Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye + Canon body 7D (does the photometer works fine?)

ruifo · Feb 19, 2014

Hi there,

A friend who shots a Canon 7D body asked me something I didn't know. So I pose the question here looking for some feedback from you.

It is about the 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye lens by Samyang (aka: Pro-Optic, Rokinon, Bower etc.)
Ref.: 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens: Samyang, Pro-Optic, Bower

I have it for Nikon, and I have the one with a confirmation ship that allows me to use it in full aperture shutter priority, as well as I get both focus confirmation and operational photometer.

Once there is no Canon version of this lens coming with the confirmation ship (hence, no electronics in this lens for Canon), my friend's question is whether he would at least still have the photometer function working normally with this lens and his 7D.

Would anyone here be using this lens with any Canon body? Does the photometer work fine for you?

Thanks for your feedback!!

grafxman · Feb 19, 2014

Here's the link for the BHPhoto site:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/769428-REG/Rokinon_FE8M_C_8mm_Ultra_Wide_Angle.html

It does have good reviews so apparently it is a decent enough lens. However they add a chip inside for the Nikon but apparently they don't do that for the Canons. I briefly used an old Nikon 55mm macro lens on my Canon 50D many years ago. I bought an adapter from ebay. Everything was completely manual but I got some decent photos. I still had metering indications in the viewfinder so it was just a matter of manually adjusting focus, aperture and shutter speed, to get the everything correct.

KmH · Feb 19, 2014

From the B&H link:

Manual focus lens with no electronic connections to the camera for automatic focus nor metering.

ruifo · Feb 19, 2014

Thanks. That confirms the information he had before.

What I'm suggesting him is to possible metering through the camera LiveView... for extra live help.

lennon33x · Feb 19, 2014

I have the Rokinon 85mm. It, like the 8mm, has a manual adjustment ring for the aperture. On the Canon cameras, the metering is based on available light through lens. The aperture value is controlled by the electronics within the camera with send communication to the lens. Because the Rokinon/Samyang/Bower lenses don't have an electronics communication, you manually stop down the lens. When that happens (you can see it in the viewfinder), the available light decreases, and the metering drops to "underexposed". When in Manual mode, it's essentially Av Mode. The cameras will in fact meter, despite the mode.

Just a note, I wouldn't use live view. Especially with this setup. I hate it to begin with, because it takes *forever* to auto focus. Since this is a manual focus lens, just use the viewfinder. He should be able to meter fine. Nailing focus at wide apertures is a skill that he will need to hone.