# Rokinon 14mm f/2.8



## joshmurrah (Oct 25, 2012)

I dug through the forums here, and I didn't see a dedicated thread (there was some good info in the 12-24mm thread tho).

I'm looking into this lens mostly for astrophotography, so I can shoot a wide view of night skies, milky way mostly.

I tried this out with my 24-105 for the meteor shower last weekend, and found that I need something faster, and something wider, so the Rokinon seems to satisfy both of these needs.

I have two big questions:

1) does anyone have any experience shooting at infinity @ f/2.8 with this lens, does it have a fairly flat field of focus?
2) Has anyone had experiencing correcting the strong distortion in ACR 7? Is there a profile for a FF camera plus this lens in it that works well?

And of course, any general opinions about this lens would be great.

Thanks in advance!!


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## extremeinstability (Oct 25, 2012)

Number 2 first, I found one I believe in here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/extend.displayTab2.html#resources In the profile downloader area. There was just one for the lens. In the profile list I think it was listed as canon and not samyang/rokinon/etc. Works great to remove the crazy distortion. There so much resolution everything is still highly sharp after the correction. 

I haven't tried the Milky Way yet as the real good parts aren't high up now. I wonder how well it will work as there is a lot of vignetting and light loss at F2.8. May not matter given the brighter parts of the Milky Way get put in the middle. It just has a way of not feeling like F2.8 I guess. 

Edge to edge is pretty sharp at F2.8 infinity. It doesn't seem you even gain much more sharpness by stopping down than from where it starts at. But I haven't used this lens all that much yet. And my new/used 5D II also has a flange to sensor plane difference that needs fixed, but even on that it's good to go.


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## Brand B (Oct 29, 2012)

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and shot some various test shots with it (5DIII) prior to leaving on a trip, and got pretty good sharpness, but I concentrated on F5.6. Have not had a chance to do much with it at 2.8. I shot some night shots, but there is so much light pollution where I live they were't worth keeping, not a hint of the Milky Way.

I bought PTLens and am correcting the distortion externally that way, but I use Aperture. It has a plugin for LR and PS, but not for ACR. It does correct the distortion quite well though.

I hope to do some shooting with it this weekend, and will post more conclusions.


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## tron (Oct 29, 2012)

extremeinstability said:


> Number 2 first, I found one I believe in here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/extend.displayTab2.html#resources In the profile downloader area. There was just one for the lens. In the profile list I think it was listed as canon and not samyang/rokinon/etc. Works great to remove the crazy distortion. There so much resolution everything is still highly sharp after the correction.
> 
> I haven't tried the Milky Way yet as the real good parts aren't high up now. I wonder how well it will work as there is a lot of vignetting and light loss at F2.8. May not matter given the brighter parts of the Milky Way get put in the middle. It just has a way of not feeling like F2.8 I guess.
> 
> Edge to edge is pretty sharp at F2.8 infinity. It doesn't seem you even gain much more sharpness by stopping down than from where it starts at. But I haven't used this lens all that much yet. And my new/used 5D II also has a flange to sensor plane difference that needs fixed, but even on that it's good to go.


Can you please get a picture of the night sky with the lens fully open and see how the stars show at the corners? If the lens has coma (which even Canon L lenses have fully open) they will look like ... seagulls!


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## Brand B (Oct 31, 2012)

FYI, price drop to $359 at B&H for this lens:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?sub=cpw&is=REG&Q=&A=details&O=productlist&sku=769532


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## joshmurrah (Oct 31, 2012)

Price is the same at amazon (I imagine one of these two is matching the other).


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## extremeinstability (Oct 31, 2012)

tron said:


> Can you please get a picture of the night sky with the lens fully open and see how the stars show at the corners? If the lens has coma (which even Canon L lenses have fully open) they will look like ... seagulls!



I can but I have to be motivated enough to drag it out after dark lol. I should have tested it for that before when I was testing all the other lenses. I think I can chalk that up to not counting on this to be much of a night sky lens due to all the light fall off/vignetting. I suspect there's enough vignetting at f2.8 with this lens that it will be hard to get bad coma issues with stars. But now I am curious what the distortion would do to a star trail lol. Anyway, I just kinda doubt the issue will be coma on a night sky with it F2.8 and as much vignetting as there is there(it's more than the 14L II...which also has winged stars/coma I guess). I have to send my 5D II in to fix the mount to sensor plane issue, which might happen today, so it'd likely be after that returns.


