Samyang 14mm 2.8 purchase advise (canon)

[langman78]

Hi all.
Looking for some advice in places to buy
this lens. Best price I've gotten from a store is $500 from camera house in Croydon, Ringwood.
(I'm from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne). I've left my run too late as I was after a sale before my trip to Indonesia tomorrow morning and they had a 20% sale of everything last wk end and both stores had zero stock when checked today. They will have more stock within the next wk or 2 for when I'm back home but certainly unlikely I'll get it with 20% off.
Ideally I'd like to avoid 2nd hand or buying off eBay and not so sure about any online retailers etc. Perhaps someone here knows of good online dealers or stores which could offer me a good deal?
I'm hoping to come across this lens in the duty free section after checking in but I don't like my chances so I'll have to wait until I get home.
Any help would be appreciated,
Regards
Ben

[that_guy]

I bought mine for around $200 directly from the source (korea) when I was visiting family. even for australia $500 is wayy too much. Is there any particular reason you dont want to buy second hand or online? Brick and mortar stores will always be more expensive than online stores when they provide the same service/warranty and same product.

[Atmos]

I bought mine for $350 used maybe 8 months ago, works perfectly fine :)

[langman78]

Well I guess if there's a trusted seller (from someone here I'd certainly consider) I would. Lot of sharks online and I dunno let's just say new your got no real hassles. To an extent I know but yeah. Buy one 2nd off eBay claims to near new and it arrives and your been duped. Happend to me before. Not with this sort of equipment but a major pain in the behind to get funds etc back. So let's just say my trust in eBay sellers isn't as high as it once was.
I've considered BH photo from the USA. But more than likely voiding warranty.

[JA]

There is 1 possibly 2 Samyang 14mm f2.8 lenses for canon on Gumtree in Victoria (Melb). One is $400 (Canon Mount) and the other $300 (but camera mount not specified)

Good luck

Best
JA

[skysurfer]

In a duty free shop, check the price first. Usually it is higher than in the regular shop including GST. Usually duty free shops are a ripoff.

[JA]

Talk to Hans, who has 1 for sale here on IIS......

Best
JA

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=1344924#post134492 4

[DarkKnight]

Hi Ben,

I've just bought a Samyang 12mm f2.8 online from E-infinity and the process was seamless and the product as expected. They seem like a highly professional outfit and have excellent feedback.

They are advertising the Samyang 14mm f2.8 for Canon @ $377.00 with free postage.

https://www.e-infin.com/au/item/605/samyang_14mm_f/2.8_ed_as_if_umc_lens_for_canon_ef_ mount

I wouldn't hesitate to deal with them again.

[langman78]

Thank you for the info guys.
Are there 2 versions of this lens?
The link Kev just sent me from infinity is a AS version and looks a little different? Same specs as far as I can tell but they are a different color also. The AS version being a gold bronze color and the other (non AS) being red. Any idea on the difference guys?

[DarkKnight]

Good pick-up Ben.

I also have this lens in a Nikon mount (with a 'Gold' ring) and it is chipped, allowing aperture to be set by the camera. When I bought my lens only the Nikon mount was chipped.

If you look here.. https://www.samyanglensglobal.com/product/detail.do?SQ=8 you will see that the Canon version is now chipped, and it would seem that the 'Red' ring indicates that latest version, although some sellers don't mention this in their descriptions. :shrug:

That E-infinity link I gave you appears to be the non-chipped version so I guess the best thing to do would be to clarify with any seller just which version they are offering.

For astro use you will mostly be using f2.8 and occasionally f4, so I guess it's up to you to decide if the auto aperture control function is worth the extra $'s.

[langman78]

Well from what I can see there's 3 versions to this lens. Manual apature isn't a big deal but I guess auto via my camera would be a nice little feature.

[JA]

Yes I think you're right 3 versions, depending on mount (possibly):

In the 14mm f2.8 (I'm not including the newer more expensive f2.4)., there was/is .....

1. The Original -
Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 IF ED MC Aspherical
>>>>>>>>>>https://www.lenstip.com/index.html?test=obiektywu&test_ob=200

2. UMC version - Optical & Coating Improvement over original, without AE
Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC
>>>>>>>>>>https://www.lenstip.com/index.html?test=obiektywu&test_ob=239

3. UMC Version + AE /Comms with camera
Same as above but with camera AE/Comms

The UMC designated lens should be preferable given the improved coating and optics mentioned in the reviews above and borne out in the test results provided., refer especially to the resolution and coma test pages of each of the 2 reviews (pages 4 & 7) and you will see a clear and definite advance on the original version, which the reviewer if I remember correctly, in conjunction with other reviews show that it can better the 14-24 Nikkor, 14mm Canon and the 15mm Irix re coma and res at full aperture.

Best
JA