Samsung NX 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Lens Review

Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification

This ultra-wide angle zoom lens for Samsung NX cameras provides an angle of view equivalent to an 18-36mm lens on a 35mm camera, includes i-Function control and is available for around £320.

Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Handling and Features

High quality plastics have been used for much of the construction of the lens barrel and the mount is metal. It has a smooth glossy finish, which feels high quality. Weighing only 208g and being 65.5mm long, it is very lightweight and compact and balances well with the Samsung NX30 body used for testing.

Focus speeds are quick, especially in good light and the manual focus ring is well damped and is smooth to operate. Focusing is performed internally, and the 58mm filter thread doesn't rotate, which is ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. In manual focus mode the screen can be set to instantly magnify the centre section of the image, making fine adjustments straightforward. This lens includes the i-Function button for quick access to camera controls and a switch is provided to change between automatic and manual focus. A petal shaped hood is also supplied with the lens, which attaches via a bayonet fitting.

The minimum focus distance of 24cm is fairly typical for lenses of this range. 

Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Performance

At 12mm and maximum aperture, sharpness is already excellent across the frame, and even outstanding in the centre. At this focal length, diffraction appears to be the limiting factor on clarity, with the performance of the lens reducing as the aperture is stopped down.

Zooming to 18mm results in similar performance, with outstanding sharpness in the centre of the frame at maximum aperture, although excellent sharpness isn’t achieved towards the edges of the frame until the aperture is stopped down to f/5.6 for this focal length.

Finally, at 24mm, sharpness remains excellent in the centre of the frame at maximum aperture, and is still very good towards the edges of the frame. Stopping down to f/8 results in a slight increase in performance in the centre.

MTF@12mm
 

MTF@18mm
 

MTF@24mm
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Samsung NX30 using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are a problem with this lens throughout the zoom range and especially at slower apertures, where fringing towards the edges of the frame can exceed three pixel widths. Care may need to be taken when shooting high contrast subjects with this lens as a result.

CA@12mm
 

CA@18mm
 

CA@24mm
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Samsung NX30 using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners is extremely well controlled throughout the zoom range, remaining consistent with corners being 0.7 stops darker than the image centre at maximum aperture. Stopping down by one stop from maximum aperture results in visually uniform illumination.

Distortion is well controlled for an ultra-wide angle lens, with barrel distortion ranging between 3.5% at 12mm and 1% at 24mm. These levels are low enough that they will rarely require correction, but if they do, you'll be glad to know that the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, which should make applying any corrections, relatively straightforward.

A petal-shaped lens hood is provided with this lens as standard, which does a fair job of shading the lens from extraneous light that may cause flare of loss of contrast, although due to the wide field of view of the lens, the hood cannot be any deeper. There were no issues with flare encountered during testing, but shooting into the light does result in a noticeable loss of contrast.

Samsung NX 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Sample Photos

Value For Money

Taking into account how this lens performs, the asking price of £320 seems quite reasonable. As there are currently no alternatives available from other manufacturers Samsung have a monopoly in this instance.

Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Verdict

With this lens, Samsung have made a nice addition to their lens lineup adding a much-needed wide angle range to their NX system of mirrorless cameras.

On the whole, this 12-24mm optic performs well, delivering excellent, or even outstanding sharpness from a compact, lightweight lens that doesn't cost the earth. It's a shame that the levels of chromatic aberration are so high, as that spoils an otherwise excellent performing lens. However, if you can live with that, don't let it put you off, as I'm sure many will be more than happy with the performance delivered by this lens.

Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 EDPros

Compact
Good build quality
Lightweight
Low distortion
Excellent sharpness
Low falloff

Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 EDCons

Chromatic aberration levels may be an issue
Loss of contrast shooting into the light 

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

The Samsung 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED delivers excellent sharpness and is compact and lightweight.

Samsung NX 12-24mm f/4-5.6 ED Specifications

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