500mm lens for full-frame for around 100 Eur, how good is it? I have seen some reviews that tell it is a pretty bad piece of glass. But, did they see the price tag? I agree with the negative points but think about value-for-money. The lens does what you pay for. Let’s figure out exactly where the lens can be used in travel photography. This is my review of Samyang 500mm F8 (Rokinon, Walimeks)
Disclaimer. This post contains affiliate links for purchasing the lens at the end of the post.
Note: Samyang makes two different 500mm F/8 lenses. One is a long telephoto lens, and another is smaller in length, but wider mirror lens. This is a review of the first. The lens is also produced under different brands, that include Rokinon and Walimex
About the review
Many of my readers are here because of travel photography, and many of them like taking pictures as well. I decided to start making posts about photo gear. This review is going to be shorter than I usually do. The reason is – I don’t see many applications for this lens in travel photography. Also, unlike in other reviews, I am going to talk a bit more about lens sharpness, since it is one of the main limitations.
All images in my review are retouched.
Super-telephoto lenses in travel photography
Super-telephoto lenses have a focal length of 300mm and beyond. They are mainly used for wildlife and sports. If these are not your priorities in travel, generally, you don’t have many applications for a super-telephoto. For occasional use, there is no need to invest in heavy and expensive telephoto. That’s why Samyang 500mm worth considering.
Samyang 500mm f/8 for travel photography
It is a manual focus lens. In my opinion, the main application for this lens is taking pictures of remote, not fast-moving objects, in case you do it rarely. I would say if more than 5% of your images need this 10x zoom – get something better. If you plan using images for something else than small illustrations – also get better optics.
The advantages of Samyang 500mm f/8 are very low price, low weight, and good build quality. The lens is quite long and won’t fit in most of the bags. But the diameter isn’t large, it is thinner than a water bottle. So it is easy to carry on a hike. The lens comes with a bag (no inserts, so it doesn’t really make it larger). When I travel to national parks, I attach it outside to my backpack. If it gets damaged… well, I don’t care.
Build quality is good enough to withstand basic abuse. After a few years, it looks like new. I cannot say the same about my other lenses.
About aperture control ring
There are two switches related to aperture. The one that has aperture values actually doesn’t change them. It only changes the range, actual value is set with the switch next to it. I only saw something like this on Helios 44-2.
About manual focus
On a DSLR, without a manual focus assistant, it is pretty hard to do focus. With diaphragm at F/8 most of the things appear in focus, but they actually aren’t. It becomes visible when you view it on screen.
About Micro 4/3
I am a full-frame user. A while ago, I decided to purchase a compact Micro 4/3 camera. And I almost completely replaced Samyang 500mm with Olympus 75-300mm II (in full-frame equivalent, it is 150-600mm). So larger zoom, autofocus, it is smaller, sharper, and takes advantage of Olympus’s in-body image stabilization. (I got the Olympus’s lens for 250 Eur)
Samyang’s main advantage is the fact that it coves a full-frame sensor, which has the better high-ISO performance. (and it is around 3 times cheaper)
Sharpness and image quality
Normally sharpness is overrated by tech bloggers. Most modern lenses are more than capable. But it matters a lot when your lens doesn’t have enough reach, and you have to crop. (In wildlife you always wish you can zoom further)
I use Canon 6D and, Samyang 500mmm doesn’t out resolve the 20 MP sensor. If you zoom in, you can see some softness. You may stop the aperture down, it will give a small increase in resolution. But then you are at risk of lifting ISO, even on a bright day. Stopping down the aperture would also reduce the background separation.
Besides that, the lens has a pretty significant chromatic aberration.
Recently there was a bright full moon. I made a few pictures with both, Canon 6D/Samyang 500mm and Olympus PEN/ Olympus 75-300. Surprisingly, the combination with the Samyang lens won, it has to do with Canon’s superior sensor though…
Samyang 500mm F/8 is designed for full-frame cameras. If you attach it to an APS-C sensor camera, you will get a 1.5-1.6x increase in the zoom and on Micro 4/3 sensor 2x increase. But I don’t recommend adapting it to smaller sensors, the image would be softer.
Conclusion
If you are like me, who uses long zoom very rare – this lens could be a good option for a full-frame camera. Actually, the fact that it covers a full-frame sensor is a big deal. Such sensors have better high-ISO performance, which is often unavoidable at such zooms.
I don’t think it is comfortable to carry such a long lens in the city, but when you carry a big backpack, it may not matter. If you zoom in – the image is soft, which limits the use to small illustrations.
Manual focus will make it hard to focus on fast-moving objects, but for subjects that stay in place, it is fine.
Affiliate links
Here are the links for purchasing the lens. Buying from those doesn’t cost you extra, but gives me a little % from the sale. Everything goes into developing this blog.
I don’t think that the lens is produced anymore. I haven’t seen it on the Samyang website. It sells on eBay for around 100 Eur for a new and 50 Eur for used.
Remember, that you need an adapter to mount it onto your camera. Sometimes, adapters go together with the lens.
The lens uses old T mount. Here are adapters for different cameras. They cost 5 Eur on average. Since I only recommend this lens for full-frame, I only provide links to related mounts.
T2 Lens to CANON EOS EF Mount Adapter on EBAY
T2 Lens to NIKON F Mount Adapter on EBAY
T2 Lens to Sony E Mount Adapter on EBAY
T2 Lens to Pentax K Mount Adapter on EBAY
