unsharp photos Samyang 14mm 5Dmk2

S

samagroma

Messages
303
Name
Sam
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi guys,
I hope you will be able to help me again.
I just received samyang 14mm umc lens and tried it with 5d mk2 but the photos are not sharp.
Can you tell me what do I do wrong please? Should I change any camera setting?

I also found this quote by Ken Rockwell, but I don't know what did he mean: "Use this for still subjects. The camera focuses, and locks as soon as it gets focus. You then may recompose. Use this, and wait for AF to lock, before you grab the focus ring with a lens with manual-focus override. Otherwise, the 5D Mark II will keep trying to pull focus control away from you".

Can you explain this to me and will it solve my problem?
Regards
Sam
 
It's a manual focus lens. I presume you are manually focusing it?
 
I am now sure the lens is faulty as at f5.6 it should be sharp from 0.5m to infinity but it is not. I am sending it back tomorrow.
Thanks mate anyway.
 
I've sent the lens back and the next one will order from Poland since they agreed to check it before sending. I will let you know if this one is good.
 
samagroma said:
I've sent the lens back and the next one will order from Poland since they agreed to check it before sending. I will let you know if this one is good.
Click to expand...

Not that I am cynical, but of course they are going to say that, they want the sale. On a side note this is why I would rather pay a little more and buy from a bricks and mortar shop.
 
I use a Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, if you focus through the viewfinder at f/2.8, then when your happy what you are composing is in focus, stop down to whatever f/ stop you fancy, example f/16 etc....

But it's easier to set the lens to f/2.8 and focus from there to begin with!
 
macvisual said:
I use a Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, if you focus through the viewfinder at f/2.8, then when your happy what you are composing is in focus, stop down to whatever f/ stop you fancy, example f/16 etc....

But it's easier to set the lens to f/2.8 and focus from there to begin with!
Click to expand...

Edited because I was talking rubbish!
 
Last edited:
Davec223 said:
Not that I am cynical, but of course they are going to say that, they want the sale. On a side note this is why I would rather pay a little more and buy from a bricks and mortar shop.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I am ordering it from ukdigital (ukoptics) as they have good price and feedback. I hope I won't have to return it again...
 
I'm confused - you were recomending this lens as "sharp and excellent" last april, when did it become unsharp ?

Also can you let us know where you ordered your 5Dmk2 as you were only saying you'd ordered it on the 9th and on the 12th its already arrived and you've been using it - thats remarkable service.

Was it the same place you bought the 550D you ordered the month before ?
 
Last edited:
is it not back focusing or forward focusing you can set this in camera
as I have have had to do it with at least 3 of my canon L lenses
 
This thread needs an image or two taken with it on a tripod or decent shutter speed :shrug:
 
the ghost said:
is it not back focusing or forward focusing you can set this in camera
as I have have had to do it with at least 3 of my canon L lenses
Click to expand...

You can't set it in camera for a manual focus lens though...
 
big soft moose said:
I'm confused - you were recomending this lens as "sharp and excellent" last april, when did it become unsharp ?

Also can you let us know where you ordered your 5Dmk2 as you were only saying you'd ordered it on the 9th and on the 12th its already arrived and you've been using it - thats remarkable service.

Was it the same place you bought the 550D you ordered the month before ?
Click to expand...

It was my first samyang 14mm umc lens and I ordered it from ebay as the price was most attractive. Thankfully I had no problems with returning it. If I ever recommended this lens here before it was based only on reviews, specially by lenstip. I have ordered today another samyang 14mm as I am sure it is the best wide lens I can have for my 5d mk2 and I will keep trying until I find proper one :bang:. This time i ordered it from ukdigital and hope this one will be good...

I've bought 5d mk2 from onestop-digital.com because I already dealt with them many times before and was always very happy. They are not UK based but have excellent feedback and attractive prices. 550d was used one but mint and with 9 months warranty. Unfortunately, because I bought 5d mk2 and sigma macro lens I had to sell 550d together with excellent canon 60mm macro. And I have to say that I love 5d mk2 in spite of the fact that by now I have only sigma 50mm 2.8 macro, bot results are amazing. Now I am waiting for the samyang.

By the way, can you tell me if it is possible to upload a full resolution photos here?
 
no you can't - theres both a maximum file size limit and a maximum dimension ( can't recall what they are off hand but its in the rules and FAQs)
 
big soft moose said:
no you can't - theres both a maximum file size limit and a maximum dimension ( can't recall what they are off hand but its in the rules and FAQs)
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know, but if I have a problem that requires showing a full resolution photo, what can I do? :(
 
Uplaod the full res to flickr and link to it.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Uplaod the full res to flickr and link to it.
Click to expand...

yeah but if the file is huge that would break tp rules - a 100% crop is the way forward
 
samagroma said:
..... If I ever recommended this lens here before it was based only on reviews, specially by lenstip....
Click to expand...

