This is a photo of the Samyang 24mm Tilt Shift lens that Samyang/Rokinon announced a while back. Today, the company is saying that the lens will be shipping in May 2013 for Canon, Nikon and Sony Alpha mounts to start with. The new lens will allow 12mm of shift with an 8.5 degree tilt. It can also be shifted upward to around 90 degrees.
In terms of construction, it sports 16 elements with 11 groups with two aspherical lenses. They’re already available for pre-order over at B&H Photo and Amazon.
Stay tuned, we’ve got a review unit headed our way.
Yesterday, we discovered that DxOMark rated Canon glass according to their own test results to be a bit mediocre. After looking through the results a bit closer, we have to say that we were both right and wrong. If you click on their Optical Metric score system, which simulates a more industry standard test (such as IMATest–a format that I still don’t always believe is ultimately accurate) you’ll see that Canon takes the cake a couple of times.
While Nikon, Samyang, and Sigma still hold their own, Zeiss and Sony start to fall back a bit more on the list. What’s even more amazing is that zoom lenses are more prominent on this list as well with Canon’s 70-200mm f2.8 L USM IS II and Nikon’s 70-200mm f4 G ED VR. At the top of the list is Canon’s 300mm f2.8 L IS USM II–which is a lens that most of us can’t afford. But then Nikon’s new 85mm f1.8 G (which we reviewed quite positively) also stays on top while their new 28mm f1.8 also starts to creep in. Plus the Samyang 14mm f2.8 comes in (we’ve reviewed the Rokinon version) and so does Sigma’s very excellent 85mm f1.4.
These results are a bit more interesting and can provide much more weight to Canon’s still conservative way of thinking. Overall though, in personal conversations, we as a staff still believe that the company needs to innovate more. In personal real world tests, I actually believe that Nikon’s 70-200mm f2.8 G ED VR II was much sharper than Canon’s option. But this lab test says otherwise.
Today is a sad day for Canon. When I first started out in photography, the saying used to go that one would buy into Canon for their lenses and Nikon for their camera bodies. That’s not true anymore according to DXOMark’s latest lens tests. News came the other day that Nikon was dominating, and they still continue with their 85mm lenses. However, look at the rest of the list: it’s all Zeiss, Samyang (which is the same as Rokinon), Sony and Sigma. I recently switched my entire lens lineup for to Sigma for this very reason. Sure, if you keep going down the list, you’ll see a Canon lens or two, but that company used to be much better at lens making. It’s time that they start stepping up it seems. Maybe if the company comes out with a new high megapixel camera, they’ll start to edge out over Nikon.
The Micro Four Thirds system has the biggest choice of lenses of all mirrorless systems so far.
The holiday season is just around the corner, so it’s time to think about the right gear for your holiday pictures. If you’re a Micro Four Thirds user, you’re in a lucky position, as we have seen a whole slew of new lenses for the system in this year — in addition to the great lenses we already had. So no matter whether you’re on the search for a lens to use yourself, or for one to give away to someone for Christmas — this guide will help you pick one (or two, or more) from the vastness of glass that is available for the system by now.
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Now that Photokina 2012 has come to an end and The Phoblographer team can finally take a breather from covering every exciting piece of news we would. Of course, to keep things easy and simple for you guys, let’s head on over to the complete Photokina 2012 News Roundup that puts everything you’ll want to see in one place.
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The Korean brand Samyang has announced the imminent arrival of their 85mm lens for the A-mount. It plans to join its siblings, the 14mm, 24mm, 35mm, and 8mm fisheye, in the video lens family. The 85mm T/1.5 is a manual focusing lens that comes in at 72mm in diameter and features a silent aperture ring while adding 513g of weight to your overall shooting gear.
Samyang has hinted towards a late this year release and looks to make its mark in the videography scene. Their brother, Rokinon, has also been doing the same thing. We’ve reviewed the 8mm and 35mm lenses already. It will be interesting to see how this does on the Sony A99.
Via Sony Alpha Rumors
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