Rokinon 14mm DS T3.1 CineLens


Good Gear




The Photography Blog

Photographic Field Guides
Practical Philosophies
Careers and Ideas
Inspiring Journeys


January 2015

50mm
1/400th @ f/
ISO 400
Canon EOS 5D Mark II



Rokinon 14mm DS T3.1 CineLens
A seriously affordable astro photography lens to help you chase stars, auroras and ultra wide landscapes.



The Photography Blog




Every year I head to the Arctic in search of aurora activity, and every year I struggle with what lens to pack. Weight, budget and ultra wide angles are hard to balance. The Rokinon 14mm manual focus lens is not the best on the market, but certainly represents the best value. It’s my pick for anyone wanting to taste the night sky before investing in the more expensive glass.

You need some serious wide angle to chase auroras or star trails. 24mm is not wide enough, which is a pity because my favourite lens is the Canon 24mm f/1.4 and I never leave home without it. When the aurora borealis is in full swing this lens is not wide enough to pull in the scale of the sky. For star trails the celestial poles look their best when encircled by a generous amount of distant galaxies. Size matters.

The top of the line Canon 24mm not only falls short on width, but it throws in a little problem with image quality for fastidious photographers. Chroma is a unique problem that affects some very good lenses. It’s not the same as chromatic aberrations or distortion, rather it's a problem with light from a point source that turns a star into a cross. It only happens on the fringes of the 24mm f/1.4 but it does happen.

Without question the best wide angle lens for shooting stars and auroras is the Zeiss 15mm f/2.8. It’s manual focus, has an elegant amount of travel through the focus range to make it easy to drop onto the right mark, and it’s optical qualities are astounding. Not only does it avoid the chroma problems of the Canon 24mm f/1.4, but it’s pin sharp right through to the edges. There is minimal drop off at the edges that can be satisfactorily corrected in processing, and at f/2.8 you have enough speed to shoot galaxy maps or close down a little for bright aurora events.

And the lens costs more than a brand new Canon 5D MkIII. If you want the best, then the Zeiss is the one. No questions. I tested one in Norway and Iceland for five weeks and have never seen it’s equal. But I had to give that one back to the nice man at Zeiss, and haven’t been able to pull the trigger on spending the dollars to buy one for keeps. It’s also a heavy lens and one you want to take good care of as they are expensive to replace.



And that brings us to the Rokinon. You will have seen the brand around for many years, a manufacturer of very cheap lenses based on analogue lens designs. They appear under other labels too, including Samyang. They make quirky wide angle lenses at an affordable price, and recently have started to build cinelens versions as well. Rokinon recently updated their 14mm design to meet cinelens requirements, which so happen to be a good match for astro photography as well.

I ordered a Rokinon 14mm T3.1 from B+H in New York for US$340, and a week later I had a new toy for my DSLR. The build quality is surprisingly good, the design is light and modestly compact, but the image quality far from perfect. There’s a definite point in the optics as you move towards the edges where obvious distortion begins to appear. Most of the lens is beautifully sharp however and there is no trace of chroma across the glass. I spent three weeks with this lens in Swedish Lapland doing low light work, auroras, star trails and classic landscapes. I learned to love it and it’s definitely my favourite lens to pack for the next aurora chase.

There’s a few quirks to cinelens design that you need to appreciate to understand this lens. It fully manual and is setup to slip into a focus rig. This means the focus ring is cogged and offers long travel which makes for better accuracy. The cogs also make it easier to adjust while wearing big thick gloves at -20C.

The lens works off a T scale instead of f-stops, which means it slides the aperture through the range instead of clicking into precise stops. This is no drama when shooting manually, but may be new to many photographers. The T scale essentially takes into account light retardation through the lens, so T3.1 is roughly equivalent to f/2.8 on a conventional lens. The aperture ring is cogged as well, again making it easier to adjust the aperture without removing your snuggly warm gloves.

From now on this lens will be the one I recommend to travellers when they join me in the Arctic for aurora adventures. The Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 will always be my dream lens, it is the best and is worth the price tag. For most photographers the entry price to aurora and star photography is very high however, so the Rokinon 14mm becomes a super attractive option. You can buy this lens and give it a whirl and hopefully come home with some gorgeous images.

If you get a touch of Auroratism then you’ll consider upgrading to the Zeiss. But you may well end up very happy with the Rokinon and spend that money on a new camera instead.


Please Share Your Thoughts



JUST THE FACTS



Available for a wide range of mounts...

rokinon.com

Rokinon 14mm DS T3.1 CineLens...
Aperture Range: T3.1 to T22
3 HR, 2 ED, and 2 Aspherical Elements
UMC Coating
Geared Focus and Aperture Control Rings
De-Clicked Aperture Ring
115.7° Angle of View
620g weight


How to shoot Auroras

photographyfortravellers.com

How to shoot Star Trails

photographyfortravellers.com


Compare the Rokinon 14mm DS T3.1 against the Zeiss 15mm f/2.8.
Download full resolution samples to see for yourself (27MB file).


Click Here to Download



This feature was last updated on Friday 24th April 2015

Copyright: All images and words on this web site are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.
Article published and written by
#1219


Related Links
  Arctic  Scandinavia  Norway  Sweden  Good Gear  Aurora Borealis  Aurora  Nordlys  Norrsken  Northern Lights

Very selected features on the hardware, software and extra wares that help me get the job done.

Benro GX35 Ball-Head Review

Benro GX35 Ball-Head Review

Quality yet affordable option for full-frame cameras if you're looking to swap out your old ball-head for an Arca-Swiss alternative.


DxO PhotoLab for RAW Workflow

DxO PhotoLab for RAW Workflow

DxO PhotoLab is a genuine alternative to Lightroom and Capture One, delivering excellent value and professional features. It's not as polished or featured as Capture One, but it's worth a look if you want something lighter for your RAW workflow, plus support for a wider range of cameras and lenses.


SD Cards Explained

SD Cards Explained

Shopping for an SD card is frustratingly hard, with so many brands, standards and price points to navigate through. Especially when speed is a necessity rather than a luxury. It's also possible that the best value SD card is a MicroSD card, if you have the right adaptor.


Ulanzi Travel Tripod Review

Ulanzi Travel Tripod Review

A lot of comparisons between the Ulanzi Zero Y Lightweight Travel Tripod and the Peak Design Travel Tripod focus on price and weight. But the Ulanzi model lacks the stability and rigor of the Peak Design original.


Asustor Lockerstor AS6510T Long Term Review

Asustor Lockerstor AS6510T Long Term Review

After a decade or more with QNAP hardware I was reluctant to step into a whole new NAS environment. The sheer value of the Lockerstor AS6510T made it hard to ignore. This long term review was mostly good news, until the issue of heat management turned into something more serious.


LUMIX GH6 Custom Settings

LUMIX GH6 Custom Settings

If you're new to the GH6 or new to the custom dial on the camera, this primer will get you moving quickly to set and reset your baseline and access a wide range of this camera's features.




Ewen's New Book



"ReIMAGINE" is now available to order online.
It's a very big and very generous book that will help you to reconnect with your creative side.


ReIMAGINE







Stay Inspired
Join Ewen's newsletter for short updates on new articles and photographic inspiration.

Thanks, you are now subscribed. Please check your inbox for a welcome email.




Computer says NO.
Please check the email address.