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## tron (Oct 31, 2012)

extremeinstability said:


> tron said:
> 
> 
> > Can you please get a picture of the night sky with the lens fully open and see how the stars show at the corners? If the lens has coma (which even Canon L lenses have fully open) they will look like ... seagulls!
> ...


Thanks anyway! Even the vignetting information is useful. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "free lunch". I' ll check vignetting in photozone.de and the-digital-picture.com


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## cayenne (Oct 31, 2012)

Brand B said:


> FYI, price drop to $359 at B&H for this lens:
> 
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?sub=cpw&is=REG&Q=&A=details&O=productlist&sku=769532



Aside from the obvious price difference..how does this lens stack up to the Cannon 14MM?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Ultra-Wide-Angle-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000V5P94Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351707415&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+14mm

The description for the cannon says it is "corrected for rectilinear distortion"....is the other lens? 

Can someone give me a good definition (noob level) for what rectilinear distortion is? I'm guessing that is something to do with correcting fish eye lens looks?

Anyway, can someone compare on these? I was looking at the Canon...to mess with, but if this cheaper one is in the ballpark, might be a quicker way to play with a very ultra-wide lens...

I'd also seen some non-cannon, I think a Samyang (sp?) what was a 8mm?

cayenne


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## Drizzt321 (Oct 31, 2012)

Brand B said:


> FYI, price drop to $359 at B&H for this lens:
> 
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?sub=cpw&is=REG&Q=&A=details&O=productlist&sku=769532



Holy crap that's tempting right now. Just got a couple of vintage m42 lenses off of ebay...so I'm going to avoid spending more money on lenses, even one this inexpensive.


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## risc32 (Nov 1, 2012)

I'm almost in the same boat as the OP, so i'd also like to hear what you guys have to say. I read a review somewhere, "lenstip?" that showed very little coma wide open. well below what my personal threshold would be for coma. the other option is to get an "astrotrac", for a bit more money, then shoot away at nearly any f stop i want, but then it changes things once you start having your camera moving on even longer exposures.. ay well....


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## tron (Nov 1, 2012)

risc32 said:


> I'm almost in the same boat as the OP, so i'd also like to hear what you guys have to say. I read a review somewhere, "lenstip?" that showed very little coma wide open. well below what my personal threshold would be for coma. the other option is to get an "astrotrac", for a bit more money, then shoot away at nearly any f stop i want, but then it changes things once you start having your camera moving on even longer exposures.. ay well....


I do have Astrotrac and I was able to take some nice wide field pictures of the sky. The problem is with Landscape Astrophotography where the camera has to be steady on a tripod. In addition I read many reviews where the buyers had exchanged their copies a lot until the got a good one (the main problem was decentering).


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## Brand B (Nov 2, 2012)

cayenne said:


> The description for the cannon says it is "corrected for rectilinear distortion"....is the other lens?



The Rokinon is not. However, PT lens, the correction utility, fixes the images quite well.


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## Axilrod (Nov 2, 2012)

I've heard nothing but great things about this lens and have considered ditching my 14L II for it. I think the Rokinon is just as good in pretty much every aspect aside from distortion. Pretty amazing that they can pump out such quality products for reasonable prices.


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## Drizzt321 (Nov 2, 2012)

Axilrod said:


> I've heard nothing but great things about this lens and have considered ditching my 14L II for it. I think the Rokinon is just as good in pretty much every aspect aside from distortion. Pretty amazing that they can pump out such quality products for reasonable prices.



Except, of course, for the weird and difficult to correct distortion  But I agree, it's fantastic they can deliver such great performance at such a price.

Now, the things we're lacking, is amazing build quality, and....I guess that's about it aside from the crazy distortion.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 2, 2012)

joshmurrah said:


> I dug through the forums here, and I didn't see a dedicated thread (there was some good info in the 12-24mm thread tho).


You did not find anything, because Rokinon does not make lenses, they rebrand other makes. Search for Samyang.


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## Standard (Nov 3, 2012)

> > I dug through the forums here, and I didn't see a dedicated thread (there was some good info in the 12-24mm thread tho).
> 
> 
> You did not find anything, because Rokinon does not make lenses, they rebrand other makes. Search for Samyang.



