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I originally had intentions to eventually owning both of these lenses, but now I'm debating whether that would be redundant or not. Thus, bringing the case to you.

The Rokinon 8mm 3.5 fisheye is cheaper ($290) than the Rokinon 14mm 2.8 lens ($380), but by only a $90.

I'm interested in a super wide-angle for more dramatic compositions for portraits and places. I think the fisheye effect is cool, but I imagine myself popping it on for one composition then replacing it with my walk-around lens, meanwhile, taking up space a weight in my bag.

If I'm not mistaken the fisheye would not fill the frame on my 5D, while the 14mm is fully compatible, being a faster lens too, might I add.

Is there much to miss not owning a fisheye that cannot be partially redeemed with a 14mm on FF camera? (i.e. photoshop fisheye effect if need be -- or is that too cheezy?)

Would you grow tired of it, or would it have lasting enjoyment?

Or worth owning both?

p.s. I think Samyang has hit a really nice product position, making inexpensive wide-angle lenses due to the MF and MA features, which are not issues for wide angle compositions.

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MrKman | website
Canon EOS 5D II + PowerShot G12
Samyang 14 f/2.8 + Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 + Samyang 35 f/1.4 + Sigma 70-200 f/2.8
Yungnuo YN560 + YN560ii (x2) + Cactus V4

WISHLIST: 300 f/2.8
FORMER: Canon 5D + 40D + 450D + 18-55mm + 28-135mm + 50 f/1.4 + 100 f/2.0

End of the day is is what you want. They are different as you have noted. First things first, what bodies will they be used on? The fisheye is a crop sensor lens, although some people have cut off the built in hood to give fuller (but still not complete) coverage on full frame. The distortion you either like or don't. There is software to de-fish it, but certainly in that case you might as well have got an ultra-wide rectilinear lens in the first place.

The 14mm of course is only ultra-wide on full frame. It's still quite wide on crop I guess. One thing I really don't like on the 14mm is it also has pretty bad distortion as they seemed to have allowed that in order to reach excellent sharpness levels. If you need to keep straight lines straight, you'll need to correct for it anyway.

I did get the fisheye but that was before the 14mm was out. If I were to get one now, I'd still pick the fisheye for my random uses.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I primarily use my 5D, so I'm leaning towards the 14mm for now since it is compatible with the FF sensor. The fisheye would be fun, though. Anyone tried to create the fisheye effect from a wide angle shot via PS lens correcting and exaggerating the distortion? Or does that not come off looking like it was taken from a true fisheye lens?

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MrKman | website
Canon EOS 5D II + PowerShot G12
Samyang 14 f/2.8 + Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 + Samyang 35 f/1.4 + Sigma 70-200 f/2.8
Yungnuo YN560 + YN560ii (x2) + Cactus V4

WISHLIST: 300 f/2.8
FORMER: Canon 5D + 40D + 450D + 18-55mm + 28-135mm + 50 f/1.4 + 100 f/2.0

You can certainly add distortion to give it a fisheye feel, but the main selling point of a fisheye is the ultra-wide field of view they offer, typically 180 degrees across opposite corners for a "full frame" fisheye.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I have the Samyang 14mm and i command you to remove it from your wish list!
Seriously.
Optics are Ok on APS-C, but it is are catastrophic on full frame(5dm2)....Stay away from that Samyang rubbish or whatever name it is branded (bower, rokinon, etx.)
People giving positive reviews get paid from the company or are given a free lens... At least the 14mm is bad bad bad, I can't comment on other Samyang lenses.

Want to say more why you don't like the 14mm? There are plenty of reviews out there and while I can't say there might be some financial bias in some cases, it wont be the case of a lot of them. The 14mm is regarded as a very sharp 14mm full frame lens. The biggest drawback I see of it is the massive distortion it has for a non-fisheye.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

If you know how to shoot a wide angle lens you can easily minimise the distorisions and/or put them in your favour. My only complain about this lens is the resolution and sharpness. At f/2.8 it is total crap! 1.3 MP phone camera image. No contrast, no sharpness... At f/4 up to f/8 it gets better but isn't good as most of the reviewers say. I've also tested it on a 1 D X Canon at the camera exhibition and it was no good either... On cropped sensor it is just OK, form 10/10 i score it with a 3.5/10. It sells for 350-450$ but it's price should be 100$ the most...
Unless you intend to use this as a video lens, stay FAR away from it.

I'm not questioning your experience with that lens, but that does fly against most reviews. Could your case be of a bad sample? One example, photozone MTF rates it as higher than the Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II. And photozone do not source their test lenses from manufacturers, they either buy it themselves or get them on loan from other users. It even goes the other way, with the occasional post from a user suggesting their tested sample were not as good as theirs. But then we're digging a deep hole into how do you get a representative test of lens performance when there is an unknown factor of variability.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.