Samyang 135 f/2.0 Lens

[Harpage]

What is everyone's opinions on this lens? I've seen a few pictures of it online and they look STUNNING! My only concern would be eventually running out of targets, because a lot of the widefield targets like the Sadr Region and Cygnus Loop are only visible in the northern hemisphere, but I just love the super fast speed of f/2. It's supposedly sharp even wide open which is nice.

[JA]

It seems a very sharp lens from some images I've seen and this review...
https://www.lenstip.com/442.4-Lens_review-Samyang_135_mm_f_2.0_ED_UMC_Image_r esolution.html

The data supports the conclusion that it's very sharp wide open at the image centre, attaining some 95% of its maximum (f/4) resolution at f/2 with an ~ 15% loss at the full-frame corners.

Best
JA

[Harpage]

Thanks JA - I may be pairing this with a 1” sensor so if it’s sharp at full frame, then I’ll definitely be good at 1”. :)

The only issue I see is that I’ll eventually run out of widefield targets - we do have a fair share of beautiful widefield targets, but what happens when I capture all of them? Maybe someone who uses this lens could chime in as to what they shoot? Most of the threads I see online are from the northern hemisphere, where they have the Sadr and Cygnus region.

[Joshua Bunn]

I like my version. It's great, and I use it wide open on my 35mm chip.

[Harpage]

Do you guys know of any widefield targets that look nice with the 135mm f2, visible from the Southern Hemisphere?

[gregbradley]

Rho Ophiuchi including the Blue Horsehead.

Eta Carina and The running Chicken nebulae.

The large and small magellanic clouds.

Horsehead, Orion Neb and Barnard's loop.

NGC6188 region.

Gum 15 nebula

Vela Supernova Remnant

Lagoon and Trifid area.

RCW114

Eagle and Omega Nebulas

Corona Australis

Wolf Nebula

Cats Paw and Lobster.

The Rosette Nebula

Plenty of others too really.

Greg.

[JA]

I'll get right on it !:D:D:D

Best
JA

[Harpage]

Thanks Greg, this gives me hope! :D

[Retrograde]

Great lens (with a couple of caveats).

Samyang/Rokinon quality control is known for being patchy. I think it might be getting better these days but buy from a vendor that will allow for easy return if you get an example that's a bit soft.

I've had some issues with halo-ing around bright stars - not CA but internal reflections between lens elements. This may be resolved or partially resolved in later revisions of the lens (I've had mine since 2017) or perhaps different camera setups are affected more or less.

Focus is critical (as with all fast optical systems) but the lens is so sharp that even a slight misfocus will have big implications for the quality of the image.