Thanks to Samyang for sending me a test copy of the lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. Samyang AF12 Build, Handling, and Features

Samyang 1220506101 12 mm F2.0 Manual Focus Lens for Sony-E Samyang 1220506101 12 mm F2.0 Manual Focus Lens for Sony-E

Would be interested to see if it performs as well on an APS-C sensor as I would guess that m43 uses the 'best' central part of the image circle? The MTF chart shows a good sharpness in the center, with – at full aperture – a decent gradient at the corners, especially for the fine details. Of course, this can be expected at full aperture for an extreme wide angle. What the MTF curve does not show and what we are of course very curious about is how fast and how much the corners tighten when we stop down one or more stops. As soon as we have a copy of the Samyang AF 12mm F2 E in our test lab, we will of course test it and publish a full review.This new prime lens is the world's first Autofocus 12mm lens compatible with E mount, which performs optimally on Sony APS-C mirrorless cameras. Sun stars are visible around f/11 and get better at f/16. The seven-bladed aperture on this lens makes much nicer sun stars than the previous manual focus version. Sell the kit you’re not using to MPB. Trade in for the kit you need to create. Buy used, spend less and get more. Buy. Sell. Trade. Create.

Gear Review: Rokinon (Samyang) 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS Wide Angle Gear Review: Rokinon (Samyang) 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS Wide Angle

Optical construction is 12 elements in 10 groups, including 1 Hybrid Aspherical, 1 aspherical and 3 ED (Extra Low Dispersion). The diaphragm comprises 7 blades. Flare resistance is enhanced by the use of Samyang's well-proven UMC multi-layer coating techniques. Thanks for reviewing this lens, have been interested in it for a while and it sounds like a good performer. The lens has so far only been announced in a version for Sony cameras. An uncoupled mount is easily interchangeable, but that doesn’t apply to the algorithms for the autofocus. The addition of autofocus makes this lens highly versatile. The mechanical version was already very good for landscape photography and astrophotography. The latter is due to the high brightness, which in astrophotography means the shutter speeds can remain short and the sensitivity of the camera low.

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Slowly turn the zoom ring to the left (towards the wide-angle end) while using your upper body and arms to move the camera toward your subject.

Samyang AF 12mm F2.0 review | Digital Camera World

There is a provided petal lens hood and this clips nicely into place. Within the bayonet fit for the hood is a standard 62mm filter thread. There is a broad control ring that adjusts manual focus, be it in DMF setting where the focus point can be manually tweaked in AF or in the MF setting. This is an electronic ring and as usual, is utterly smooth in operation. Focusing is down to 0.19m or 0.62 feet, for a maximum magnification of 0.09x.For still images, keeping a distance equal to the diagonal length of the full image surface is recommended. The full frame sensor of a digital camera is 36 x 24mm and the diagonal length is 43.26mm so any distance close to this number is nearer to the ideal than the currently accepted industry standard of 50mm. A thin rubber seal does give this lens some weather/dust sealing which is a nice upgrade from other inexpensive APS-C lenses I’ve used. The best standpoint from which to appreciate the full view of a subject is the distance of the diagonal length of the subject frame. This wider angle is superior to standing closer at a 50 degree angle to get a more detailed view. Typically I don’t even consider buying manual focus lenses anymore. There are so many good options that come with autofocus at very affordable prices that it’s not worth sacrificing the utility of autofocus.