This lens is definitely not what we expect, and I am saying that as a good thing. The days of the wide lens are to use such troubles, and this lens is one of the reasons behind it.
This last year, lens manufacturers have clearly focused on the production of lens options that are out of general boundaries. Some standard zooms and telephoto lenses are now provided with broad aperture, and even broad angle prime lenses have shown more compact and fast versions on the market. The lens, co-design by Germany’s Schnider Craznach and South Korea’s LK Semyung, gives a separate range to the ultra-wide angle zoom, which gives a different range without making it greater or heavy than normal.
Schnider kreuznach x lk samyang 14-24mm f/2.8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7askd0pq2p4
Then LK 14-24 mm F/2.8 From Samyang, known as Brand Rokinan in the US, Sony is available for e-mount cameras, compatible with both full frame and APS-C. Hearing about this lens for the first time, immediately expected that it would be big, heavy, and would be a spread front element that would make it difficult to use with the filter. The notion comes from countless experiences with more than 16 mm wider lenses that eventually became less useful due to ergonomic aspects.
This notion was absolutely wrong, and it was amazing to see this lens with a length of 98.63 mm and a width of just 84 mm, which weighs just 445 grams. More importantly, it does not have a bulbus front element, which allows it to be used with regular circular screw-in filters and square format filters for landscape photography.
The front is a 77 mm filter thread covered by the reversible Lens Hood. It has a grip-benavat focus ring on the most distil end of the barrel, followed by a thick zoom ring with a separate texture pattern. The lens zoom externally and extends when adjusted to a broad focal length, which exposes a possible space for dust and contact of sand. On one side of the lens is a adaptable button with the USB-C port for use with the brand’s calibration and update app.
Optics
Apart from physical aspects, the most striking thing about this lens is how fast it is. It has a aperture range of f/2.8 to F/22, and in that range it showed quite good optical performance. When inspected closely, the fastest aperture for both the center and the corners seems to be f/5.6. Although small aperts bring more layers to focus, the fastest details still appear at f/5.6.
On the aperture of F/8 to F/11, this sharpness is very similar; However, beyond F/16, a significant decline may be seen.
Along with this, it is undisputed that this lens has a significant amount of barrel deformation, which can be traded in such a small lens to achieve such a focal range. This deformation appears up to about 20 mm and is even more noticeable due to about 1.5-stop vignette at the corners of the frame.
Given the manufacture and form of this lens, deformation and vignette do not come as a surprise. The brand has also provided its lens profile on its website, which can be added to Literoom and Adobe Camera Raw for improvement with only one click. After improvement, deformation decreases significantly and the vignet is also compensated. Personally, I saw that the vignet improvement might have gone far away, so I manually adjust it from 100 to 50 to 50 on the Wignet Slider just below the improvement module.
Concentrate
The autofocus on both photos and videos is undoubtedly stretched and accurate, making it very easy to use when light is abundant. Shooting of moving subjects with correct subject recognition and tracking, even with comprehensive focus selection, shows no misunderstandings that I can miss.
However, there were some examples where autofocuses remembered in a very low environment and when used with heavy (12–16 stop) ND filters. This interval is reduced when continuous focus on AF-C is low to focus.
Application
LK Samyang/Rukinan 14-24 mm F/2.8 Surely there is a lens with a lot of potential applications. Mainly, it is a great lens for landscape photography, especially in places with many foreground elements. Nearly minimal focusing distance can also contribute if the focus bracketing fit your approach. More importantly, it is widely compatible with regular size filters, both circular and square format. I recommend using either slim circular filters or 100 mm format class filter to avoid receiving the rims of the filter in the frame at 14 mm. However, I was also able to shoot H&Y with Mk II landscape kit, although I had to deal with a little darkness in the corners at 14 mm.
In addition, such lens travel can be very helpful in shooting detailed scenes for travel photography and street photography. An ultra-wide angle zoom can be very useful in such a discovery, especially with such a limit. More than anything, it will be optical performance and 14 mm minimum focal length that provides a unique shooting experience.
Shooting will require a little use to be used for architecture and interiors, but of course, it is possible, even when you are careful with deformation.
After improvement, there is very little scar of deformation, and most viewers will not notice it at all. It would have been much better if the deformation improvement profile can be seen in-camera during shooting to avoid confusion when using the grid, but other equipment are available to make it easier. However, the focal range, versatility and the overall acuity of this lens make it a good option.
LK Samyang/Rukinan 14-24 mm F/2.8 The unique ultra-wide angle zoom lens and certainly a pleasant surprise. A separate range that did not come in a huge and heavy form, yet actually provides good sharpness.
What did i like
- Unique wide-angle zoom range
- Quite compact and light
- Uses standard filter formats
- Great glass quality
What can be improved
- Heavy barrel deformation (easily correct in post)
- Focus
