Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fish-eye

[PauloGGPX]

Hi all :)

just thought I ask this here, as the "ambient" here is more friendlier :p

Currently I use a Sigma 10-20mm with my Canon 20D, and I'm happy with it, but in situation were there's lot's of moving objects (crowds, traffic, etc) the 16 images I have to take (4@-45є+8@0є+4@45є) makes it very hard.

I have seen this new lens, the Samyang 8 mm f/3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fish-eye, and it's reviews here (http://www.lenstip.com/160.1-Lens_review-Samyang_8_mm_f_3.5_Aspherical_IF_MC_Fish-eye_Introduction.html) and here by Michel Thoby (http://michel.thoby.free.fr/SAMYANG/Early%20test%20report.html), it costs 227.50€ (http://www.foto-tip.pl/sklep/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=26&products_id=1357) plus shipping, these are not the times to make big investments, but this one seams to be a really nice value for the money, and eventually when I upgrade my trusty old Canon 20D to something full frame I can always shave it ;)
For now, I would need as little as 3 pictures for the full 360є or at most 5 or 6 images, it's more that 50% reduction on the number of pictures takes for the 360є

I'm really thinking about buying it...
So, do any of you have any experience with it or any considerations about this lens? it does cost about 1/3 of the Sigma 8mm (727€) (http://www.digitalwonderworld.de/product_info.php/products_id/470)...
And anyone has any experience with this online shop (http://www.foto-tip.pl)?

Any and all comments are extremely welcome :)

Thanks

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

http://www.foto-tip.pl/ seems to be the only shop selling these lenses... having spent 5 minutes googling, ebaying, amazoning and photo forumming.

A review of the lens often given in forums is this one: http://www.lenstip.com/160.1-Lens_review-Samyang_8_mm_f_3.5_Aspherical_IF_MC_Fish-eye.html

And one has to really really wonder, if this is not the same business...

www.lenstip.com
vs.
www.foto-tip.pl

A whois shows that both are registered in Poland... so probably the same owner.

There must be other vendors?

[PauloGGPX]

Hi Tuddi,

thanks for your search, never thougth about them being from the same person. But there's a review from Michel Thoby
http://michel.thoby.free.fr/SAMYANG/Early%20test%20report.html

and he's from france ;)

Here in Portugal we have a saying
"quando a esmola й grande o pobre desconfia"
that translates roughly to
when the donation is big the beggar gets suspicious ;)

Also this lens is sold under diferent brands as Vivitar (as a 7mm), Bower, Polar, Falcon or Samyang and i've seen the Bower one sold on BWphoto

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Indeed there are Bowers (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=Bower+8mm+fisheye&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2Fproductlist.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=submit) on B&W for $349 / Ђ245

That's $25 / Ђ18 more expensive than from Poland... Not much in the big picture, so the only question is: What's the shipping handling cost going to be?

I wanted to buy remotes/lenscover/lens back cover and additional batteries through Amazon a few weeks back, finished putting in the order, and got informed that this and this and this and this could not be shipped to Peru... but one of the remotes could. The remote costing $12 and shipping and handling was $69 dollars.

INSANE!

So I asked for help in a camera specific forum I am a member of in the UK, one of the members offered his kind help, I asked him to order 5 remotes for me (2 IR, 2 Cable shutters and one radio remote) from China. These were shipped to him within a couple of days, he received them and sent them over to me... and got them last Monday. Price was 40 GBP ($67) Products and shipping combined. Try to beat that Amazon!

http://upload.hraunfjord.org/files/Remotes.jpg

These are 5 fully functional and (in my honest opinion) very good remotes with perfect fitting connectors for the camera, powerful IR (better than original), and the radio remote goes through 2 concrete walls and 20 meters distance and still works well. I had expected differently, it being a Chinese product, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Am going to buy a fisheye lens (Zuiko 8mm for my Olympus) through a friend (a member here too) in the US. He get's the lens (free shipping in the US) and sends it on to me...

