that's very good information. Are the crop E mounts physically different than the FE mount (ie the Rokinon work on one and not the other)? I didn't mention an A mount because as far as I can tell, Rokinon hasn't made this lens in an A mount.
All the DSLR Rokinon lenses are available for A mount according to the B&H website, but probably in limited supply and not available everywhere -it's not a popular mount anymore. The FE and E mounts are same in concept to Nikon's F mount. Although DX and FX sensors are different in size, the mount itself remains the same. You can put crop sensor lenses on full frame bodies. The advantage to this is primarily for video though, which you mention your video isn't really about. Many A7S users shoot video in crop mode to avoid exaggerated rolling shutter. Thank you for this video by the way. I was looking to get this lens for video, but I couldn't find any in depth reviews anywhere. They also make a cine version of this lens with focusing gears built in, which is exactly what I need to complete my setup.
+ingaman You're welcome. That's a fascinating bit about less rolling shutter w/ a crop format - is that literally because the vertical distance of each "scan" is less on a crop sensor than a full frame? I dabbled with video with an old T3i, and random p&s', as can be seen in my older videos, but just never felt comfortable with it.
That's pretty much the idea. Video is limited to certain resolutions, so dual-purpose cameras with 20+ megapixel sensors often have exaggerated rolling shutter effects. Image capture always tries to stay as close to the effective megapixels as possible, but video capture cannot do this. This is why you'll often see production cameras with around 8 effective megapixel sensors. Higher end production cameras will even have CCD sensors or global shutters. Video can be fun, but it's certainly more cumbersome than photography. I started with video and am now getting into photography. They're both very different crafts with a lot of similarities.
This all sounds like it would lead to a debate about using a big sensor for low light abilities vs a smaller sensor to minimize rolling shutter. Everyone would have to decide for themselves which is the higher priority for their own uses. I found video fairly enjoyable, as clunky as it was for me. Definitely different mindset than stills. But the hardest thing about it had nothing to do with the video - it was finding soundtracks that were both engaging and legal to use on youtube. I've had way too many videos blocked for its soundtrack after I spent hours editing. Gets discouraging after a while. [edit - grammer]
