Samyang 24mm Review & Photos (f1.4 Lens)
Here is my Samyang 24mm review, or more precisely my thoughts vs. other Samyang lenses together with sample photos and 24mm portraits.
So far i’ve found the 24mm focal length to be very useful for weddings photography especially if the venue is small or you do not have much space to work. I will add some 24mm wedding photography examples to this post soon from a recent Hindu wedding.
The Samyang 24mm f1.4 lens is also good for environmental portraits so I use for my model photography. In the example photo here of model Emma, I wanted to show the flight of stairs where she was sittings. The point of view is me just hand holding the camera over her head. With a 35mm or longer I would not have been able to capture as much so the impact would have been lessened. Again I will add more model portfolio shoot examples to this post when get chance.
In both wedding photography and model photography the f1.4 maximum aperture allows me to work in lower light conditions and shoot by available light as I have is this photo. The lens can be a little soft shot wide open when compared to the Samyang 35mm f1.4 and Samyang 85mm f1.4 at the same aperture but is acceptable by f2.8 (and I do still sometimes shoot at f1.4 as for my portraits soft can sometimes be a good thing!).
The underdog of Samyang lens! The lesser known 24mm!
My first Samyang lens discovery was the amazing Samyang 85mm lens. I love this lens and it made me look at other Samyang lenses. I think my next Samyang lens was the 14mm (almost a fish eye lens but not quite – no rounding blackened corners). My third Samyang lens was the 35mm f1.4 which was also brilliant. Lastly I got the less known, less raved about, less sharp Samyang 24mm f1.4 lens.
Samyang 24mm f1.4 vs Samyang 85mm f1.4
Compared to it’s big brother, the Samyang 85mm f1.4 super sharp manual focus lens, and it’s equally capable siblings, the Samyang 35mm f1.4 and Samyang 14mm f2.8, the Samyang 24mm does struggle to compete in terms of sharpness shot wide open. Stopped down a little however, it can produce some very sharp, very rewarding images with a useful focal length for tighter spaces.
I have found it useful for wedding photography when there is not much space and for getting close to your subject as shown in the example below to create a nice shallow DOF.
Samyang 24mm Sample Photos
Shot at f1.4 using available light on a Nikon D800 camera
Model – Gina
More examples:
Model – Georgie
Model – Charlotte
My Favourite Samyang Lens
Model – Emily
More Samyang 24mm Portaits
24mm Landscape Photography
..It can also be quite nice for landscapes!
..and other stuff :
