[camperbc]

On Saturday I took an early morning stroll down to my shore in front of my house with the Sony A550 and Samyang (Rokinon) 8mm lens in hand, and even though there was no pretty (colourful) sunrise, the light was interestingly unique in that typical Fogo Island, northern latitude, no air pollution sort of way, and I happily snapped away until my heart was content, before heading back to bed to help ease my ever-complaining, permanently messed up spine.

I have always lusted after ultra-expensive glass, was always terribly jealous when someone would post unbelievably clear, sharp, gorgeous captures on these forums, which would always make me wish for something better than my lowly kit lens or ancient Minolta stuff. Yet I am never actually able to buy any higher end gear, as my meager disability pension simply forbids me to! Mind you, once in a while the planets will align just so, and I manage to capture something really special with said kit lens, and heap of Minolta oldies. I think having cheap glass gives me more incentive to strive a little bit more to get that nice shot! You really have to work at it.

Then, as many of you know by now, back in February of this year I stumbled upon the Samyang 8mm fisheye, that even I could afford; a paltry $259 brand spanking new. And, by God, it was like an extra boost of adrenaline to my photography mojo! I quickly discovered that just because it is called a fisheye, doesn't mean it takes only "fishy-looking" pictures; in fact the ridiculously WIDE lens actually, amazingly, doubles as an exceptionally good (great) landscape lens, which gives my Fogo Island landscapes an extra little... oomph? Is that a word? It is so sharp, and renders colours so perfectly, and handles flare so beautifully, and CA is a non-issue, I am no longer whining that I can't afford more expensive lenses. Everywhere that I point this thing, I get razor sharp results that look SO much like the way I saw it. I can point it directly into the sun, and STILL get great results. I can forget to set the manual focus, and yes, STILL get great captures.

Mind you, if I should happen to discover a CZ 24-70mm, 16-35mm, or even a Sony 35mm G lens in my stocking next Christmas, I would most definitely squeal like a kid in a candy store, and write all about how wonderful it is too!

Anyway, here's a couple from Saturday morning at my shore, taken handheld at ISO200, f/8, 1/400 sec, with my A550 and ultra-cheap Rokinon 8mm fisheye. It's a shame there are not yet any icebergs visible on the horizon, but they are on the way!

Glen
www.FocusOnNewfoundland.com

[Don Schaeffer]

These are outstanding. I am in the same boat as you money wise. I did but an expensive fisheye, but I can never get focus and exposure right like you do.

[PeterHermit]

Glen,
Those shots are great. I really enjoyed them.
I was recently (fortunately) able to buy new some nice new equipment (Nikon D7000 with 18-105 lens) but I understand that it is not the camera that takes the great photos, it's the person.

I hope that I can develop my skills as well as you obviously have. Your photos are inspiring.
Peter

[NT73]

Glen,
Those shots are great. I really enjoyed them.
I was recently (fortunately) able to buy new some nice new equipment (Nikon D7000 with 18-105 lens) but I understand that it is not the camera that takes the great photos, it's the person.

I hope that I can develop my skills as well as you obviously have. Your photos are inspiring.
Peter

Welcome PeterHermit, You should learn a lot here.
Of course you have to post a bit as well.

[NT73]

Like PeterHermit says the shots are great. I rather like your pp though.

[Pavel]

Glen, these photos are motivational. Recently I broke down and ordered the same lens (I ended up paying a lot more on E-bay than you). I was thinking about it for a long time, wondering if i get enough mileage from a fisheye, especially since I have an excellent ultrawide (Tokina 11-16 - also a bargain given the quality). Your great photos convinced me. My Samyang did not arrive yet. We are going to the western part of Newfoundland late June, so I hope that I will have the lens by then.

[camperbc]

Pavel, I know that you will love this lens. I think you will enjoy the extra width, without much distortion. Have a great trip to NL and thanks for your kind comments!
Glen

[nia]

Hi dear Glen, as always there is a wonderful calmness in your photographs, it makes me to jump into this pictures... So beautiful, the blue boat and houses and woods, they are all amazing. Thank you, it was great.

Have a nice day,
with my love,
nia

[Pavel]

Just got my Samyang fisheye 8 mm today. It was the first sunny day this spring - needless to say - I played with the lens. What a versatile lens!!!! Everybody says it is a specialised lens with not many uses for it. I could not believe how many uses I found for it - everything seemed to have been an opportunity. A great portrait lens, great flower lens, great for turning everything into Gaudi architecture, fabulous with flat and boring landscapes and turing them into hills and valeys....Using unusual perspective hugely exagerating foreground, funky barrel distortion, massive DOF... The applications are endless and i did not know what to snap first. I will carry this lens with me everywhere. I am going to be posting stuff on Flickr. So far posted only 3 photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photophile2008/
Let me know what you think...

