First Samyang 7.5mm MFT test

[KG]

My Samyang 7.5mm MicroFourThirds arrived today, and boy, is it small...




And of course I went out for a first pano.
After a quick calibration on the NN3 and in very dull weather (a bit of drizzle) this is the result.



click here for the interactive verison

So I think it is a powerful little lens (considering the price) which can live happily on top of a pole.
The lens itself weighs 174 grams and together with my Olympus E-P1 the combo weighs 580 grams.

Any questions? Don't hesitate to contact me.
I'll be out for some more samples and comparisons later this week.


Karel

[softgad]

Hi Karel

Could you do one with maximum quality? It does not look too sharp right now to even consider this set up. Thank you

[DennisS]

Did you shoot jpg or RAW? The image is rather soft and I see green CA all along the roof tops. Some edges have purple fringing. Tough crowd (I know) but we need to see what this lens is capable of.

[KG]

No problem with the comments. I have the same thoughts.

But this first Q&D test was about taking the RAW straight from the camera (in neutral settings) to the stitcher, without any processing as a start for the next tests.

There is visible color fringe (I did expect some with a lens this cheap) an less sharpness than I expected.
The next tests are about finding the sweet aperture spot and tweaking the right settings for better performance.

On the plus side: the geometry of the lens seems to be all right...

[badders]

What was your shooting sequence? i.e. how many shots and at what angles?

[Wim.Koornneef]

Hello Karel,

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your Olympus Pen+Samyang 7.5mm and an example of a pano shot with the combo.
A total weight of 580 gram for camera and lens is very acceptable and when combined with a NN R1 lensring and a Fanotec Series 1 pole this could be (*) the perfect travel pano gear for a lot of people (including me).

Best,
Wim

(*) asuming that it is possible to improve the image quality of the RAW conversion...

[badders]

But doesn't this setup still need a zenith shot?

[Wim.Koornneef]

But doesn't this setup still need a zenith shot?

After a second and better look at the screenshot of the PTGui optimizer results I think you need to shoot a zenith and nadir image.

The fov of the image is approx. 103 degree, this is the horizontal fov of the image so the vertical fov will be approx. 138 degree and that makes with a full cover of nadir a hole in zenith of the pano of approx. 84 degree .
For me a hole in zenith of 84 degree is to much so a zenith shot is always neccesary and that makes the camera/lens combo (for me) less attractive for use on a pole then I first thought....

The max. downtilt of the R1 lensring is -15 degree, this is less then the downtilt of approx. -21 degree that is needed to have a full cover of nadir by only roundshots and this means that apart from a zenith shot also a nadir shot is needed.

A workaround for the issues mentioned above could be to shoot the images in a slanted position of the camera to get a better vFOV...

Wim

[DemonDuck]

Did you shoot jpg or RAW? The image is rather soft and I see green CA all along the roof tops. Some edges have purple fringing. Tough crowd (I know) but we need to see what this lens is capable of.

I was thinking that the overall quality is much less than from my LX3 with a good wide angle lens. The advantage is fewer shots. But I'm not sure it's worth all that money.

I suppose that if pole panos are absolutely needed, then the kit might be justified but the quality might still not be worth it.

[DennisS]

But this first Q&D test was about taking the RAW straight from the camera (in neutral settings) to the stitcher, without any processing as a start for the next tests.

DD,

Wait until someone posts a set of pictures where they spent some time in the process. All KG did was take raw pictures straight from the camera into PTGui. That is a formula for poor images.

As soon as the great United States Postal Service gets around to delivering me my lens, I will post examples out of the NEX-5 camera. I will need to shave the hood off first in order to get a good and realistic test.

Dennis

[DemonDuck]

DD,

Wait until someone posts a set of pictures where they spent some time in the process. All KG did was take raw pictures straight from the camera into PTGui. That is a formula for poor images.

As soon as the great United States Postal Service gets around to delivering me my lens, I will post examples out of the NEX-5 camera. I will need to shave the hood off first in order to get a good and realistic test.

Dennis

I just got my Samyang 8mm mated to my NEX5. Haven't even taken one picture yet. Will be interesting comparison...

[KG]

Ok, after getting to know the lens-camera combo a bit better, here is a next panorama with the Samyang 7,5mm on the Olympus Pen E-P1

click here

I think I made a mistake with the first panorama in my opening post and left the camera image stabilizer on.

I also noticed that this lens is quite sensitive to the Aperture setting.

Yes, with this FOV you need a zenith and Nadir shot, however, with the NN on -15º the Nadir is quite small.
Here is the Nadir cube from a panorama shot with a 6m (20ft) pole from a lens with a comparable FOV, with the R1 at -15º



Karel

[DemonDuck]

Ok, after getting to know the lens-camera combo a bit better, here is a next panorama with the Samyang 7,5mm on the Olympus Pen E-P1
click here

I think I made a mistake with the first panorama in my opening post and left the camera image stabilizer on.

I also noticed that this lens is quite sensitive to the Aperture setting.

Much better. Nice actually.

[softgad]

Ok, after getting to know the lens-camera combo a bit better, here is a next panorama with the Samyang 7,5mm on the Olympus Pen E-P1

click here

I think I made a mistake with the first panorama in my opening post and left the camera image stabilizer on.

I also noticed that this lens is quite sensitive to the Aperture setting.

Yes, with this FOV you need a zenith and Nadir shot, however, with the NN on -15º the Nadir is quite small.
Here is the Nadir cube from a panorama shot with a 6m (20ft) pole from a lens with a comparable FOV, with the R1 at -15º



Karel

There is improvement for sure , and I think this the quality we could expect from this set up now