The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED fisheye and the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye is the longer of the two lenses at 77mm. The HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED fisheye with a length of 70mm, is 7mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye also has a larger diameter of 75mm compared to the HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED fisheye's 68mm diameter.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED fisheye weighs 317g, which means it is 126g (28%) lighter than the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye which has a weight of 443g.
Lens Mounts
Both the HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED fisheye and the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye has the same Pentax KAF lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Pentax KAF lenses are Pentax K-3 III Mono, Pentax KF and Pentax K-3 III.
Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye is also available in Canon EF , Nikon F (DX), Four Thirds, Sony Alpha and Samsung NX mounts.
Focal Range
HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED fisheye has a focal range of 10-17mm and
1.7X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of
15-25.5mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
On the other hand, the Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 8mm which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 12mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
