Samyang have a fine reputation for producing reasonably priced, excellent lenses, initially manual focus only, but for some time now with a rapidly expanding AF range. This new 18mm f/2.8 ultra-wide is a welcome addition to the range, offering a very useful focal length for Sony FE full frame mirrorless cameras. It can also be used on the APS-C format cameras, where the “35mm equivalent” field of view would be around 27mm. Here we review it using the full frame 24MP Sony Alpha A7 III. Let's see how it performs and handles and if it makes a good companion to the rest of Samyang's AF range.
Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE Handling and Features
The lens is light and compact, weighing in at a svelte 145g without caps. Construction is of high quality, using appropriate plastics that reduce the weight.
There is a provided petal lens hood that bayonets securely into place and shows no sign of being likely to dislodge accidentally. The bayonet fit surrounds a standard 58mm filter thread. The front element is relatively small, not like the traditional ultra-wides that needed huge domed glass front elements. Coatings are Samyang's UMC multi-coating.
The only control on the lens is the manual focus ring. It is electronic and therefore ultra-smooth and its function is controlled via the camera menus. Sony offers various choices regarding focus – AF-S, AF-C and AF-A are the AF options and are single shooting, continuous shooting and automatic selection between the two. The MF options are DMF and MF. DMF is Direct Manual Focus and enables manual tweaks after AF has been performed. MF is of course just manual focusing. The focusing range is down to 0.25m, or 0.82 feet, which is a maximum magnification of 0.09x.
AF is driven by a linear STM motor and is precise and fast. It is also virtually silent.
Optical construction is 9 elements in 8 groups, including 3 Aspherical, 2 HR (High Refractive Index) and 3 ED (Extra Low Dispersion). The diaphragm comprises 7 blades. It is interesting that the rear element is concave rather than convex, not unheard of, but unusual. In the performance section we will see if this enhances the edge performance.
Handling is just spot on, there is nothing to the lens to cause any grief and it operates slickly and sweetly in every respect. 18mm is actually quite wide, so the biggest danger would be in not getting in close enough to subjects; to fill the foreground. Ultra-wides are lenses that cry out for dramatic compositions, as well of course enabling sweeping interior shots. For most subjects we need to get in close, and then closer still.
Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE Performance
Sharpness is almost perfectly even across the frame, the edges vying with the centre for the highest figures. Centre and edge, sharpness is excellent from f/2.8 all the way through to f/16. Diffraction slightly reduces sharpness at f/22, but not by much and it is still very good. Again, that holds true from centre to edge. This is a very impressive result.
Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE MTF Charts
How to read our MTF chartsThe blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges.The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution and sharpness as LW/PH and is described in detail above. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. For this review, the lens was tested on a Sony Alpha A7 III using Imatest. Want to know more about how we review lenses? |
CA (Chromatic Aberration) is well controlled and not much of a problem, but it can be reduced further in software.
Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE Chromatic Aberration Charts
How to read our CA chartsChromatic aberration (CA) is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Sony Alpha A7 III using Imatest. |
Barrel distortion measures -1.99%, which is certainly visible, especially on architectural subjects or anywhere where we see straight lines near the edge of the frame. But of course this is normal for ultra-wide designs and it is better in this respect than most zooms. Corrections can be applied in software.
Bokeh is not really the raison d'etre of such wide lenses, but it is apparent that it is as smooth as could be expected. An 18mm may well be used more at smaller apertures, so everything could well be within the depth of field and in that case bokeh becomes less relevant.
If there is an Achilles heel then for this lens it is flare. In normal use, with front lit or side lit subjects then flare is not a problem, but with bright lights shining straight into the lens then contrast dives and a multitude of artefacts cascade right across the image.
Vignetting is present, as in all lenses, and for such a wide lens is actually well limited. At f/2.8 we have -2.3 stops of corner darkening, reducing to about -1.5 stops from f/4 through to f/22. This can produce pleasing darkening of the corners for landscape and other subjects, where traditionally prints would be darkened at the edges to concentrate our eyes on the centre of the field. This can be reduced in software if desired.
In summary, the lens produces lovely, crisp images and any limitations on that can be further reduced by using software solutions.
Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE Aperture range
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Value For Money
The Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 lens is priced at £349.99, making the new Samyang lens terrific value for money. Alternatives include:
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD, £899
Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master, £2099
Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8, £1199
Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art, £1459
For more options have a look at the Top 29 Best Sony E / FE Mount Lenses, Top 21 Best Samyang Lenses, or have a look at the Best Budget Wide-angle lenses.
Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE Verdict
There is so much on the plus side for the Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE lens – it's affordable, really sharp, focuses fast and produces crisp, attractive images. Handling is superb.
The only question marks are over the lack of weather resistance and the amount of flare against the light, but if these can be accepted then, especially at the price, the lens is a remarkable and highly desirable, compact and efficient lens. Highly recommended.
| The Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE lens is a compact, light and very sharp ultra-wide lens. |
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