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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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Centon (Samyang) 18-28mm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 3:16 pm
Post subject: Centon (Samyang) 18-28mm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 3:16 pm
Post subject: Centon (Samyang) 18-28mm
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I've had this lens a while but haven't used it too much, yesterday I went to take photos in Cardiff with my new 60D, I recently sold my Sigma 18-50mm AF lens in order to get the newer OS version so it turned out the only wide lens I had available was the Samyang Confused

But it's not bad at all, the only cause for frustration was the distortion but then again sometimes it can help to give a dramatic effect.

I didn't use it wide open but between F/5.6 and F/10 and I found it was pretty sharp at these apertures. The colour and contrast were very good too.

It's quite well built and I think it performs quite well on the 18mp sensor.













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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:25 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:25 pm
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The distortion is really ... wow!
There are CA's etc.

BUT... those images are really nice. The colours are vivid. The red in the first picture is amazing!


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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:50 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:50 pm
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indeed beautiful images, the colours are good. i especially like the second one. but the "starbursts" of the lights look a bit odd, most of the bursts i have seen seem to converge while this lens renders them the other way around. i think i like it this way better actually. i feel like it makes more sense this way Razz


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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:52 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:52 pm
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LucisPictor wrote:
The distortion is really ... wow!
There are CA's etc.

BUT... those images are really nice. The colours are vivid. The red in the first picture is amazing!


+10


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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:43 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:43 pm
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Beautiful shots and composition and a big "wow" to the colour saturation Surprised I'm really impressed by that old ultra-wide zoom. IQ should be much worse, surely! Laughing


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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:27 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:27 pm
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This thread should carry a health warning "beware - dark sunbglasses must be worn"

The reds really sock it to ya dont they?


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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:45 am
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:45 am
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as much as I've read about this lens it should be bad but looking at these photos... it's quite good Wink

and the red is amazing yes Smile

Last edited by NikonD on Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:16 pm; edited 1 time in total


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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:38 am
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:38 am
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Excellent series, especially the cloud (#7). Is that the colour you got SOOC? If so, it's extremely good Smile


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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:11 am
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:11 am
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martyn_bannister wrote:
Excellent series, especially the cloud (#7). Is that the colour you got SOOC? If so, it's extremely good Smile


They are all converted from raw but I always use the same settings regardless of lens, I would say the colour is about the same as the standard jpeg setting on the camera with the contrast being slightly less.

I used to shoot simultaneous jpeg and raw for a while until I could make the raws look better than the jpegs.

I usually convert with capture one after doing the levels and adjusting the white balance to how things looked to my eyes if necessary, then I have an action that automatically tweaks the curves and adds +5 saturation and +10 contrast in photoshop, I find this gives nice punchy images that are still on the right side of overdone.

If I compare a converted raw to a jpeg from the camera the colour saturation is about the same apart from being slightly colder but the contrast is usually pushed too far causing blown highlights and colour channels.

EDIT: I forgot to add, I think the lovely late evening sun has a lot to do with the colours as well!


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:48 am
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:48 am
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ups... I bought one called exakta varioplan 18-28/4-4.5
I hope it's as good as yours Wink


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:02 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:02 pm
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i have an 18-28mm zoom under the brand Sirius in M42 mount, but haven't tried it yet

can you post a photo of the lens itself, so i can see if it's the same lens?


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:06 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:06 pm
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this is the lens:

http://www.bl.egir.dk/pikeman/IMG_D7127.jpg


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:53 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:53 pm
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Beautiful pics! And I love the cloud on #7, looks like something in a sci-fi movie or an atomic cloud Shocked


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:35 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:35 pm
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ylyad wrote:
Beautiful pics! And I love the cloud on #7, looks like something in a sci-fi movie or an atomic cloud Shocked


I thought the same!


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:38 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:38 pm
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WolverineX wrote:
i have an 18-28mm zoom under the brand Sirius in M42 mount, but haven't tried it yet

can you post a photo of the lens itself, so i can see if it's the same lens?


It's the same lens as NikonD posted a photo of.

All of these 18-28mm lenses are made by Samyang as far as I know, there are subtle differences such as the rubber grips and I have heard of some that have less metal and more plastic but they are basically all the same. Some brands exaggerate the specs a little such as the Vivitar version which is labelled as a 17-28mm


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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:40 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:40 pm
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NikonD wrote:
ups... I bought one called exakta varioplan 18-28/4-4.5
I hope it's as good as yours Wink


I'm sure it will be, just stop it down to F/8!


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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:26 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:26 pm
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I've got this lens for cheap, but it is canon mount, so if decide to use, have to rework to sony mount, which might require quite large efforts. I already have Tamron 17-50/2.8 AF LD Di XR SP (and so on) for my SLT-A57. So how you can tell, is this lens comparable in terms of sharpness and CA to my tamron or not?


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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:08 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:08 pm
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This Samyang made lens is notorious. It is available under many different brands and is generally considered abysmal. I had a copy and it was quite useless, being very soft even well stopped down. The only decent pictures I can remember seeing from this lens are from the OP in this thread. Basically, it has zero chance of outperforming your Tamron. Don't waste your time adapting it. Just throw it away.


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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:53 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:53 am
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I want to try to use it in reverse, as close up lens, because, coupled with 500mm prime, it should give whopping 27x magnification.


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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:53 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:53 am
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CuriousOne wrote:
I want to try to use it in reverse, as close up lens, because, coupled with 500mm prime, it should give whopping 27x magnification.


I would like to see that!


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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:00 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:00 am
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I used to have one of these back in the early 90's (Pentax mount) and mine was probably comparable to the OP's i.e sharp-ish if you stopped it down a bit, however, bear in mind this was an extreme wide angle zoom that retailed for the same sort of money as a the plastic Tamron 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 of the same period and well under half the price of a contemporaries like Tamron 17/3.5 or Sigma's 21-35mm.

Would I but one now? No, but it was an amazing intro to ultra-wide photography when I was an impoverished Architecture student and built like a tank.


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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:03 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:03 am
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Images can look nice at web size, but don't zoom in Laughing

Here's my test thread:

http://forum.mflenses.com/exakta-18-28mm-samyang-made-t45961.html

It will not come close to a modern lens IMO.


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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:45 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:45 am
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I've tried it reverse mounted, as macro lens. Nothing spectacular as said.


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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 3:33 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 3:33 pm
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I have one too. Got it some years ago (Kalimar brand) very cheap in PK/A mount.
Biggest problem with it is its just not sharp, even in the center, even stopped down to f/8.
Color isn't bad and flare is OK, and distortion isn't much worse than most old superwides costing much more. Overall impression of its output is respectable. Just don't zoom in.
Its not a bad lens for web resolution and quite useful on APS-C.
It does go significantly wider than the usual digital kit lenses, in spite of the specs.
With B&W 35mm film it is an interesting special effects lens, and cheap to play with. On film cameras 18mm is very wide indeed.
If someone is on an extreme budget I can see it as a fun option.
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