That is a model of shopping you might want to look into... there are good and helpful people here who just might be able to assist. Maybe even someone in Poland who could pick up the lens and have it sent?

[PauloGGPX]

70$ for shipping a remote? That's crazy!

The foto-tip shipping inside the EU is 16,25€ for normal delevery times, that's ok.
I'm not woried about the store itself, my bank protects me from internet fraud.
What i'm suspicious is about the lens itself.
I know that it won't have the quality of the Nikkor 10,5 but is it acceptable?

But even if I don't arrive to a conclusion, at least everyone here will know about this lens :)

well I'm off to do same more googling ;) I'll post my findings here.

PS: I don't recall seeing someone here from Poland, anyone from Poland reading this plesase say something :)

[allSaints]

There are several firms in Hongkong selling camera accessories, and I ordered a wireless shutter to my Canon from one of them, Roxsen.

Purchased From:roxsen
Transaction ID:4PX16844D2762210R

Item # Item Title Quantity Price Subtotal
150269669314 Wireless Remote shutter for Canon 5D 20D 10D 30D 40D 1D 1 13.99 GBP 13.99 GBP

Shipping & Handling via Standard Delivery to 118XX
(includes any seller handling fees) Ј1.00 GBP
Shipping Insurance (optional): Ј0.99 GBP
Total: Ј15.98 GBP



Ј1.99 for shipping, handling and insurance - try to beat THAT, Amazon!
The delivery was also really speedy and efficient (yeez, listen to me - I sound like a salesman :p ).

[PauloGGPX]

I think the lens maker is Korean (read it around somewhere), but if I would order this from outside of EU the Portuguese custums would have a field day on it ;)

I once ordered a popcorn hour (http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/index.php?pluginoption=productinfo&item_id=6) it shipped from China, and I only got away because I told them it was a computer expansion card hehe, otherwise they would have charge me 30% on top of the mandatory 21% VAT. so anything above 150Ђ only if shipped from EU...

But for small accessories that Roxsen shop look good :) Thanks

[PauloGGPX]

Ok, I lost my head and I ordered it from the www.foto-tip.pl store :)

I'll post some samples and a general opinion when it arrives :)
Thanks a lot for all your feedback :) I really appreciate it.

BTW, here's the lens:
http://flashpanoramas.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=154&stc=1&d=1250272599

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Congrats and good luck!

I will be looking forward to your tests on that lens.

[PauloGGPX]

Hi all,
I received the lens this week and been playing a bit with it :D

So far I'm very happy with it (considering it's price). I'm using it on a Canon 20D with a crop factor of 1.6 so I didn't need to shave it.

I took 4 images at 0є plus Zenith and Nadir so 6 images in total (way better than the 16 with the Sigma 10-20mm).
The projection is a bit strange, low enlargement in the center of the image but low compression on the limits of the image, that improves a bit the quality of the image when using less images as I did (lower overlap).

you can check a sample here:
http://go360.gogopixel.pt/samyang/
(I have a HDR set of RAW images, DCR, that I can share on request, just PM or email me)

Overall, I'm very happy with this, a nice addition to my set of lenses :)

[360VT.co.uk]

Hi Paulo

looks good, nice and sharp.

would love to see how it does in the sun, with lens flair

Harry

[Ton den Ouden]

looks good, nice and sharp.

would love to see how it does in the sun, with lens flair

x 2! Did you have time to shoot some more?

Grtz, Ton

[Jochum]

Hmm... I have the Sigma 8mm but it is not very sharp towards the not center, I got some loss of sharpness between the zenit shot and the rest, pondering on this, your pano looks very sharp... and there is a Sigma 10mm... don't know how many shots or rows I have to take with that. Wondering...
Pondering also to move to Sony, they have LCD-screen that can slant, and they have a fisheye too... much to ponder on.

[PauloGGPX]

What's the crop factor of your camera?
Mine (Canon 20D) is x1.6, so with my Sigma 10-20mm@10mm I take 16 images.

