Samyang 12mm f2 for Real Estate Photography / January 2, 2022 by Jan

I already wrote a review about this Samyang 12mm f2 lens here, but I totally glossed over the real estate photography that I do with it. More and more photographers are getting onto me if this lens is any good for that, so I thought I’d write a little summary of my experiences with it thus far.

Quick and Dirty Bullet Points

Positives:

- The Samyang 12mm is very affordable
- It’s very versatile and can be used for other types of photography too
- Great image quality (definitely best value lens in the super-wide category)
- Great colours and contrast
- Vignetting is minimal when closing down to f4-5.6

Neutral:

- Since it’s a prime, I often (but not always) take a second lens with me
- Manual focus is love or hate

Negatives:

- Has a bit more distortion than I would like for this type of photography (see below for more info)

The Long Explanation

Let me expand on the above points; this lens is very good at photographing real estate. I live in Ireland where buildings and homes tend to be a bit on the smaller side, so that 12mm focal length is extremely important to me. I wouldn’t really be able to photograph half of the houses and apartments with even just a 16mm. That would be to tight already. For larger kitchens and living rooms it would be fine, but it’s very surprising how little you would be able to photograph of a standard sized 9m² bedroom for instance, nevermind a small en-suite. For the latter I often find myself squeezed up against the corner to be able to take a good, representative shot.

From an image quality point of view, this lens delivers more than enough for that. On that front I wouldn’t be worrying about anything.

The one re-occuring issue that I do have is straight lines. Getting straight lines when photographing kitchens for instance can be more difficult than you’d think. The super-wide nature of the lens exacerbates every slight degree you’re off, making the photo look much skewer than it would with say a 35mm or 50mm. This is normal for super or hyper-wide angles. So take your time setting your shot up and double and triple checking all angles and lines are as they should be. Then we get to the distortion. I usually don’t mind distortion at all. But for real estate photography, it can be a bit of an issue at times. Yes, you can remove it in Lightroom afterwards, but you do end up missing out a bit on the wideness. I also find that with this lens I can’t seem to get rid of the distortion 100%. I have read elsewhere that it has a more complicated ‘moustache shaped distortion’. Don’t know if that’s true. It’s not a deal breaker especially since there aren’t many viable other options in this price group (unless you want to go down the cheap, Chinese lens route), but something to be aware of.

Then there’s the matter of it being a prime. Sometimes I wish I had the Fujifilm 10-24mm so that I could zoom out to 10mm and also not need to take with a second lens for the outdoor shots or close ups. I will either take with my Samyang 21mm or Fujifilm 16-55mm to compliment the Samyang 12mm. Although often, I will just use the 12mm on its own. But photographing real estate isn’t my one and only photography gig, and my clients have all been really happy with the work I have delivered thus far with the 12mm. But I might upgrade in the future just to have the option to zoom, have a slightly wider end and have less distortion (I think the 10-24mm has less distortion but correct me if I’m wrong).

Bottom Line

I hope this helps. Bottom line, if you need a lens to photograph real estate, this is the one to go for if you don’t want to be spending as much money as on the Fujifilm 10-24mm or 8-16mm. You might need to put in a little bit more effort in regards to the manual focus and distortion and possibly bringing a second lens but it from the results, it won’t look much different. Lighting the rooms is a much more important aspect than if you’re using the Samyang 12mm or one of the Fujifilm zooms.

For more photos, check out my blog post on a house I photographed here, using the Samyang 12mm and the Fujifilm 16-55mm, or check out my real estate photography page here.

Samyang 35mm f1.2 versus Fujifilm XF 35mm f1.4 / August 1, 2021 by Jan

I keep yapping on and on about how great Samyang lenses are. My favourite lens of all time is the Samyang 21mm f1.4, and just recently I wrote a review on how good the Samyang 35mm f1.2 is. An incredibly underrated lens! I get it that a lot of potential users are discouraged of using a manual focus lens, but when a lens is this good, it’s worth revisiting.

Since the last review, I have bought and used the Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 and thought it would be interesting to compare the two lenses! They might be the same focal length and one might have autofocus while the other one doesn’t, but even I was surprised how different the images from these two lenses were. And surprisingly, the field of view doesn’t match up between these two lenses!

The following photos have been adjusted to have the same daylight white balance and the same film simulation, which in this case is Provia.

The first photo is the Fuji, second one is the Samyang (click to enlarge):

This shot indicates two things nicely; the difference in bokeh and the different colours these lenses produce. Both lenses were shot wide open, so either f1.4 or f1.2. I thought it would only be fair to do so, as you wouldn’t stop down the Samyang to 1.4 usually during a shoot. It’s either wide open or f2.8 or smaller.