That's absolutely right. Samyang lenses are also sold under other brand names such as Rokinon, Bower, Pro-Optic and Walimex Pro. Interestingly, the exact same lens cost less if you were to buy it under these other names instead of Samyang. For instance, the ultra wide angle Samyang 14mm for the Canon mount under the Pro-Optic label cost $359 while under Bower costs $384 at Amazon. At B&H, under Rokinon it costs $359, under Bower $384 and Samyang $399.


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## chest (Nov 3, 2012)

I was looking for a very wide angle lens and read so many excellent comments and reviews for this that for the price it was worth taking a chance - and I'm glad I did.
The first thing you need to do is download lens correction software - I got PTlens - this corrects the slightly odd distortion (the main negative point against the Samyang 14mm).
The build quality - other than the lens cap seems very high for such a price - very smooth distance ring.
You will need to do a few quick tests with the infinity and distance markings - I have it set at the infinity mark - and at around f8 and above its very sharp.
I've found that rather than it being a lens to get 'everything in' it works best when you get very close up to something (in a landscape like a building etc)- the images are very dynamic.
The main problem I have is being able to focus on small objects like for example a wine glass on a table - it takes a lot of practise.
I've done a load of shots at f2.8 hand held at night at iso 3200 on a 5d3 on city street images and and was pleased with the results, 
I would absolutely recommend this lens - it takes a little work at first but for the price - its around £1500 cheaper than the Canon - its worth the chance (even though Ken Rockwell's
review was not good - the only bad one i've read though).


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 3, 2012)

Personally, I much preferred the used Canon 15mm fisheye to the 14mm Samyang I bought and returned.
Here are images from the same point using each. Note that the fisheye shows a wider view than the Samyang and is not badly distorted on the left side.
I haven't tried the defishing software with the fisheye image.
Canon 15mm FE






Samyang


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## Frodo (Nov 3, 2012)

Great lens, especially for the price. Indeed, it seems to be as good as the Canon 14mm 2.8 II and better than version I. 
I process my photos in Lightroom and the profile I downloaded through the Profile downloader is good, but I found a better one I have yet to install manually. The existing profile corrects the wavy distortion fine and also the vignetting. There is no chromatic aberation to speak of. The profle is efficient, in that it crops very little of the image.
Here are a couple of photos. The first is on a 5D MkII 30 seconds at f2.8 at ISO 3200.
The second is at 1/40 at f8 ISO 100.
Cheers


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## joshmurrah (Nov 5, 2012)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> joshmurrah said:
> 
> 
> > I dug through the forums here, and I didn't see a dedicated thread (there was some good info in the 12-24mm thread tho).
> ...



Point taken!

I did search for Samyang 14mm as well, there's nothing here for that either.

I labeled this thread as such, because Rokinon is by far the most popular brand name this hardware is being sold under, but I was/am aware that this is just a reseller brand.

Thanks for everyone's contributions.


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## joshmurrah (Nov 5, 2012)

Frodo that shot of the Milky Way is amazing! That's the kind of example I was looking for.


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## cayenne (Nov 5, 2012)

I was recently at the Houston Arcade Expo this past weekend....and a guy there I met shooting it, and we got to talking.
He had the Bower version of it...so, we swapped lens for awhile walking around, I tried out the 14mm....and I think I either let him work with my Canon 17-35mm or it was my Canon 85mm 1.4....

Anyway, I was really liking what I was getting with the Bower 14mm on my 5D3...I've not had a chance to see them off the camera yet, but when I can get to it...I'll see if I can post a couple that might have come out good with it.

I'm definitely wanting to get one...I'd originally been looking at saving for the Canon 14mm...but I think I might get one of these Bower/Samyan/Name of the month.......and start playing with it.

I liked the rectilinear look of it...having it not be fisheye.

I will likely get a really wide fish eye some day...but I think some form of 16mm will do me for now...

C


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## tron (Nov 5, 2012)

Just keep in mind that software that corrects distortion lowers the resolution. At least this is what I have seen reported even for the superb Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 (which by the way has a mustache distortion).


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## bchernicoff (Nov 5, 2012)

I own and love. Superb lens.


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## grahamsz (Nov 8, 2012)

I use this lens quite a bit at night.

