Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS lens officially announced

Samyang has announced a new lens specially designed for APS-C cameras from Canon, Nikon, as well as Micro Four Thirds and other systems, in the body of the 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS.

Photography fans are getting more used to Samyang making announcements through Facebook. The company has previously revealed the 50mm f/1.2 lens, but has confirmed that the product is coming sometime in 2014. Well, now it’s the turn of the 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS optic to be formally introduced to the popular social network, along with its release date.

Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS lens weighs 571 grams and it is aimed at landscape photographers with APS-C cameras.

Samyang announces 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS lens for most APS-C cameras

The Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS specs list has also been posted on the social networking website. It includes 13 elements split into 11 groups with a couple of aspherical elements.

The optic is based on rectilinear imaging technology and it provides an angle of view of 83.1 degrees for Nikon APS-C cameras and 79.5 degrees for Canon shooters.

Samyang’s latest lens weighs only 571 grams and it packs a filter size of 77mm. The manufacturer says that it will be “perfect” for landscape photographers, since it offers a wide angle of view and it is pretty portable.

Compatible with almost anything the size of APS-C sensors

Samyang will provide mounts for almost all APS-C cameras. This list is pretty huge and it includes Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Samsung NX mounts. Moreover, Sony A and NEX are also supported, along with the Canon EOS M mirrorless camera (and possibly the one which will come this summer), Fujifilm X-Mount, Four Thirds, and Micro Four Thirds.

The crop factor of each APS-C camera will slightly alter the wide-angle lens’ focal length. Nikon has a 1.5x crop factor, taking the total to 24m, Canon has a 1.6x factor, taking the focal length to 25.6mm and MFT has a factor of 2x, providing a 32mm FOV.

Samyang 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS lens release date

Samyang has announced that the optic is scheduled to become available in late June. However, things may not go as initially planned, therefore the release date may slip to mid-July.

Photographers are certainly curious how much this thing will cost and if it becomes available in the United States under the Rokinon brand. Unfortunately, there is no price information, nor availability details.