After admiring the Laowa 9mm and 11mm designs for such a long while, I surprised myself by choosing the Samyang 10mm in the end.
It was cheaper, second hand, than the Laowas, for what (upon first impressions) seems to be a good copy in fine condition. It has a certain weight, and I wouldn't bring it with me quite everywhere / on all occasions. But it's not as bulky or heavy as I imagined and I'm OK with it.
I like the image quality I'm getting from it. The cleaner, brighter corners. I think 10mm is enough for me - 9mm would have been too much, sometimes 10mm will be too much, and if I want 11mm or 12mm then I have a very clean sharp image to crop into, for achieving more perfect framing "with the benefit of hindsight" when back at my computer... while still having a nicely detailed, aberration-free final result.
With it being available in my country 2nd-hand, I could buy it right away... rather than waiting weeks for the first batch of the new 11mm Laowas to leave the factory, or waiting for the 9mm to ship from overseas.
It was a close decision either way, and I knew there would be tradeoffs. But I am happier with the Samyang's downside - its bulk - than I thought I would be. And the rest's all good.
It's nice that these forums, and places like the phillipreeve.net review site, exist to enable us to make informed and happy decisions. And that manufacturers are competing to make such interesting designs with finely balanced pros and cons.
I'm glad you like the lens. During the last weeks I've been in Norway and used this lens a lot for Timelapse shooting. I still think it's (for an 10mm lens) really good and performance-wise probably the best choice. Although the new 9mm Laowa looks like a very good alternative.
I've ordered the new Sony 12-24 and if it's well centered will make the switch from the Samyang 10mm to the Sony 12-24 (end sell the 10mm XP). I know that 12mm is not 10mm but in most situations 12mm is sufficient and the performance should be even better than the 10mm Samyang, especially wide open.
