Samyang 85 f/1.4 on SD

[Ille]

The now well known Samyang prime lenses (8mm fisheye f/3.5, 14mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4) comes in various mounts, but not the SA mount. I did contact them last year, asking if there was a plan to to release the samyangs lenses in SA mount, the answer was "No". Then I asked if it could be possible to order a 85mm with the EOS bayonet replaced by a K ring (but without the aperture lever). I'm still waiting for an answer.

But, last month, at the Paris "Salon de la Photo", I get a chance to manipulate those Samyang lenses, and try them on my SD14 (just holding them in front of the camera). I particularly observed the way the rear element move or not.
Convinced a canon EOS Samyang would be easily converted to SA mount (just had a doubt about how the EOS ring was in any way linked to the aperture mechanism), I did buy a 85mm.

Three days later, after unmounting the EOS ring and a little DIY to create the SA ring of the right thickness out of a M42/K adapter (total cost of the conversion is around 5-7€), I now have a great short tele lens with a wide aperture. Results are really good, and I doubt you can get similar quality for the price (275€ for the lense + 5€ for the conversion).
The bonus is, the conversion is totally reversible, so even if you have a problem with the lens while under warranty, just remount the EOS ring and bring the lens to your dealer.

Here is an example shot:

Samyang 85 on SD14

Sure Sigma users should ask samyang for a SA mount version of their lenses, as it would not demand a huge work for this.
Maybe it could be possible to simply provide a SA mount ring on demand, this way, any Sigma user could buy a Samyang in EOS mount and make the conversion itself?

Regards

 

[DSG]

The now well known Samyang prime lenses (8mm fisheye f/3.5, 14mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4) comes in various mounts, but not the SA mount. I did contact them last year, asking if there was a plan to to release the samyangs lenses in SA mount, the answer was "No". Then I asked if it could be possible to order a 85mm with the EOS bayonet replaced by a K ring (but without the aperture lever). I'm still waiting for an answer.

But, last month, at the Paris "Salon de la Photo", I get a chance to manipulate those Samyang lenses, and try them on my SD14 (just holding them in front of the camera). I particularly observed the way the rear element move or not.
Convinced a canon EOS Samyang would be easily converted to SA mount (just had a doubt about how the EOS ring was in any way linked to the aperture mechanism), I did buy a 85mm.

Three days later, after unmounting the EOS ring and a little DIY to create the SA ring of the right thickness out of a M42/K adapter (total cost of the conversion is around 5-7€), I now have a great short tele lens with a wide aperture. Results are really good, and I doubt you can get similar quality for the price (275€ for the lense + 5€ for the conversion).
The bonus is, the conversion is totally reversible, so even if you have a problem with the lens while under warranty, just remount the EOS ring and bring the lens to your dealer.

Here is an example shot:

Samyang 85 on SD14

Sure Sigma users should ask samyang for a SA mount version of their lenses, as it would not demand a huge work for this.
Maybe it could be possible to simply provide a SA mount ring on demand, this way, any Sigma user could buy a Samyang in EOS mount and make the conversion itself?

Regards

They do it in four mounts, Canon EF, Nikon, Pentax/Samsung and Sony/Minolta. The Pentax version would have been the obvious choice for Sigma DSLR users as the the EF version will need a mounting plate swap as you have found.

 

[Arvo]

Looks good, can you show some more bokeh samples please

DSG, not obvious IMHO - I would buy just Canon version and swap mounting plate with original SA one - I think I can avoid spacers this way. K mount needs about 1.5mm spacers to insert and it is not exactly SA mount either (sometimes there are minor differences, making coupling loose).
Some broken SA mount lens (including mounting plate of course) cost about 5-15 pounds, if you can find one (should be easy on UK or US). I've got two, could fix one /unfortunately/

 

[Ille]

The most obvious choice IMHO is Canon over Pentax. Two reasons for this:
1- register is similar (44mm for each mount against 45.46mm for K mount)
2- Pentax K mount do have aperture lever and some kind of light shield going into the mirror chamber.

The only game with EOS mount is to build a K or SA mount of the exact same thickness as the original EOS mount. Not to difficult...

Samyangs in EOS mount are full manual, just as old M42s. You just have to stop down the lens before shooting (or work in A mode). Add the fact that you can easily convert it back to EOS mount, for warranty purpose maybe?

A bokeh only shoot tomorrow.

 

[ambaker]

Nice sharp pictures. Perhaps another route would be to ask Sigma to make converting the body mount easier. I understand why they do not want to abandon the SA mount. However, if one already has a DSLR, and a collection of lenses, it makes it harder to decide to either duplicate or replace the collection.

As I await the delivery of a SD14, the biggest reason I bought it was because it comes with two lenses. I already own a Canon 30d converted to IR, and a 40D. I have always been interested in the Foveon imager. However I was wary of a camera with only one source of lenses.

So why now? Because I am getting into astrophotography. I was able to pick up an SD14, at a price that was comparable to having one of the Canons permanently converted for astrophotography. Even better the conversion does not have to be permanent, with the Sigma.

 

[DSG]

The now well known Samyang prime lenses (8mm fisheye f/3.5, 14mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4) comes in various mounts, but not the SA mount. I did contact them last year, asking if there was a plan to to release the samyangs lenses in SA mount, the answer was "No". Then I asked if it could be possible to order a 85mm with the EOS bayonet replaced by a K ring (but without the aperture lever). I'm still waiting for an answer.

But, last month, at the Paris "Salon de la Photo", I get a chance to manipulate those Samyang lenses, and try them on my SD14 (just holding them in front of the camera). I particularly observed the way the rear element move or not.
Convinced a canon EOS Samyang would be easily converted to SA mount (just had a doubt about how the EOS ring was in any way linked to the aperture mechanism), I did buy a 85mm.

Three days later, after unmounting the EOS ring and a little DIY to create the SA ring of the right thickness out of a M42/K adapter (total cost of the conversion is around 5-7€), I now have a great short tele lens with a wide aperture. Results are really good, and I doubt you can get similar quality for the price (275€ for the lense + 5€ for the conversion)

I got much better quality for less...My Canon FD 85mm f1.2 L only cost £199 but 280€ = £246).

The bonus is, the conversion is totally reversible, so even if you have a problem with the lens while under warranty, just remount the EOS ring and bring the lens to your dealer.

That certainly is a bonus...It would be very difficult to convert my FD 85/1.2 from SA mount back to FD mount as I had to irreversably modify the rear element holder.