REVIEW: In a Tight Spot? Samyang 8mm to the Rescue!

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About eight months ago I decided to buy the diminutive Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye for the annual trip to Le Mans.  This lens is small and light and has a field of view of 180 degrees.  It is a manual focus lens but focusing only starts at one metre so I tend to leave the focus ring on infinity, stop down to f5.6 or f8 and not worry about it.

 This little lens allows me to get pictures from some very tight places or take an extreme wide view that you can't normally get, even with the Fujinon 10-24mm set at 10mm.

 Now if you want a wider view some photographers will say 'take a few steps backwards and then shoot'.  But there are some situations where you can't do that.

 The shot at the top of the page is a good example.  2016 European Le Mans Series LMP3 Drivers Champion Alex Brundle was getting strapped into the Ligier-Nissan for the final race of the season at Estoril in Portugal.  I took the shot through the other door into the cockpit.  The working area in these race cars is actually very tight but with the 8mm Samyang it looks positively spacious.


At Le Mans I was able to capture some different shots in the pitlane and at The Pesage, the pre event scrutineering, in the centre of Le Mans before the race.


I recently visited Deep Sea World in North Queensferry near Edinburgh with the family.  One of the features of this aquarium is the tunnel through the shark tank.  Using the X-Pro2 and the Samyang 8mm I was able to get some nice images, even though the tunnel was very poorly lit so you could see the sharks clearly.




At just £239 this lens is superb and gives you a lot of 'bang-for-your-buck'.  Yes it is manual focus and it doesn't 'talk' to the camera so the exif data says it is shooting at f1.  But ignore all of that and look at what the Samyang offers, a quality product that gives a little bit of help when you get into a tight spot.

 CLICK HERE for more information on the Samyang 8mm f2.8 fisheye
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Jeff Carter is an Official Fujifilm X Photographer and was named as a Fujifilm brand ambassador in June 2015. In 2016 he worked with the company on the launches of the Fujifilm X-Pro2 in Tokyo and the Fujifilm X-T2 in Paris in July 2016.  You can view his profile and gallery on the Fujifilm website HERE

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