Samyang 8mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC Fisheye Lens Review

Samyang 8mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC Fisheye Handling and features

The build quality of this 8mm fisheye lens from Samyang is excellent. It feels very well put together and is very lightweight at ony 217g. The lens mount is metal and the lens is also quite compact. The lens balances very well on the Sony NEX 3 used for testing as a result.

Focusing and control over the aperture are both manual, as the lens has no electronic contact with the camera. Half stop intervals have been used to divide the aperture range, giving plenty of control for exposure. The focusing ring is extremely well damped. In fact it is so well damped, it can be quite stiff to move through the range. Focus distances from infinity to the closest focus distance of 30cm are marked on the ring, but no hyperfocal scale is provided.

Taking images of anything over two to three metres away is simple, as the lens can simply be left set on or close to infinity. For closer distances it is recommended to use the magnification feature of your camera to ensure sharp images, especially at wide apertures.

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