Digital Camera World - UK (2019-08)

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com AUGUST 2019 DIGITAL CAMERA^121

rom Korean manufacturer
Samyang’s XP stable of
premium manual-focus
prime lenses for Canon
and Nikon full-frame cameras, this
14mm f/2.4 is the most ideal for
astrophotography. High-quality glass
is neatly wrapped in a really solid
casing. The rubberised manual focus
ring gives a very assured grip and has
a long rotational travel with a fluid feel.
There’s no weather-seal ring on the
mounting plate to guard against the
ingress of dust and moisture. To be
fair, though, if you’re photographing
the Milky Way, you’ll need clear,
dry and dust-free conditions.

Performance
Image quality for astrophotography at
the widest aperture is markedly better
than from the Irix 15mm and Sigma
14mm prime lenses on test. Chromatic
aberrations are negligible, while coma
and astigmatism are very minimal.

his recently launched

full-frame compatible

prime lens for Canon,

Nikon and Sony E-fit

cameras is a full f/stop faster than

the Irix 15mm and Samyang 14mm

lenses on test. And whereas the

others are manual-focus lenses,

the Sigma adds super-speedy

ring-type ultrasonic autofocus.

The wide aperture comes at a price,

however: the large-diameter elements

are not only more expensive to make,

they also result in a comparatively

big and heavy build.

Performance

Image quality is fabulous, at least in

terms of sharpness, contrast, colour

rendition and the absence of spherical

and lateral chromatic aberrations.

There’s very noticeable coma and

astigmatism towards the corners of

the image frame, but go down one

stop and these virtually disappear.

FT

Samyang

XP 14mm

f/2.4

£899/$999

ȵȸƺȅǣɖȅٮȷɖƏǼǣɎɵȅƏȇɖƏǼȵȸǣȅƺ

Lens mount Canon EF, Nikon FX

Sigma

14mm f/1.8 DG

HSM | A

£1,299/$1,599

A go-faster lens in every way

Lens mounts C a n o n E F ,

Nikon FX, Sony FE, Sigma

Sharpness

Sharpness is both very good

and extremely consistent

across the image frame.

Sharpness

Sharpness is exceptional for

such a fast-aperture lens with

an ultra-wide viewing angle.

Fringing 1.61

Chromatic aberrations are

negligible, especially at

wide aperture settings.

Fringing 0.8

There’s hardly any chromatic

aberration but coma and

astigmatism are noticeable.

Distortion -3.62

Barrel distortion can be visible

at close focus distances – not

an issue for astrophotography.

Distortion -4.36

The lens does very well to

keep barrel distortion to

an absolute minimum.

Digital Camera verdict Digital Camera verdict

5.0 A best-in-class product 4.5 Outstanding

4.5 4.5

Features Features

5.0 4.0

Performance Performance

4.5 4.5

Value Value

5.0 4.5

Build &

handling

Build &

handling

Coma and astigmatism

towards image corners

are disappointing at

f/1.8, but image quality

for astrophotography

is altogether excellent

if you stop down to

f/2.5 instead.

Maintaining excellent
image quality at the
widest aperture for
astrophotography
is a real challenge in
an ultra-wide-angle
lens, but this model
performs admirably.

Stargazing lenses Group Test

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

f/2.4 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

Centre Edge

Corner

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

f/1.8f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

Centre Edge

Corner

GOLD

AWARD

BEST FOR

SONY

BEST FOR

CANON

BEST FOR

NIKON