Immediately, you can see in the yellow bush in the middle that the Samyang has much smoother bokeh, without appearing too clinical. With it being an f1.2 aperture, it is also blurred a little more than the Fujifilm. The latter has more defined edges to its bokeh.
Regarding colour, the greens with the Fujifilm are colder looking, the whole image is colder actually. A definite blue tint to it all. The Samyang has a much warmer, friendlier tone. The image looks way sunnier in comparison.

Interestingly, I set both photos to the standard ‘Daylight’ setting within Lightroom. That sets it to 5500K and +10 on the green/magenta scale. However when I changed the white balance of the Fujifilm to 5700k, keeping the secondary slider at +10, and changed the white balance on the Samyang photo to 5500k and +21, the two become much more similar than initially anticipated. I honestly didn’t think I could make them look so similar!

Again, first one is the Fuji, second one is the Samyang:

There’s still a definite difference in colour but the results have become much closer.

Next, we have some close ups of the centre glass. The left one is the Fuji, the right one is the Samyang:

The obvious remark here, is that the Samyang has absolutely no purple fringing. Besides that though, you can see how much better the Samyang is in sharpness and micro-contrast. There’s quite an obvious difference between the two!

Well, let’s have a look in the corners and zoom in on the left jar. Again, the left one is the Fuji, the right one is the Samyang:

Oh dear! Now we even have some hazing from the Fujifilm!

Ok, let’s look at another sample. First one is the Fuji, second one is the Samyang:

I really prefer the rendering of the Samyang in this as well. The bokeh is just so much creamier, especially when you have a look at the kettle and spatula or whatever metal utensils they are in the centre of the image. Or looking at the vertical lines on the cupboard above them, the Samyang manages to smooth them out better than the Fujifilm.
The colour difference is aparent again, this time the skin tones in the Fuji image look redder than the Samyang. The Samyang again, having a definite summer vibe to it.

Here are the photos again with the same white balance correction as above:

Again, they look quite similar, but I would still prefer the Samyang.

An obligatory close up. Again, Fuji is on top:

Conclusion

I wish that Samyang would make an autofocus version of this lens! Of all their APS-C mirrorless lenses actually. I don’t mind manual focusing and it’s not that difficult to do on a Fuji camera, but when I’m photographing events or weddings, it does drain my energy levels quicker than when I’m using an autofocus lens that works well. I still have moments though where I’ll just pop on a manual focus lens because the autofocus lens is distracting me too much. But I’m a little old school in that way of thinking and working. It’s all personal preference at the end of the day, but I just love the simplicity of manual focus lenses. And nothing annoys me more than having to swap autofocus modes or continuously having to switch the ‘Eye AF’ function on and off constantly because the camera is focusing on the wrong subject.
Is the Fujifilm 35mm 1.4 a bad lens? No, not at all. Is it as good as the entire internet seems to think? No, not at all.
Having said that, I’m not mad that I own it, or that it exists. I did for instance take these lovely family portraits with it. In this scenario, the autofocus really helped me keep my mind clear and allow me to focus on directing the family (see photos below). The autofocus actually helped me achieve these photos, which would probably have been quite difficult to do with the Samyang lens. Or I would have had to have stopped the lens down to f8 or f11 to have a massive depth of field and cross my fingers that everyone is in focus. I think the photos came out really great and I’m not left thinking, “If only I used another lens.”
It does remind me of some of the Zeiss lenses in that regard that the specs don’t always look great on paper or if you dissect the image, like I did above, but when you take a step back and look at the whole image, it does look great. But I believe this lens can be improved upon and look forward to what Fujifilm will deliver with their rumoured 33mm. Sigma also wants to bring out their 30mm f1.4 to the X-mount. I’d be very interested to see how they are, in terms of autofocus performance and image quality and look. And in the case of the Sigma, if they will finally make one in X-mount after all! It’s been such a long term rumour after all.

