{"id":48864,"date":"2024-01-14T10:12:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T09:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=48864"},"modified":"2024-11-21T09:11:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T08:11:27","slug":"review-pergear-14mm-f-2-8-ii-ff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-pergear-14mm-f-2-8-ii-ff\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II (FF)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Review<\/p>\n

It has generally been difficult to find ultra wide-angle prime lenses for any system until a few years ago. If you wanted a lens as wide as 14mm your only options were from Sony, Canon, or Zeiss for a lot of money that no ordinary man could afford. It has gradually changed and there are several affordable manual lenses available now. One of them is the Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II, which for about \u20ac240 seems to be a bargain. Let\u2019s see if it\u2019s any good!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sample Images<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z6 | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Specifications<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Focal Length<\/td>\n14mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Angle of View<\/td>\n114\u00b0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
# of Aperture Blades<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Max Aperture<\/td>\nf\/2.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Min Aperture<\/td>\nf\/22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Min Focus Distance<\/td>\n22 cm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filter Size<\/td>\n82mm (with included accessory)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lens Mount<\/td>\n\n

Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, Leica L<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Weight<\/td>\n500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Size (D x L)<\/td>\n68.2 x 78 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elements\/Group<\/td>\n13\/9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Pergear 14mm 2.8II Lens Construction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Variations<\/span><\/h2>\n

This is the second generation of this lens. You can see the physical differences in the following table.<\/p>\n

\"Review
Pergear 14mm f\/2.8, Original vs. Mark II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The improvements compared to the original lens are: smaller size, enhanced flare control, improved close-up capability, convenient filter attachment through a snap-on filter mount, and a metal lens cap instead of the plastic cap of the first generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can buy this lens from Pergear’s official store<\/a>! List price: \u20ac214 (Affiliate link)<\/em><\/p>\n

You’ll get a discount using this link.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Handling<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II is a fully manual lens, with manual focusing, manual aperture setting, and no electrical contacts. It is not weather-sealed and being built all metal it feels heavy for its size\u00a0 -like similar manual lenses built of metal. <\/span>\u00a0It gives the impression of being assembled tightly and very well built. Opposite to most of lenses at this focal length (including the original version of this lens), the diameter of lens is constant. The focusing ring is quite big and turns smoothly<\/span> about 110\u00b0<\/strong>, it is damped with relatively good friction.<\/p>\n

\"Review
Nikon Z 7ii | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II | Filter Holder and Lens Cap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The aperture ring, near the front of the lens, is clickable with variable distance between f-stops. The ring click stops at half stops between 2.8 and 5.6, from which point it only clicks at each full stop. It is confusing as the half-stop clicks have the same distance as the full-stop clicks from f\/5.6 and as there are no electric contacts, you cannot see the aperture values, unless you stop looking at the viewfinder or the LCD display and look at the lens instead. I’m happy to see that they have fixed the alignment issue and the aperture ring click stops exactly at the printed values for each aperture. The metallic lens cap is simply and securely put on the lens with suction\/friction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Review
Nikon Z 7ii | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II | Filter Holder with ND Filter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Together with the lens, you get a metallic lens hood of bayonet type with an 82 mm filter thread, which enables you to put filters in front of the lens.<\/span><\/p>\n

Optical Features<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sharpness (Infinity)<\/span><\/h3>\n

For the infinity sharpness test, we look at three areas of the image, center, mid-frame, and corner, see highlighted areas in the image below!<\/p>\n

\"Review
Nikon Z 7ii | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Review
Nikon Z 7ii | Pergear 14mm f\/2.8 II | Infinity Sharpness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The center sharpness is very good right from f\/2.8. The sharpness becomes excellent at f\/4 and at f\/5.6 it seems to be at its peak. At f\/8 it is still excellent, f\/11 very good, f\/16 \u201cjust\u201d good, and at f\/22 it is OK.<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that it is the same story in the midframe, excellent.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the corners, the sharpness is OK at f\/2.8, but the contrast is very bad and due to strong vignetting it is too dark. It gets a lot better at f\/4, but the contrast is still low. At f\/5.6 we get good sharpness. At f\/8 and f\/11 both the sharpness and contrast are very good, but still visibly darker than the rest of the frame. The diffraction takes some of the sharpness at f\/16 and even more at f\/22.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharpness (Close-up)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Close-up sharpness is excellent from f\/2.8, Its peak performance is at f\/4 though. It is excellent all the way up to f\/11. The diffraction effect makes the image less sharp at f\/16.<\/p>\n