Samsung NX 30mm f/2 Pancake
The Samsung 30mm f/2 is the smallest lens for the Samsung NX system, yet has one of the largest apertures.
Samsung has a nice set of pancake lenses that all measure about 62x22mm and this is the smallest of them (by volume), but the 30mm has the largest aperture and is a focal length most would consider “standard”.
The lens has 5 elements in 5 groups, with a 7 bladed diaphragm, with fairly straight blades. The minimum focus distance is good at 0.25 m (9.8 inches), but the lens is very light for a large aperture standard, weighing only 85 g (3 oz).
Corrected JPEG
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Uncorrected RAW
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Comments on the Results
The lens has a pretty good sharpnessI use this to refer to the MTF50I use this to refer to the MTF50 graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50 will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50I use this to refer to the MTF50 graph. This is how contrasty the lens is, and correlates with perceived sharpness. A lens with high MTF50 will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. will have a short transition period between a white and black edge. profile. The lens is over-sharpened in the center straight from the camera with default JPEG settings. Corners aren’t up to the level of the center, but are still respectable through the range. They look a tad soft at f/2, but better than many lenses.
The lens has slightly visible barrel distortion of about -1% without correction, and very slight pincushion of about 0.2% with corrections.
Lateral CADifferent wavelengths (colors) of light have different magnifications and produce colored halos around high contrast objects near the frame edges. is well controlled, even without corrections, having only about 1/2 pixel width at the edges and essentially no CA after corrections. Longitudinal CADifferent wavelengths (colors) have different focus points, causing colored halos in out of focus regions of the image; typical is magenta in front of focus plane and cyan behind. is visible at f/2, but mostly disappears on stopping down (see graph photos at end of review).
Purple fringingPurple fringing occurs around high contrast edges in a lens with high longitudinal CA in the focused areas; the slightly out of focus red and blue are fairly balanced and combine to create a purple halo. The sensor microlenses and color filter can aggravate purple fringing as well. is visible, mostly at f/2, but it isn’t bad. Average for this class of lens.
ComaPoints of light are distorted near the edges of the frame. A circular point of light might be more comet shaped. and astigmatismDifferent angle edges have different focal points. A picture of an X might have one / of the X sharper than the other \. Has the appearance of slight motion blur or softness, and tends to be worst at the edges of the frame. aren’t bad, but there is some deformation of the bokeh circles in the corner wide open that disappear once stopped down.
I will update flareInternal reflections on the lens elements causes ghost images and other artifacts to appear in the captured image. Most common is internal lens elements and diaphragm shapes will show when a bright light source like the sun is in or near the frame. resistance and post some gallery shots in the next week or so.
Measured focal length is 33mm at 1:54 magnificationHow large an image appears on the image sensor compared to how big it is in real life. Life size magnification means the image is the same size as the real object. My charts are photographed at 1:53 magnification, so if I photograph an area 53" wide it would appear as 1" wide on the sensor.. This makes this lens a true 50mm equivalent (1.53 * 33 = 50mm).
Pros and Cons
- Overall Performance
- Compact Size
- Lightweight
- Visible Longitudinal CADifferent wavelengths (colors) have different focus points, causing colored halos in out of focus regions of the image; typical is magenta in front of focus plane and cyan behind. at f/2
- Minor ComaPoints of light are distorted near the edges of the frame. A circular point of light might be more comet shaped./AstigmatismDifferent angle edges have different focal points. A picture of an X might have one / of the X sharper than the other \. Has the appearance of slight motion blur or softness, and tends to be worst at the edges of the frame. at f/2
Bottom Line
This lens is a superb compact standard lens. The price is certainly right, and so is the performance. This lens offers a nice 2 stop improvement over the kit lens at the same focal length, and similarly good performance (or slightly better) at f/4 and up. Comparing to the 20mm f/2.8 pancake, this lens has better corner performance and a larger aperture as well as less native distortion. The only downside is this lens doesn’t have i-Function, but I imagine one will be released in the future with this function.
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Gallery
The gallery images are © 2011 Eric Tastad, and may only be used for personal evaluation of the lenses.
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