Samyang 12 mm f/2.0 NCS CS review - Introduction

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Samyang 12 mm f/2.0 NCS CS

28 May 2014

Arkadiusz Olech

1. Introduction

It is very difficult to produce an ultra wide-angle lens (so with the angle of view of approximately 100 degrees) with a good aperture fastness. Small wonder lenses of that type usually offer you an aperture as fast as f/3.5-4.0; only few of them come with f/2.8. There are only three contemporary exceptions to that rule I know of: the Sigma 20 mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical RF which, with an angle of view of 94.5 degrees, is as fast as f/1.8 (mind you I am not completely sure this lens is still being produced at all), the Voigtlander Ultron 21 mm f/1.8 and the very expensive Leica Summilux-M 21 mm f/1.4 ASPH which offers you an angle of view of 92 degree with an aperture fastness of f/1.4.

Lately the Korean Samyang company decided to enlarge that elitist group as they launched the Samyang 12 mm f/2.0 NCS CS, a truly unique instrument, designed to mirrorless cameras with an APS-C sensor, which tries to combine an angle of view of 99.5 degrees with f/2.0. These parameters are very difficult to correct, pushing the limits far more than any rival lens so far. It’s enough to remind here that wide-angle ‘primes’ for mirrorless cameras are also offered by Zeiss (the Touit 2.8/12) or Fuji (the Fujinon 2.8/14) but they are slower than the Samyang and three times as expensive!

Where’s the catch? Is there a catch anywhere? Did Samyang manage to combine those extremely difficult parameters and a price acceptable for the wider group of consumers? Read on to find out!

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We would like to thank the Delta company, the sole distributor of Samyang products in Poland, for lending us the lens for testing purposes.

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