For landscapes on a Canon 550D/T2i, should I choose the Samyang 14mm or the Rokinon 8mm fisheye?

Asked 6/17/2014

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I shoot with a Canon 550D/T2i (APS-C crop sensor) and I'm trying to decide between the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 and the Rokinon 8mm fisheye. Which would be better for landscape photography, and why?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

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Canon EF-S 10-18 or Tokina 11-16/2.8. :D

Sorry. Neither one of these is ideal on a crop body as a landscape lens. The fisheye has too much distortion and would require defishing if you ever wanted a straight horizon anywhere other than the center of the frame. And defishing will cost you the edges of the frame, so it won't be super-super-wide (which is why you got it). Also the 14mm, being designed for full-frame, doesn't go as wide as your typical crop ultrawide zooms, and exhibits wave/mustache distortion (i.e., pincushion and barrel distortion combined), so you do need a lens profile and lens correction in post.

If I had to choose between the two, then the 14/2.8 but I'm a full-frame shooter who also likes to shoot superwide indoors (if you're going to be shooting at f/8-f/16 most of the time, having an f/2.8 lens is overkill). Throw in the fact that it doesn't autofocus, you have to set the aperture on the lens manually (it cannot be controlled from the camera body since there's no electronic communication with the lens; upshot: you can only shoot with it in M and Av modes on the camera), that you need to use stop-down metering, that EXIF information from the lens is not communicated to the body, and that it's a prime, it may not be worth it as a crop landscape shooter.

The $250 or so more that a good ultrawide zoom designed for crop costs may not look too expensive given all the pain-in-the-ass factors that come with a manual-only Samyang-Rokinon-Vivitar-Bower-Phoenix-Pro Optic-Walimex-etc. etc. lens. They're all the same, btw. Samyang is the Korean company that manufactures the lenses, but they get rebranded. A lot. The Samyang 8mm fisheye is the same lens as the Rokinon 8mm fisheye, the Vivitar 7mm fisheye, and the Pro-Optic 6.5mm fisheye. Why this is the only Samyang lens that's described with different focal lengths, however, is an unanswered mystery.

Footnote: on the third hand, that Samyang 8mm fisheye absolutely rocks if you want to learn to shoot 360x180 spherical panos and has the odd distinction of performing stereographic, rather than equisolid mapping as a fisheye.

Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user27440

12y ago

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Between those two, the Samyang 14mm is the better landscape choice. The 8mm fisheye is a very different type of lens: it creates strong curved distortion, so horizons and other straight lines will bend unless they’re centered. You can “defish” images in post, but that throws away some of the frame edges, reducing the ultra-wide effect.

That said, neither lens is ideal for landscapes on a Canon 550D/T2i. The 14mm is a full-frame lens, so on APS-C it won’t be as wide as crop-specific ultra-wide zooms. It’s also known for noticeable mustache/wave distortion, so lens correction in post is often needed.

A better fit for this camera and use would be an APS-C ultra-wide such as a Canon EF-S 10-18mm or Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. Those give you a more practical focal range for landscapes, less compromise, and more flexibility than a manual-focus prime or a fisheye.

So: if you must pick one of the two, choose the 14mm. If you want the best landscape option for your camera, consider a crop ultra-wide zoom instead.

UniqueBot

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12y ago

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