Why bother recommending it if you only read a review or 2. By all means say that you have read good (or bad) reviews but you can't really recommend it yourself on that basis. :bang:
 
redddraggon said:
How would linking to a photo on flickr break TP rules?
Click to expand...

:oops: it wouldnt so long as it was just an url link - i didnt read that propper :bonk:

theres a maximum dimension size for any picture displayed on the board - because huge pictures distort the page and make for very slow load speeds - which is what i was thinking of (ie if a huge file was loaded on flickr and linked with
 
Ploddles said:
Why bother recommending it if you only read a review or 2. By all means say that you have read good (or bad) reviews but you can't really recommend it yourself on that basis. :bang:
Click to expand...

that depends on whether you are trying to spam your way to classifieds access (which were 30 days and 100 posts at the time) - this is directly related to why Sam is 'classified access denied' :nono:
 
Ploddles said:
Why bother recommending it if you only read a review or 2. By all means say that you have read good (or bad) reviews but you can't really recommend it yourself on that basis. :bang:
Click to expand...

There are some things Sherlock which you don't have to try to know if it is good or bad. You can know it from experiences of others :bonk: I've read many reviews of Samyang 14mm umc and it was clear that even though it is one of the cheapest lenses optically it is better than most expensive wide lenses. The only problem is distortion which actually not difficult to correct using proper software. By the way, do you have anything against lenstip?
 
big soft moose said:
that depends on whether you are trying to spam your way to classifieds access (which were 30 days and 100 posts at the time) - this is directly related to why Sam is 'classified access denied' :nono:
Click to expand...

Are you always so unkind big soft goose? Yes there was a time when I desperately wanted to buy a good used camera but I wasn't aware of the fact that it would be regarded as spam and I apologized for that. However now I already have what I wanted and need to know certain thing as I am not an experienced photographer and 5D mk II (my first FF camera) is a totally new experience to me so I need to ask some questions. And if you are not willing to treat them seriously but play a detective please move somewhere else. :nono:
 
Last edited:
samagroma said:
Yes, I thought so but it is more complicated and discourage many to use this forum. At least it is true in my case.
Click to expand...

How is it complicated?
Upload.. Copy and paste the link...
 
I don't have anything against lenstip, never even heard of them. Still don't think you can honestly recommend something you have never tried, you can say that you have heard good things about something but not recommend it.

Also, having a go at a moderator for his honesty is a bit pathetic.
 
samagroma said:
Are you always so unkind big soft goose? Yes there was a time when I desperately wanted to buy a good used camera but I wasn't aware of the fact that it would be regarded as spam and I apologized for that. However now I already have what I wanted and need to know certain thing as I am not an experienced photographer and 5D mk II (my first FF camera) is a totally new experience to me so I need to ask some questions. And if you are not willing to treat them seriously but play a detective please move somewhere else. :nono:
Click to expand...

[Edit: self moderated as theres no point rehashing old territory - suffice to say i'll believe some of this kit exists when we start to see some photos from it]

That said I have still I treated your latter enquiry seriously, - You asked how you could display a full res image , and I answered seriously that you can't (except by putting an url link) but you can display a 100% crop (that is crop (not resize) an area of your image to say 800x600 and host that to demonstrate the issue )
 
Last edited:
mine is sharp edge to edge at 2.8, slightly better at f4 though

b****r to focus though, like, almost a deal breaker for the event coverage I do
no exif is also annoying
no electronic coupling is annoying
and although the distortion can be corrected, it really does rob the lens of sharpness

the exposed front element, no filters, and no protection are almost enough to make me want to get rid of it after just a week of ownership, I think the 14mm L is on the cards some day tbh, that or the 17-40 + a 5d classic to get some extra width on my 1d
 
Rereading the thread I think its likely that the OP has misunderstood the tech spec.

0.5m to infinity is the focusing range of this lens , ie the range inside which it can deliver a sharp shot (put another way it can't focus closer than 50cm)

But that doesnt imply that any given shot will be sharp all the way from 50cm to infinity , which seems to be the OPs complaint, as that will depend very much on the apperture and where the lens is focussed.

A narrow apperture focussed on the hyperfocal distance will give the deepest possible zone/plane of focus but it is unrealistic to expect any lens to give detail pin sharp all the way from 50cm to infinity.

where a lens is said to be unsharp the usual cause is either a) that the focus drifts (ie it doesnt stay where its put), b) the the lens only gives sharp focus at the centre but suffers from softness at the edges (usually caused by cheap glass or poor quality control) , or c) (very unusually in decent lenses , the image is soft wherever the focus is put due to cheap material and poor optical quality (as in holga/lomo photography)

without seeing test shots its not practical to put a finger on which if any of these were at work here, but the balance of probability points to operator error either in understanding or focus.
 
