Samyang 12 mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS Fish-eye
3. Build quality
In the photo below the Samyang 2.8/12 is positioned next to another diagonal fisheye designed for full frame – the Zenitar 2.8/16.
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The tested lens starts with a metal mount, surrounding a rear element, 20 mm in diameter, positioned on the same level as the mount and set in black plastics. It moves but its movement range is very small, almost imperceptible.
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The first part of the proper body is a narrow, immobile ring behind which you can find an aperture ring, 8 mm wide. That ring is a joy to use – comfortable and well-damped. It also must be mentioned that the Canon mount version of the lens doesn’t feature any contacts which might allow the lens to communicate with the camera body and you - to control the aperture from the camera. The aperture value can be changed every 0.5 EV step and the EXIF file of a photo includes neither the focal length of the lens nor aperture value. The contacts are available in the Nikon F mount version and then the aperture can be changed using the camera controls every 0.3 EV step.
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The next part is a narrow, immobile ring with a red stripe above which you can see the name and the parameters of the lens and depth of field markings by f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0 and f/2.8 apertures. Further on there is a manual focus ring. It is relatively wide (28 mm) and rubber ribbing, very pleasant to the touch, takes most of it. Under the ribs you find a distance scale expressed in feet and meters. The ring works evenly but, in our opinion, it has too much slack. Running through the whole scale takes a turn through an angle of about 120 degrees. It is a decent value, allowing you very precise settings especially with such a short focal length and a deep depth of field.
Behind the manual focus ring the lens turns smoothly into a huge, removable, petal-type hood. It surrounds a front element with an impressive diameter of 65 mm. You cannot attach any filters here - a standard when it comes to fisheye lenses.
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The optical construction of the tested lens consists of 12 elements positioned in 8 groups. There are three low dispersion ED glass elements and two aspherical ones among them. The Samyang 12 mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS Fish-eye is the third device of that producer (along with the 10 mm f/2.8 and the 12 mm f/2.0) with a nanocrystal anti-reflective NCS layer used with the UMC coatings. Inside there is also an aperture with seven diaphragm blades which can be closed down to f/22.
Buyers get both caps and a soft pouch in the box.
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