The following chart presents a comparison between basic parameters of different 14-24 mm f/2.8 lenses designed for full frame mirrorless cameras. As you can notice the new Samyang is a real midget in this group, weighing almost two times less than the heaviest models of this type. At the same time it offers you a possibility to use normal front 77 mm filters. Previously only the Nikkor offered you that but in its case you had to buy filters of really monstrous diameter, that of 112 mm. The shortest minimum focusing distance, amounting to just 18 cm, is an additional asset of the Samyang.
In the following photo the Samyang AF 14-24 mm f/2.8 FE is positioned between the reflex camera Sigma A 35 mm f/1.4 DG HSM and the Sony FE version of the Voigtlander Apo-Lanthar 2/50.
The tested lens starts with a metal mount with contacts and a 30x22 mm frame with information that the lens was produced in Korea. On the metal part right behind the mount there is also its serial number. Right under the frame you see an immobile rear element of the lens 33 mm in diameter. The area around it is properly blackened and matted. From this side the lens is weather sealed and everything looks as it should.
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The proper body of the lens is covered by black plastics and starts with an immobile, smooth ring on which you can find a marker making an alignment with a camera easier, information about the filter diameter, that of 77 mm, and the minimum focusing distance (0.18m-0.59ft).
The ring increases its diameter very quickly and on that already enlargened part you see an inscription with the name and parameters of the lens. Looking from above, on the right side, there are logotypes of the producers, Schneider-Kreuznach and LK Samyang; on the left you find the AM/MF switch and a programmable FOCUS LOCK button. In the back there is another piece of information concerning the place of production and an unprotected USB port that is used to lens software upgrades.
A zoom ring, as wide as 21 mm, is another part of the lens. It is equipped with comfortable ribbing and also focal length markings at 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 mm. It moves quite smoothly and is properly damped.
Further on you find a manual focus ring, 14 mm in diameter. It is almost completely covered by rubber ribbing a bit thicker than in case on the zoom ring. You can't find any distance scale of DOF scale on it. The ring moves smoothly, with a proper but not especially pronounced resistance, and it is a focus-by-wire construction. Its working range, amounting to 60-70 deg, doesn't depend on the focal length or on the speed of your turning. It's a low value but the depth of field provided by this lens makes it still more or less useful.
Turning the zoom ring from 24 to 14 mm makes the lens increase its length by about 11 mm as a plastic homogeneous tube ending with the front element system extends forward.
The front element is a bit convex, 49 mm in diameter, surrounded by a part of the casing with the names of the producers and basic parameters of the instrument, along with a non-rotating filter thread, 77 mm in diameter, and a hood mount.
When it comes to the optical construction you deal here with 15 elements positioned in 11 groups.The producers weren't skimpy when it comes to special glass – you deal here with three low dispersion ED glass elements , three aspherical ones, and as many as five elements made of glass with high refractive index (HR). Inside the construction there is also a round aperture with nine blades that can be closed down to a value of f/22.
Buyers get in the box with the lens both caps and a petal-type hood.