RichardtheSane said:
You can't set it in camera for a manual focus lens though...
Click to expand...

And you wouldn't need to on an MF lens even if you could surely? Unless your eyes back focus, lol!
 
Last edited:
Ploddles said:
I don't have anything against lenstip, never even heard of them. Still don't think you can honestly recommend something you have never tried, you can say that you have heard good things about something but not recommend it.

Also, having a go at a moderator for his honesty is a bit pathetic.
Click to expand...
 
You are wrong saying I shouldn’t recommend this lens on the basis of reviews and experiences of others. Before buying the lens I red almost everything I could find about it and saw hundreds of full res photos. Here you will find a good example:
http://photozone.smugmug.com/photos/927855521_a8QQ8-O.jpg
Now I’ve been having the lens for 3 days (using with 5D mk2) and can confirm that what I read is 100% true.
Quotes from different sources:
“After a month of use in various conditions I can confirm the results that are reported on the web. This is not a rumor. It's a fact. The sharpness and local contrast of images from this lens are really incredible, unbelievable, outstanding and formidable and the absence of CA is a godsend”.
“Its primary strength is an extremely high resolution across the image frame combined with minimal CAs. There're few if any lenses which can rival the Samyang here which is nothing short of sensational for such an low cost product (again - see the provided sample images if you question our findings)”.
“It’s enough to say that it definitely surpasses in image sharpness the expensive, professional Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 set at 14 mm and also it corrects most of optical aberrations better than that lens”.
“The Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 is a manual lens. Is the lack of an autofocus felt very keenly? Rather not. On the D3x, even by f/2.8 it’s enough to set the distance scale at 2.4 meters to enjoy sharp images from 1.2 meters to infinity. If we want to work at the sharpest aperture of f/5.6, setting the scale at 1.2 meters will ensure us the depth of field stretching from 0.6 meter to infinity”.
“To tell you the truth when I look at the results of the improved Samyang I open my eyes wide with amazement. I don’t remember any other wide-angle lens reaching such high MTFs on the D3x or the D200. The Samyang, even wide open, has a very high MTF50 value, reaching 44 lpmm; by f/4.0-5.6 it achieves almost record-breaking results, amounting to 46-47 lpmm. It’s worth reminding here that the best and the most expensive lenses, tested on the D200, had results at the level of 47-48 lpmm but you must remember that the D200 sensor is able to produce results by 1-2 lpmm higher than the D3x sensor. The new Samyang fares simply sensationally in the frame centre! Its results are significantly higher than those of the Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8, so praised by us, set at 14 mm! The same situation can be noticed at the edge of an APS-C/DX sensor. Even at the maximum relative aperture the picture is very sharp. The Nikkor 14-24 mm had to be stopped down by 1EV in order to reach the decency level. The Samyang doesn’t have any problems with it at f/2.8 and near f/5.6 it reaches 40 lpmm - a very high level for a wide angle lens!”
 
samagroma said:
You are wrong saying I shouldn’t recommend this lens on the basis of reviews and experiences of others. Before buying the lens I red almost everything I could find about it and saw hundreds of full res photos. Here you will find a good example:
http://photozone.smugmug.com/photos/927855521_a8QQ8-O.jpg
Now I’ve been having the lens for 3 days (using with 5D mk2) and can confirm that what I read is 100% true.Quotes from different sources:
“After a month of use in various conditions I can confirm the results that are reported on the web. This is not a rumor. It's a fact. The sharpness and local contrast of images from this lens are really incredible, unbelievable, outstanding and formidable and the absence of CA is a godsend”.

“It’s enough to say that it definitely surpasses in image sharpness the expensive, professional Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 set at 14 mm and also it corrects most of optical aberrations better than that lens”.
Click to expand...

Really ? :thumbsdown: - If this is 100% true why did you open this thread by writing

samagroma said:
Hi guys,
I hope you will be able to help me again.
I just received samyang 14mm umc lens and tried it with 5d mk2 but the photos are not sharp.
Click to expand...

Assuming you've actually bought the lens this time and its not just another flight of fancy, this is a clear example of why it was more than a little misleading to write 9 months ago that it was "sharp and excellent"

If you really must give advice based on what you've read rather than personal experience, you could at least make that clear like writing " I have no personal experience of this lens but reviews say ... "
 
Last edited:
This thread has confused the hell out of me now...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top