And I didn't had time to make some more test, and now the sun is gone :( it's raining now actualy :(

I'll do some more test when I have some free time :) But for the price, it's a wonderfull lens.

[birdseye]

Paulo,

I saw you have a cropfactor of 1.6
Do you have full coverage from Zenith to Nadir with this lens ?

Grtz;
Yvan.

[HansNyberg]

No you need 6 around + zenith like a 10mm fisheye.

You can do it with 4 around but with 1.6 cropfactor the overlap will be small, around 10% only.

Hans

[discocandy]

No you need 6 around + zenith like a 10mm fisheye.

You can do it with 4 around but with 1.6 cropfactor the overlap will be small, around 10% only.

Hans

with a sigma 8mm 5 is also possible on a crop cam.
but 6 is better as the sharpness of the lens get better when you have more overlap.
But for quick work, 5 pictures 10 degrees up is good for a overlapping zenith.
Handheld nadir picture and if you do HDR look at Hans his page for great ways to do a nadir picture.
I think the same will apply for that 8mm?

[birdseye]

Thanks for reply Hans and discocandy.

I'm just hesitating because I have a Nikon D300 (1,5 crop) but I like to experiment with quick 360's just as Tristan's parasailing pano's.
I'm hesitating to go fullframe so I was woundering if a 8mm would be enough for taking 4shots.

yvan.

[PauloGGPX]

No. It doesn't do 180 vfov on x1,6 camera, it does get really close something like 160 or so.
I found that if i tilted the camera about 10 degrees down I can do it with only 5 images :) 4@-10 degree and a zenith shot. Ofcourse the overlap goes way down.

take that Sigma 8mm + fullframe camera lol

[discocandy]

take that Sigma 8mm + fullframe camera lol

talking about pixel waste :):D

[HansNyberg]

Thanks for reply Hans and discocandy.

I'm just hesitating because I have a Nikon D300 (1,5 crop) but I like to experiment with quick 360's just as Tristan's parasailing pano's.
I'm hesitating to go fullframe so I was woundering if a 8mm would be enough for taking 4shots.

yvan.

Yes the Sigma 8mm is fine with 4 around but Samyang has a very different projection and even if it claims to be 8mm it performs more like a 10mm

Actually it optimizes to 10mm when used with full 180 degree circle on a fullframe but with a 1.5 crop it will optimize to 9mm.
The full circle with 180 degree is almost the same as the 10,5mm nikkor.

Hans

[birdseye]

Thank you for your explantion Hans.
Seems that I have to ask Santa a D700 ;)
Yvan.

[Jochum]

In comparison, how many do I shoot with a Sigma 10mm on my 1,6 cropped 500D?

[PauloGGPX]

With my Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm I need 16 shots, 8@0 degrees, 4@45 degrees and 4@-45 degrees using my trusty 20D (x1,6).
I tryed other workflows but this one had the best results. I assume a Sigma 10mm will be the same.

[Jochum]

I'm not sure if we can compare 10mm wide angle with a 10mm fisheye that easy, two different birds. Though here it begins to be too complex for me. :)

[Jochum]

In comparison, how many do I shoot with a Sigma 10mm on my 1,6 cropped 500D?

Since Hans compared the Samyang with 10mm I guess thats also the answer, six around and one zenith/nadir.
Saw some examples from the Sigma 10mm and it looked pretty sharp. Wonder if it is worth an upgrade.

[Jochum]

here is four examples taken with the samyang, scroll down to four pictures and click them:
http://www.cyberphoto.se/?http://www.cyberphoto.se/info.php?article=8mmC

Looks pretty good compared to my Sigma 8mm. That's why i ponder on 10mm instead. :D

[Jochum]

I bought the newer Sigma 8mm instead, found a guy who was selling his, almost brand new, and it was sharper than my old 8mm. And as said before by Hans it looked more like 9 or 10 mm, it was a little less wide. That has no impact for me. So I'm happy. :D