KEY FEATURES
01 The built-in hood
m a ke s it ha rd to fi t
filters, as there’s no
attachment thread.
02 The lens has a
long-travel focus ring
with a distance scale
and DoF markers.
03 Yo u h ave to s et
the aperture via the
physical control ring
at the rear.
SAMYANG 14MM LENSES
distance, so that you can keep as much
of a scene as possible rendered sharply,
from front to back.
Ultimately, the lack of autofocus isn’t
really a major problem with ultra-wide-
angle lenses. They can generate a huge
depth of field, so accurate focusing is only
really necessary for extreme close-ups.
Even then, the focus peaking options in
Z-series cameras makes accurate manual
focusing an absolute doddle. It can also
give you a good indication of the nearest
and furthest points in a scene that will be
sharp. In this respect, manual focusing is
arguably preferable to using autofocus.
However, the MF 14mm isn’t just a
manual focus lens. It lacks any built-in
electronics whatsoever, so can’t
communicate with the host Nikon camera
body on any level. That means you cannot
shoot effectively in the whole range of
PASM modes, as the aperture can’t becontrolled from the camera. Instead, you
have to use the physical aperture ring on
the lens itself, to dial in your desired
aperture setting. This would normally have
the drawback of giving you a dark
viewfinder image but, again, the Z-series
mirrorless cameras come to the rescue
with live exposure preview.
Some more niggling problems are that
the in-body stabilization of the full-frame
Z 6 and Z 7 are disabled. You could, of
course, argue that you don’t really need
stabilization with such a wide-angle lens,
but it can come in handy for handheld
indoor shots, or for shooting outdoors at
twilight. There’s also the rather glaring
issue that no EXIF information is recorded
for the aperture setting.
By contrast, the fully automatic AF
14mm lens keeps everything relatively
simple. On-board controls boil down to a
wide focus ring and an auto/manual focusswitch. Naturally, you get a full
complement of PASM modes, aperture
control and autofocus facilities on DSLRs,
as well as on Z-series bodies when using
an FTZ mount adapter.
Autofocus is driven by a linear stepping
motor. It’s virtually silent in operation and
enables speedy performance for stills,
along with smooth focus transitions
during movie capture. As usual with this
type of system, there’s no focus distance
scale featured in the lens and therefore no
depth-of-field markers, either.
Again, typical of the breed, the manual
focus ring is electronically (rather than
mechanically) coupled, with a ‘fly by wire’
action. This means that manual override
of autofocus is available, but manual
focusing can only be applied while the
camera’s focus/metering system is active,
for example after a light press of the
shutter button.Build and handling
Physically, the two lenses look very
different from one another. The Z-mount
manual lens is slimmer, but much longer
and heavier, weighing in at 810g compared
with the AF lens’s 474g. The disparity
becomes less when combining the AF lens
with an FTZ mount adapter. Both lenses
have the same f/2.8 aperture rating, but
the MF lens only has six diaphragm
blades, whereas the AF lens has a slightly
better-rounded seven-blade diaphragm.Specifications
Lens mount: Nikon Z
Focal length: 14mm
Maximum aperture: f/2.8
Minimum aperture: f/22
Field of view: 116 degrees
Minimum focus: 0.28m
Maximum magnification ratio: 0.08x
Number of diaphragm blades: 6
Lens construction:
14 elements in 10 groups
Weather seals: Ye s
Lens hood: Built-in
Filter size: N/A
Dimensions: 87x124mm
Weight: 810g
Price: £359/$429The Z-mount lens is not
only manual focus, but
doesn’t communicate
with the camera at all.2
3
1
Samyang MF 14mm f/2.8 ZThis architectural shot demonstrates that
barrel distortion can be quite noticeable.Sharpness across the entire frame is highly
impressive, right into the corners.Samyang MF 14mm f/2.8 Z Samyang MF 14mm f/2.8 Z