Having upgraded to a full frame Canon EOS 6D recently, the first lesson was that you really need the glass to go with it! Having had a lot of use out of the Tokina 11-16mm over the previous year, it was disappointing to realise that this lens was no longer much use for night photography on full frame, especially around the edges. After reading a few reviews, the Samyang 14mm f2.4 Prime lens seemed to fit the bill as an ultra wide angle lens. At around £300 (it fluctuates as ours was a good £30 cheaper, and at time of writing was £20 more!)
It’s a well built manual lens, so it takes time to master, apparently. Maybe I can still remember using manual cameras in my subconscious, but the first shot I captured was this one:
Of course, with a manual lens you’ve got to both focus manually (not a massive issue at such wide angles) and set the aperture. I keep forgetting this when I’m shooting, and after five minutes trying to change it on the camera settings, realise my mistake and sheepishly turn the ring to the desired setting!
14mm is perfect (or far too wide, depending on who you ask) for landscapes.
Of course, it’s night skies that this lens excels at. If only we had more clear nights like this one.
GALLERY
