Gear Spotlight – 14mm

April 25, 2020 Nate Foster

Here we go: Welcome to our first “Gear Spotlight”. Over the years, the more experience I get, the more I learn, the more of a ‘gear head’ I find myself becoming. The point of these posts is not to get technical and go through all the camera jargon, but rather to talk about what makes certain pieces of gear useful to me, and how they have earned their way into my bag. 

Now let me make this clear: The gear does not make the photographer. I’ll say it again, the gear does not make the photographer. I, in no way, want to make any new photographers feel bad for not having the best and newest gear. Looking back on some of my early DSLR days, I am extremely happy with some of the photos taken with my entry level camera and kit lens. However.. There are features, lenses, and various pieces of gear, that allow you to get shots that you would not otherwise be able to take.
This blog post is about one such item.

This is the Samyang 14mm lens. It is manual focus, and manual aperture, and it’s made for the full frame Sony E-mount system.
The 14mm focal length, specifically on a full frame camera, allows for an ultra-wide field of view; wide enough to create a distinct fisheye distortion.
I bought this lens secondhand from a friend of mine, and over the past couple months I’ve enjoyed finding all kinds of different uses for it.

Here are some of the images I’ve shot with my 14mm.
– Behind the scenes with Anya’s Studio
– Worship night with my small group community
– OneHeart Conference

– Recording session with Signal The Skies
– Workouts with Faith & Fitness Community
– My own print lab setup
– Beautiful astro-photography at Holland State Park

Working with an ultrawide lens like this one can be challenging at first. For many situations, it requires being up close and personal with your subjects. It’s something I don’t mind, but also something that requires a mindfulness of your subject, so as not to be distracting or in the way. 

The maximum aperture goes to 2.8, allowing it to perform well in low light situations, like the worship photos from OneHeart.
This lens is lightweight so it’s not too much of a bother to keep with me in my camera bag.
Overall, it has been a nice addition to my kit, and will definitely continue to be used to create unique images.

0
Gear Spotlight Options

What kind of gear spotlights would you like to see?