This was a salesmans sample - no box unfortunately, but looks and works like new. Comes with front and back caps only. These have a few interface optimisations for video but work fine for normal manual photo shooting - a very affordable and very good 14mm F/2.8 - full frame or smaller. Tested on a canon - note fully manual.

Read the reviews of this and the very similar non video version: “Subjects you will want to have a 14mm angle of view on hand for include landscapes (especially), nightscapes, cityscapes, architecture (both exterior and interior), real estate, etc. If photographing these subjects is on my to-do list, this focal length is frequently part of my kit.” Astrophotography is a great application.

“It’s well built. It features a construction of high quality plastics and a metal mount. It feels good in the hand an it seems like a lot of glass for the money. The focus ring and aperture ring are all very smooth to turn and tight enough to prevent accidental bumps. It feels like the lens could take a beating, not that I would advise it.

It’s incredibly sharp, even wide open. I shoot astrophotos with this lens a f/2.8 all the time. It’s super sharp to the point that I rarely ever stop down, except in bright daytime conditions. It’s arguably sharper than Canon or Nikon’s equivalents.

It has very low levels of coma (comatic aberration). This trait prevents the lens from distorting pinpoint light sources (like stars) at the edges of the frame. Since it’s such a wide angle lens, apparent motion at the edges of the frame is high so the lens will usually show a little star trailing in the corners when making astrophotos with shutter speeds of 30 seconds or more.

It’s bright. The f/2.8 aperture, in combination with the wide field of view of the 14mm focal length make for a great combination for astrophotos. It fares well with a score of 1032 on my Nightscapes Lens Rating Guide. A score of 1000 is my criteria for excellent lenses for Milky Way photography and the 14mm is right there.

It’s wide. I’ve already said it before, but this lens has a huge field of view. On a full frame camera like the Canon EOS 6D (my review of the 6D) , it has a viewing angle of 115.7°. There is only one focal length that’s available for a full-frame camera that’s wider than the 14mm and that’s 12mm but the fastest 12mm lens available for full-frame is the Sigma 12-24mm and it has an f/number of only f/4.5 which is a little bit too slow for most astrophotography applications. This makes any 14mm f/2.8 lens the widest full-frame rectilinear lens I would recommend for astrophotography until manufacturers can develop something faster.”

Summary:

The Samyang 14mm T3.1 / f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC is an ultra-wide-angle manual focus lens designed primarily as the cine version (Samyang 14mm T3.1 VDSLR II) corresponding to the popular Samyang 14mm f/2.8 photographic prime lens. [1, 2]Key Specifications & DesignFocal Length: 14mm ultra-wide angle. [1, 2]

• Aperture / T-Stop: Maximum aperture of f/2.8 for the photo variant or T3.1 light-transmission stop for the cine (VDSLR) variant. [1, 2]
• Optical Construction: 14 elements in 10 groups, featuring ED (extra-low dispersion) and aspherical elements to reduce chromatic aberrations. [1, 2]
• Coating: Ultra Multi-Coating (UMC) to minimize flare and ghosting. [1]
• Focus Type: Manual focus only, with internal focusing (IF) keeping the exterior size constant. [1, 2]
• Cine Features: The T3.1 VDSLR model includes integrated gear rings for follow-focus systems and a de-clicked, smooth aperture ring.