Conclusion
Pros
- Small, well-built lens with solid construction and good damping and resistance on the focus and aperture rings
- With Improved sharpness over the first version, this lens can render tack sharp images from corner to corner when stopped down a bit
- Excellent control of chromatic aberration
- Great contrast and rich color
- Low Vignetting
- Very affordable
Cons
- Flare can cause strong ghosts when the sun is in the frame
- Very long minimum focus distance for a fisheye lens
Overall, Samyang has provided us with a new optical design for its 8mm fisheye lens for mirorrless cameras, and overall this new version is a slightly better lens. Images are extremely sharp across the entire image frame, and the lens is solidly built and very compact. However, the new design is actually slightly worse against bright light, though that’s really the only optical issue present with an otherwise extremely good lens.
Fisheye lenses aren’t for everyone, and it takes some creativity and skill to properly use them, but when used correctly, there’s no substitute for a 180 degree corner to corner field of view. Given the low price and very good quality, this lens is a no-brainer if you own a Fuji or Sony E-mount APS-C camera. If you already own the first version, there are improvements to be made, though I wouldn’t classify it as a ‘must upgrade.’ The improvements are real, but generally relatively small. It’s nice to see Samyang continue to refine their designs and produce quality glass at reasonable prices.
Image Samples
Click on an image to enlarge
Many thanks for the very nice review and the beautiful photos provided to complement it with some sample shots!
It is still not clear to me though why on the Samyang website the 8mm version II is not listed in the products page. There’s also no mention about it anywhere on the manufacturer website.
Different story for Rokinon, since their official website clearly list both lenses (version I and II) in the products page dedicated to the X mount lenses. Could it be that this version II is not available in all markets? Luckily, the Walimex website (which is the German rebrand for Samyang lenses) also shows the 8mm v. II as available. But I really don’t get the lack of information about this lens revision on the Samyang website… unless it’s just me who did not search properly! Many thanks again for your review!
Thanks for your review.
I have a few questions.
Have you ever compared this lens to the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fisheye ?
This lens ( 8mm F3.5 ) has a construction of 10 elements in 7 groups with one aspherical lens.
while the 8mm F2.8 UMC has a construction of 11 lenses in 8 groups with two aspherical lenses.
So, I think they are NOT the same lens and not only when it comes to the maximum aperture but also , I think in image terms.
I know that one is specifically made for use on aps-c and the other can be used also on a FF but I think the differeces don’t stop there.
I am asking this because the two lenses ONLY share the focal length ( if at all because that 8mm F3.5 seems to be available under different brandnames with the focal length of 6,5mm , 7mm and 8mm !!!) but have a different construction and I would venture as far as to say that they probably give very different results in terms of image.
I would be very interested to see a direct comparison of these two lenses on a Fujifilm camera.
Which brings me to another question (I have asked this also elsewhere on this site but no one seems to know).
Does anyone know if the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fisheye exist in a Fujifilm X version?
According to this Samyang site it does
http://www.syopt.com/en/camera/photo-lenses-8mm-F3.5-UMC-FISH-EYE.php
and the diagram here, from that site, mentions even its weight (different and heavier from others so it is not a simple mistake in saying that it exists)
http://www.syopt.com/en/asset/image/camera/pl06/spec.L.jpg
Yet by asking Samyang UK first they suggested me to use the 8mm 2,8 ( but my question was not that one!) and then told me that it might be available only on special order ( but this information is nowhere to be found anywhere in writing on their site).
Fact is that this lens ( 8mm 3,5 is not available ANYWHERE off the shelf and the Samyang site is the only place which mentions its existence )
I am VERY puzzled.
Thanks for your attention.
P.S.
Another question. How do you compare an 8mm fisheye ( when de-fisheyed) to the image obtained from the 10-24mm Fujifilm zoom at its 10mm focal length?
Hello,
You can find at http://samyang.taobao.com
I’ll buy mine from them, but I live in China, not sure how would be for overseas orders, better you ask some chinese friend to help you out 😉
Cheers!
Milandro I come from 2020 and can say the future not good for you folk back in 2014.
Did you ever find out more on the difference because I have a choice to buy either down here in New Zealand .
Found your comment thanks to this excellent site.
Your style iis very unique compared to other folkks I’ve read tuff from.
Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this web site.
Thank you very much for the review. Very informative. I have just received my sample today and am wondering what aperture were used for the sample photos and rather if they’ve been sharpened. Especially the one 2nd one and the 5th one. Thank you in advance for your info.
Thank you very much for the great review. I bought the lens but I am having trouble focusing it on the Xe2. Is there a way to magnify the focus point (like on the em5) on the Xe2?
Would be nice to compare this with the Canon EF-M as it is a larger sensor
It’s not a larger sensor. The E-FM sensor is actually slightly smaller than the Fuji X sensor (1.6x crop vs 1.5x on the Fuji). Not that the minuscule difference really matters much.