It's easy to focus at infinity since it's hyperfocal at something like 8'. Just focus it roughly there and it's tack sharp at infinity.

Here are a couple of samples. Both use a lightroom lens profile to remove the mustache distortion, the first one also has some perspective correction applied.


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## cayenne (Nov 9, 2012)

grahamsz said:


> I use this lens quite a bit at night.
> 
> It's easy to focus at infinity since it's hyperfocal at something like 8'. Just focus it roughly there and it's tack sharp at infinity.
> 
> Here are a couple of samples. Both use a lightroom lens profile to remove the mustache distortion, the first one also has some perspective correction applied.



Wow...absolutely beautiful!!

Might I ask your camera settings for those images?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne


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## grahamsz (Nov 9, 2012)

cayenne said:


> Wow...absolutely beautiful!!
> 
> Might I ask your camera settings for those images?



Thank you!

The Northern Lights shot was a 13s exposure at ISO 10,000 
The Milky Way shot was a 30s exposure at ISO 16,000

Both were shot on a 5D Mk3, and were probably at either f/2.8 or f/4. Unfortunately I'm lazy about taking notes these days


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## Drizzt321 (Nov 13, 2012)

grahamsz said:


> cayenne said:
> 
> 
> > Wow...absolutely beautiful!!
> ...



Isn't it chipped or something so it provides the correct EXIF info? Or is it completely dumb like the old vintage lenses in a simple adapter without any electronics?


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## extremeinstability (Nov 14, 2012)

My samyang 14 isn't chipped.


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## doughmonkey (Nov 20, 2012)

$299

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-rokinon-wide-angle-lenses


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## cayenne (Nov 20, 2012)

doughmonkey said:


> $299
> 
> http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-rokinon-wide-angle-lenses



I"m not familiar with groupon...are they reputable? Trustworthy?


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## cayenne (Nov 20, 2012)

Hmm...I was about to order from them...and they're charging me SALES tax for the state of LA?

What's the deal with them charging sales tax?


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## bgran8 (Nov 20, 2012)

I just received my Rokinon 14mm today from Amazon and I wondering if someone could help me figure out how to use this lens. I've never had a manual lens and I guess I thought that live view would help me figure out what shutter speed to use while I am in M mode. I guess I was wrong and that makes sense given that my 5d Mark ii doesn't know what aperture the lens is at. 

I am wondering if their is a more accurate way to get the exposure right besides trial and error. Also, what is the best way to test this lens and make sure I got a copy that is sharp corner to corner? One last thing, how can I tell when I am at infinity (I have heard that the markings on this lens aren't always the most accurate). 

Thanks in advance!


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## cayenne (Nov 20, 2012)

bgran8 said:


> I just received my Rokinon 14mm today from Amazon and I wondering if someone could help me figure out how to use this lens. I've never had a manual lens and I guess I thought that live view would help me figure out what shutter speed to use while I am in M mode. I guess I was wrong and that makes sense given that my 5d Mark ii doesn't know what aperture the lens is at.
> 
> I am wondering if their is a more accurate way to get the exposure right besides trial and error. Also, what is the best way to test this lens and make sure I got a copy that is sharp corner to corner? One last thing, how can I tell when I am at infinity (I have heard that the markings on this lens aren't always the most accurate).
> 
> Thanks in advance!



I just ordered mine.

I borrowed one of these at an arcade fest in Houston a few weeks ago...was pretty fun and my first time using a manual lens like this too.

I rarely use live view (I've not actually figured out all the controls on it yet, will do that over xmas holidays)...but I just would set the 14mm to an aperture I wanted...experimented with different ones, but this was dark and no flash so mostly wide open.

I would then look through the view finder and click half way to see the meter, and then adjust my shutter speed till the meter showed a correct exposure, and most all of what I took was just fine.

I've just started looking at them in Aperture 3 to do a little PP..and they look great so far, exposure was pretty spot on, not much adjustments there. I've not tried to get any programs to adjust the distortion, but from what I'm seeing and what I was shooting..not really seeing any bad distortion, not like if you were shooting a brick wall where it is more apparent.

But like I said, I would just set the aperture, and most of my shots with it, I got the focus set to infinity, and then just metered through the viewfinder, adjusted the shutter speed (I set ISO to whatever seemed right)...and clicked away, just using the meter in the viewfinder.