Pavel

[camperbc]

Hi Pavel,

Yes, I just KNEW you would love this lens! I looked at your Flickr site and the photos are outstanding; can hardly wait to see more. When you stated that the lens is "sharp enough", this tells me that you likely have not yet performed the required re-calibration, because once the focus ring is properly calibrated, this will be one of the sharpest lenses you will find. Simply set it on f/8 (I ALWAYS use f/8) and the focus to 3 feet, and everything from a foot to infinity will be so sharp that you won't believe it didn't come from an expensive lens.

For some odd reason, ALL of these Samyang lenses from Korea (also re-branded as Rokinon, Polar, Walimex, Falcon, Pro-Optic, Opteka, Vivitar, Bower, and probably a few more) are not correctly calibrated at the factory. In fact most are off by a country mile. Luckily, it is a very quick and easy procedure, which I explain in detail on my website, under the "Articles" heading, where I have written a rather in-depth review of this lens. If you have any questions about the procedure please let me know and I can help guide you through it, but it is quite simple really, just a matter of loosening three set- screws, rotating the focus ring into the correct position, and then re-tightening the set-screws. You will not believe how much sharper this lens will be afterward!!

You are correct about lack of flare. I actually go out of my way to point this lens directly INTO the sun; the results are fantastic. Take a look at my Flickr Photostream; every one of these images were taken with this fisheye lens. It may help one to discover more ways to reduce distortion (if they so choose) to the point one would not think it was from a fisheye lens at all. In fact I now consider this to be my best landscape lens that I own.

I like the way I can make it as "fishy-looking" or as distortion-free as I choose, simply by the way I compose/frame my shot. And on those rather rare occasions when I just can't avoid distortion, I use the Fisheye Hemi plugin; it really does work wonders for straightening those bent vertical lines at the sides, and horizontal lines at the top and bottom. A fantastic program for just $30.

Anyone who can say that there are only limited uses for this lens, either does not own one, or has not bothered to experiment with it. I am so impressed with this Samyang that I now keep it permanently mounted on one of my dslr's full time; it is indeed that good.

Here is a link to my Flickr photostream, where all of the images shown are from my Samyang fisheye:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fogoislanders/

And here is the link to the in-depth article I wrote about the Samyang 8mm fisheye, and the calibration procedure instructions. After clicking the below link, just click on the title that reads "MY VIEW OF THE SAMYANG 8MM f/3.5 FISHEYE LENS". Here's the link to it:
http://www.focusonnewfoundland.com/section488880.html

And this is the link to a lengthy and informative online discussion that I started back in February on DPReview's forum. It is a Sony DSLR forum, however all of the info applies to ALL makes of cameras. Well worth reading through in its entirety, if I do say so myself! A must-read for anyone who has this fisheye lens. Here is the link:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.a...e=37827964

Looking forward to keeping in touch with you and your experiences with this fine lens, and am hoping to see more of your wonderful work. Also curious as to what type of camera equipment you are currently using.

best regards,
Glen
www.FocusOnNewfoundland.com

[Pavel]

Glen, I share your enthusiasm about the lens - just ask Dennis. I could not shut up about it. I thought it will be sort of a specialty lens, but far from it. Like you, I think it will be my favorite "landscape" lens, but I have other uses for it. I used it for natural - looking portraits (see my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photophile2008/). I love the barrel distortion - it is not a " novelty thing", it can really make for a powerful composition. I still have very limited experience with this lens (just 2 days). I have also been using it almost exclusively at f/8 (probably for the same reason as you), but I like to get as close as possible to my foreground subjects and so I focused (more or less permanently) to the minimum focusing distance. I will check out your blog for adjusting the lens "with just 3 screws". I am not sure I will have the guts to do it, but I will read what you say. I will be glad to stay in touch.

Pavel

[camperbc]

Hi Pavel,

Yes, I agree with you; the slight distortion showing in my Fogo Island landscapes is what I am most attracted to; much more visually appealing than those from a more conventional lens. I saw your portraits and they are beautiful indeed.

No need to worry about the calibration. I was a bit afraid at first too. I did some exact distance testing, and discovered that, sure enough, the factory setting was WAY off. My lens, as good as it was, is very much improved. Stunning really, the difference a couple of minutes made! Be brave!

If I am wanting to get very close, (a foot from the subject) I will indeed set the focus to a foot, but if I am further away than that, I just set it to say 3-5 ft, and that seems to work best for everything else. Just keep playing around with it, as all these lenses may be a bit different.

Glen

[Zig]

Fascinating Glen; that's a splendid tip and one I may find eminently useful: I gather early in-field feedback of the Samyang 35/1.4 exhibits the same rusticity of calibration, so I'm wondering if a similar end-user fix can be applied. If so, I could be closer to getting my 35mm gap sorted.