Samyang/Rokinon 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift Lens on A7rII

[Hausen]

Has anybody had any experience with this lens on the A7rII in FE mount? My question centres mainly around the fact that I often like to shoot panoramas when hiking in NZ. Recently I climbed Ben Lomond in Queenstown and on the summit setup my Nodal Ninja 3, 21 Loxia and with the wind, setup time and number of people pushing past it was a great hassle to get the shot I wanted. My wife left the summit 10 mins before me because she impatient waiting. Have used the Canon TSEs extensively on A7rII but just didn't like adapted lenses and MB IV I found to be inconsistent. So the only native option would be the Samyang/Rokinon but reviews are mixed. I will shoot 100% on tripod, 100% at F8-11 and likely always shifted/stitched panos.

 

[daf]

Has anybody had any experience with this lens on the A7rII in FE mount? My question centres mainly around the fact that I often like to shoot panoramas when hiking in NZ. Recently I climbed Ben Lomond in Queenstown and on the summit setup my Nodal Ninja 3, 21 Loxia and with the wind, setup time and number of people pushing past it was a great hassle to get the shot I wanted. My wife left the summit 10 mins before me because she impatient waiting. Have used the Canon TSEs extensively on A7rII but just didn't like adapted lenses and MB IV I found to be inconsistent. So the only native option would be the Samyang/Rokinon but reviews are mixed. I will shoot 100% on tripod, 100% at F8-11 and likely always shifted/stitched panos.

One of the main issue reported for the samyang is control quality, and decentering, so be carefull when you buy it.
I have shot the Cambo Actar 24 on the Sony... it is the same lens but remounted by Cambo, and i must say that this lens was perfectly centered.
My actar was definitly sharper than my 24tse @f11, but suffer from a quite present barrel distorsion(easy to correct wih C1).
It also show a bit of CA at the edge when shiffted.
I'll be out of office for next few days, but if you send me your email, i'll send you some raw...

 

[gebseng]

I've also had mixed experiences with this lens on my A7 so far.

First, I bought this lens in a Pentax K mount and used it with a cheap K&F Concept adapter on the Sony. Apart from the barrel distortion, the results were really good. Pretty good corners at f11 IMO.

To deal with the distortion, I jotted down the amount of shift for every shot and used this data in the Capture One Lens Corrections tool's "movements" tab along with the Distortion slider set to 24% (there is no C1 profile for this lens alas). The results were perfect for stitching, you can find a full resolution layered tiff (three images, shifted 12mm left and right) here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3949609/Untitled_Panorama4.tif



There was one problem though: on the Pentax K to Sony E adapter, the camera and lens mounts were rotated about 4 degrees against each other. This is a non issue for normal lenses, but with a shift lens used for stitching, it means that a shift to the left also shifts up a little bit, and a right shift also shifts down a little bit.

So, I exchanged the Pentax mount lens with the more expensive E mount version. This version was optically as good as the first one, but it had massive internal reflections inside the lens tube, which made it practically unusable. Example here:


So, at the moment I'm not sure what to do with this lens. I would have to paint or line the lens tube with flocking material to make it useable.

 

[Hausen]

I've also had mixed experiences with this lens on my A7 so far.

First, I bought this lens in a Pentax K mount and used it with a cheap K&F Concept adapter on the Sony. Apart from the barrel distortion, the results were really good. Pretty good corners at f11 IMO.

To deal with the distortion, I jotted down the amount of shift for every shot and used this data in the Capture One Lens Corrections tool's "movements" tab along with the Distortion slider set to 24% (there is no C1 profile for this lens alas). The results were perfect for stitching, you can find a full resolution layered tiff (three images, shifted 12mm left and right) here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3949609/Untitled_Panorama4.tif

View attachment 125384

There was one problem though: on the Pentax K to Sony E adapter, the camera and lens mounts were rotated about 4 degrees against each other. This is a non issue for normal lenses, but with a shift lens used for stitching, it means that a shift to the left also shifts up a little bit, and a right shift also shifts down a little bit.

So, I exchanged the Pentax mount lens with the more expensive E mount version. This version was optically as good as the first one, but it had massive internal reflections inside the lens tube, which made it practically unusable. Example here:
View attachment 125383

So, at the moment I'm not sure what to do with this lens. I would have to paint or line the lens tube with flocking material to make it useable.

Damn I ordered one last night, should have checked the forum to see if there were replies. Will comment once it turns up and I get a chance to play with it.

 

[gebseng]

Curious to see if your copy has the same problems...

 

[Hausen]

Curious to see if your copy has the same problems...

My fingers are crossed for sure.

 

[Hausen]

Curious to see if your copy has the same problems...

Mine was terrible as well. I could only shift 5mm to the left before the shot completely whited out, could shift right to 10mm but I had all sorts of reflections in the sky on most stitching attempts. Too hard to use so mine is going back. Bit the bullet yesterday and purchased a Cambo Actus Mini with a 24 Actar. Can't wait for that now.

 

[thrice]

E-mount adapters having internal reflections is very common, even in high-end adapters.
Some flocking material used for telescopes is your best solution.

 

[gebseng]

Hi again,

I found a solution for the Samyang 24TS on the Sony Alpha 7 that I'm quite happy with so far. I ordered the lens in Sony A mount and use it with the Sony LA-EA3 E-mount adapter. All internal reflection problems are solved (the adapter has flocking inside).

I processed the files in Capture One 10, please see screen shot for detailed settings.

I also attached a Photoshop Photomerge stitch of five exposures, one central and the other four shifted 12mm left/right/up/down. Stitching is seamless, distortion insignificant and corner sharpness quite OK at f11.

best,

geb





full resolution here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gaonpm6jo7czww9/samyang sony a landscape 21% - perfekt.jpg?dl=0

 

[Hausen]

Hi again,

I found a solution for the Samyang 24TS on the Sony Alpha 7 that I'm quite happy with so far. I ordered the lens in Sony A mount and use it with the Sony LA-EA3 E-mount adapter. All internal reflection problems are solved (the adapter has flocking inside).

I processed the files in Capture One 10, please see screen shot for detailed settings.

I also attached a Photoshop Photomerge stitch of five exposures, one central and the other four shifted 12mm left/right/up/down. Stitching is seamless, distortion insignificant and corner sharpness quite OK at f11.

best,

geb

View attachment 125959

View attachment 125960

full resolution here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gaonpm6jo7czww9/samyang sony a landscape 21% - perfekt.jpg?dl=0

They look great. Funny that there is a lens that works better with an adaptor than with a native mount. Very amusing. I thought when I opened the box originally that then lens looked like an adapted lens anyway becasue of the unusual shape of the obvious addition to make it fit with E mount. I am happy mine is gone and am learning to play with my Actus + Actar 24.