The Samyang 12mm F2 - Fuji X Mount - Review

The Samyang 12mm lens on a Fuji X-E2, wide is good.

The Samyang 12mm lens on a Fuji X-E2, wide is good.

Every now and then I look at the equipment I have and take a good long while to look through it and assess where I am and what I'm happy with, the most recent change is to my choice of super wide angle lens.

I've owned the Samyang 8mm fisheye <review) for well over a year and have got some good use out of it, its a great lens which has it's place, but all to often I've been leaving it in the bag trying to avoid the fisheye look which can quickly become overused.

Therefor I made the decision to trade in the 8mm lens and get my hands on the Fuji X mount Samyang 12mm F2 manual focus lens, it's a stunner.

As with all my little reviews there aren't any charts or all that boring info, instead just a range shots, my thoughts on the lens and an overall impression, all the shots here are taken on the Fuji XE-2, shot in RAW and processed with VSCO. 

As you can see from the shots this lens is all about the fast and wide, at 12mm it provides an incredible wide view this combined with an F2 aperture allow for some fun use, it's manual focus but it's so wide you'll not need to be too precise. You can focus close and get some nice bokeh for such a wide angle lens, the focus ring feels solid and not loose, it's a little hard to turn but you'll not be using it that much.

I love this lens, its a cracking performer for landscape work, and gives a pleasing background blur when used close up, overall its a great lens to have in the bag and I'm sure my copy will get plenty of use, much more than my fisheye that's for sure.

Thats it for this review, take a look at the images here to see what the lens is capable of and feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions at all. 

Cheers, Col-