I see shots from this lens all the time in the "alt" forum, but just like Sigma, Tokina, Tamron etc...this lens comes in the native Canon mount with no adapter ring needed. So in my book it's really not an alt lens per se.
I just bought one on Amazon for ~$280. Today was the first day I have had a chance to take it out a shoot. Weekends are usually all about the kids so here are some shots from the play ground.
If you poke around the Alt board you'll find threads devoted to most, if not all, Samyang / Rokinon lenses. Because it is completely manual it probably counts as Alt, but it does have a Canon mount so...
You might want to put a focus confirm chip on. I got a programmable one which gives me the focal length in the EXIF data.
15Bit wrote:
If you poke around the Alt board you'll find threads devoted to most, if not all, Samyang / Rokinon lenses. Because it is completely manual it probably counts as Alt, but it does have a Canon mount so...
You might want to put a focus confirm chip on. I got a programmable one which gives me the focal length in the EXIF data.
It probably fits best on the alt forum, but it gets little air time here on the main Canon forum. The lens wasn't even on my radar until I looked a few alt threads.
Thanks. I just bought a 5DII because I am interested in using some of my old Nikkor lenses on full frame. I aquired the Rokinon as an alternative to the more expensive older Nikon 85mm f/1.4. On KEH these go for ~ $900, the Rokinon is much cheaper but the performance does not match the price.
galenapass wrote:
It probably fits best on the alt forum, but it gets little air time here on the main Canon forum. The lens wasn't even on my radar until I looked a few alt threads.
I got mine with my 5D when i bought it earlier this year, so it was something of a "oh, that looks fun" purchase. I can't tell you how pleased i am with it.
15Bit wrote:
I got mine with my 5D when i bought it earlier this year, so it was something of a "oh, that looks fun" purchase. I can't tell you how pleased i am with it.
I wish I could persuade myself to buy one but I'm so bad at MF when my subjects starts to move that I just know I'll take my slow AF lens (100/2.8 L) instead....
if it weren't for the canon 85 f1.8, I'd consider the samyang, but to get lightning fast AF for a few more bucks and losing less than a stop makes more sense for me.
rongoe wrote:
if it weren't for the canon 85 f1.8, I'd consider the samyang, but to get lightning fast AF for a few more bucks and losing less than a stop makes more sense for me.
There is a lot of logic in that. I would say though that for many of my uses i need to use MF anyway, as there is often no AF point in the right place anyway. Thats not to say i don't miss the AF, cos i do sometimes. More though, i miss auto aperture.
rongoe wrote:
if it weren't for the canon 85 f1.8, I'd consider the samyang, but to get lightning fast AF for a few more bucks and losing less than a stop makes more sense for me.
Truth be told I may actually get both lenses. In some cases auto focus just makes more sense. But, in others I like the feel of slowing down and focusing manually. I "focus" more on what I am trying to achieve with a manual lens. Moreover, I find that some of the older glass has a MUCH better feel and craftsmanship than many newer lenses. I like the tactile feel of a quality lens. The Rokinon/Samyang also fits the bill in that respect and it is a contemporary lens at a reasonable price. For the manual focus enthusiast ,this lens is a no brainier. But...I do hear what you are saying.
Yakim Peled wrote:
I wish I could persuade myself to buy one but I'm so bad at MF when my subjects starts to move that I just know I'll take my slow AF lens (100/2.8 L) instead....
Happy shooting,
Yakim.
You are not alone, i can't even see when thing is in low light
The Rokinon 35 has a better focus ring feel than the 85 -- less stiff, just about perfect
damping.
I still find manual focus to be quite difficult at f/1.4, but then again my 5DII has
trouble consistently focusing my EF 50/1.4 when wide open as well.
There's not much margin for error.
My copy of the 35 performs better than my copy of the 85. In fact, I feel that
Samyang (Rokinon) has upped their game with this lens. It still lacks a bit of
color punch and contrast compared to the best Canon EF glass, and it has significant
barrel distortion, but it is sharp edge to edge, with only mild softening. Really solid
performance for a $500 wide aperture 35mm lens.
i've used the rokinon 85 on my 5D2 for about a year now and these days i mostly use it for bridal/fashion shoots where MF is not such a pain. The precision focusing screen on 5D is a must, coz without it anything wider that f/4 doesn't really get differentiated.
Here's a sample pic i took recently with 550EX off camera using E-TTL. The nikon variant i have has built in focus confirmation which is a huge improvement, though i still feel that focusing with the precision screen is more accurate.