My pros and cons list:

Fujifilm 35mm f1.4

Positives:
+ Autofocus lens
+ Good image quality, not as good as the Samyang but good enough
+ Love or hate lens
+ Cool looking lens hood
+ Incredibly lightweight

Neutral:
ᵒ I’m not always that fond of the bokeh, can be a bit busy at times (since it’s very subjective, I’m not counting it as a negative)

Negatives:
- Lens hood comes off easily, as does the square, rubber lens cap
- Autofocus isn’t the best but good enough

Samyang 35mm f1.2

Positives:
+ Superb image quality, best 35mm lens for the Fujifilm X-mount (currently)
+ Great looking photos, super creamy bokeh
+ f1.2 aperture, great for low light and extra bokeh
+ Very affordable (can be found on the used market for just €200-250 in various mounts)
+ Pure manual nature of the lens means it will last you a lifetime and use less power, so your camera batteries last longer
+ Good size, balances nicely on cameras
+ Great quality lens hood
+ Personal preference, but I like that the aperture goes in ½ steps instead of ⅓’s

Neutral:
ᵒ Manual focus is either good or bad depending on the wants of the photographer, although manual focus is great if you’re doing video too

Negatives:
- Would prefer a metal body with etched numbers, instead of printed numbers
- Focus ring is a bit stiffer than I’d like

Let me know what you think of my findings! And check out my Samyang 21mm f1.4 review here, the Samyang 35mm f1.2 review here, and the Samyang 12mm f2.0 review here.

Sample Photos

Here are some of my favourite photos taken with each lens.

Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 Sample Photos:

Samyang 35mm f1.2 Sample Photos:

Voigtlander Is Coming to the Fujfilm X Mount? / July 12, 2021 by Jan

I am absolutely thrilled by today’s speculation on Fujirumors that Cosina, Voigtländer’s parent company, will be announcing a 35mm f1.2, full manual lens for the Fujifilm X system!

If you have been reading my reviews on the Samyang lenses, especially the Samyang 21mm f1.4 and the Samyang 35mm f1.2, you’ll know that this is exactly what I was waiting for.

A Quick Recap

A quick recap for those who haven’t read my Samyang reviews (available here - 12mm, 21mm, 35mm); even though I love the image quality and the look of the images from the two lenses mentioned above, I always wished the lenses had a better build quality to match their amazing glass and optical design.

Especially the Samyang 35mm f1.2 suffers from too much stiffness to its focus ring. The Samyang 21mm is much better in that regard, much smoother, but still not something I would consider butter smooth. I long for my old Olympus OM 50mm f1.4 that had an amazingly smooth focus ring, with just the right amount of resistance. Or some Zeiss or Leica lenses I was able to use before were amazing, where as the Samyang 21mm is just very good and the 35mm is what I would describe as good. But I’d love to have the same lenses, with the same kind of quality in a more premium lens housing.

I take very good care of my lenses, in between shoots or while transporting my gear but during an event or photoshoot, I will always prioritize getting the shot instead of being cautious with my gear. Which is why there is one set of scratches on the housing of the 21mm. If they were a cm higher, they would have gone over the markings and focus distances on the focus ring. Since these numbers are just printed on and not engraved and then filled with ink, I have the suspicion that these markings will disappear at some stage in the future. Will I still own the lens when that happens? Will I still be using Fujifilm gear then? Who knows, but it would be nice to just have these engravings.

What I expect from the Voigtländer 35mm f1.2

I expect this lens to have a fantastic build quality, a very smooth focus ring with a metal housing. The rendering of the images will probably have a bit of an old school look with funky bokeh, probably not the sharpest wide open but very characterful. I wonder if it will be a full frame lens with a Fujifilm X mount, but I assume it will probably be a dedicated APS-C lens as they would have to re-design the lens to be suitable for the thicker stack Fujifilm sensors that would otherwise cause a lot of white hazing. Probably expect a price of around €800-900.

I love the lenses that Voigtländer have been releasing in the last few years. The ones that stand out to me most are the 50mm f3.5 non-collapsible lens with the beautiful engraving of the lens formula on the body. What a lens. While it doesn’t have a super fast aperture, it does have a fantastic colour reproduction and super creamy bokeh! I’m a big fan of the 40mm f1.4 as well, such an underrated focal length. As well as all of their APO lenses that focus on perfect colours! In a world of high megapixels and sharpness, I am delighted that there’s a company that still focusses on the important aspects like the rendering of colours, depth, bokeh and just producing beautiful images.

What I want from the Voigtländer 35mm f1.2

I’d love for Voigtländer to take the Samyang 35mm f1.2, put it in a gorgeous, metal Voigtländer housing and add a bit of character to the images. The Samyang 21mm has plenty of character, the Samyang 35mm isn’t lacking in character but it could benefit of having a little more. But keep the sharpness, light transmission and colours!

Although I expect the price to be high, I do hope it will only be around €500-600. If it is higher, as predicted, then for me it would have to be perfect in every regard. The competition at the 35mm focal length is pretty stiff in the Fujifilm world, especially with Fujifilm releasing their own updated, auto focus lens soon, the 33mm f1.4. But I do hope that Voigtländer succeeds with this lens and releases more focal lengths in the future.

Let’s see what happens!