HTH,

cayenne


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## risc32 (Nov 22, 2012)

the camera will not know what fstop you are using, nor will it stop down the lens during exposure. you can either use it in M mode and use the force(as i do with my film cams) or set your aperture value on the lens itself, then while in a mode set it to the same, and use your camera's meter. 
while i like to use the force, i'd probably go the "a" mode route.


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## mrsfotografie (Nov 22, 2012)

It's really easy: Put the camera on 'Aperture' mode, it will read '0.0'. Focus on your subject (wide open to get the smallest DOF for MF accuracy* and so you can actually see the DOF - an EF-S schreen really helps here). Stop down on the aperture ring to the desired aperture, half-press the shutter button to automatically meter. Shutter speed too long? Select a larger aperture or higher iso. By the way, exposure compensation also works like it should in A-mode. 

I've quickly added an AF confirmation chip to mine as I've found it difficult/too slow to judge the focus/dof even with the EF-S matte screen in the viewfinder. The short focal length comes into play here - with longer focal lengths it's a lot easier to see the DOF.

I AFMA'd the chip itself (it's programmable) to give the correct AF confirmation at f/5.6. I also programmed the focal length and max aperture so these are reported in the exif. Note that when I first calibrated it for f/2.8 I found the stopped down pictures were OOF. Reason: *This lens has a focus shift when stopped down so beware of that...


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## Brand B (Dec 15, 2012)

cayenne said:


> I've just started looking at them in Aperture 3 to do a little PP..and they look great so far, exposure was pretty spot on, not much adjustments there. I've not tried to get any programs to adjust the distortion, but from what I'm seeing and what I was shooting..not really seeing any bad distortion, not like if you were shooting a brick wall where it is more apparent.



The PTLens plugin makes it really simple. Simple right-click. Only issue is it doubles the size as the result i a TIFF file.

A recent shot using mine:




282A1278 by Brand B, on Flickr


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## NWPhil (Jan 13, 2013)

Just a quick add-on:
the rokinon/bowen/samyang cannot use circular filters...but, actually it can.
by accident/experiment with my IR camera - canon 40D, I was playing with different WA and settings to get diffeent results, when I decided to hanheld a filter just in front, just by the hood. Well, happen to be a 82mm filter, and for my surprise - and a small adjustment, was able to remain by itself , grasped by the lens hood.
I am sure some difraction and reflections issues may become very visible on a regular camera, but as last resource, it might be a 'trick" worth to consider.
I think it may even take the 77mm and maybe 72's

Other big advantage of this lens, is not having such a heavy "comma' effect as the Canon's 14mm counterpart


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## Standard (Jan 14, 2013)

I've used homemade magnetic filter foils which goes on the back of the lens mount. But after some use, I find that there isn't a need to filter it at all. An alternative method to filters is to use "black card technique."


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## jrda2 (Nov 19, 2013)

Good deal on Amazon... So I picked it up.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VSGQPG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Zv (Nov 19, 2013)

It has arrived, finally!! ;D

Not been this excited since I got my first L lens! Boldly going into new ultra wide territory here, never used 14mm before! Time to test this puppy out! 

Update - ;D ;D ;D


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## distant.star (Nov 19, 2013)

.
A different kind of picture. That brick wall is 32-feet long, and I wasn't 10-feet away from the man recycling his mail.


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## mrsfotografie (Nov 20, 2013)

NWPhil said:


> Just a quick add-on:
> the rokinon/bowen/samyang cannot use circular filters...but, actually it can.
> by accident/experiment with my IR camera - canon 40D, I was playing with different WA and settings to get diffeent results, when I decided to hanheld a filter just in front, just by the hood. Well, happen to be a 82mm filter, and for my surprise - and a small adjustment, was able to remain by itself , grasped by the lens hood.
> I am sure some difraction and reflections issues may become very visible on a regular camera, but as last resource, it might be a 'trick" worth to consider.
> ...



I heard about this one before, it will work on a crop, but not for full frame


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## lion rock (Nov 20, 2013)

Actually, the Rokinon 14/2.8 is quite a nice lens, much better than the price suggests.
In fact, I'll be taking it with me for landscape photography in Hong Kong and Vietnam next week.
Attached is one I took in the lobby at an art show.
-r


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