Hi,

First of all, I am not a photographer, but a videomaker. I am doing professionnal work with the new 7D and it's amazing video mode.

I am looking for a 85mm lens but the reviews I read on the net don't cover what I need. The budget for this lens is 500$ max so I am considering the canon 85mm 1.8, and the Samyang 1.4

I don't care about autofocus since I don't shoot stills at all. What I want to know, in this order is:

1- Quality and usability of the manual focus ring
2- Overall build quality
3- Subjective quality of the bokeh
4- vignette
5- Sharpeness at differents apperture.

So if people have tested both lens side by side, could you please enlight me on these differents aspect? If there is some reviews am am not aware of that covers theses topics, I am interested too. Also, if there is other lens that I am not aware of that are goods (in my price range) let me know.

Also, I will be looking in the near future for a fast prime lens in the 28-35 range with the sames caracteristics. If you want to discuss this too, you are welcome.

Jean-Philippe Archibald

Here is a link for a comparison of the 85mm lenses.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/825463

This led me to purchase the Rokinon 85mm 1.4 last week. I haven't gotten it, but from the looks of it this lens is outstanding. IMO, it easily rivals the 85 1.2 at a fraction of the cost.

Vignettes should not be an issue on a crop body.

As for a 28-35 you should really look into the Sigma 30mm 1.4. I had this lens for my Nikon (before switching to Canon) and it was by far my favorite lens. There is a certain characteristic in the colors and bokeh this lens produces that never stopped amazing me... images with it are recognizable.

The build quality was very good, it was sharp wide open and super sharp when stopped down to 2.8. It was a little picky with subject distance and definitely liked close-ish subjects. The focus ring was nice and tight.

I will definitely replace this lens as soon as one comes up used, which is not all that often. Since I went with the 24-70L, Im in no rush. Check out some images on flickr.

jparchibald wrote:
Hi,

Jean-Philippe Archibald


What are you looking for. Do you need a fast lens, or even one that is exactly 85mm? How about the voigtlander 70mm f2.5?
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/265-voigtlander-sl-70mm-f25-color-heliar-cy-to-canon-review--test-report

or even the 90mm f3.5? http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/266-voigtlander-sl-90mm-f35-apo-lanthar-nikon-review--test-report?start=1


That being said, I have the rokkinon/vivitar/opteka/samyang/etc lens on order ($225 is hard to argue with), and HATE HATE HATE the bokeh of the canon 85mm 1.8. It is too bad too, if canon made a good 1.8 or 2.0 I would jump all over it.

Thank you Wenis.

Yes, I saw this thread, but nothing is said about the focus ring of the Canon one. And there is not enough information about the Samyang to help me make a decision. That is my main concern. The ring must be precise and well damped because I will use it with a follow focus unit. I have used many still lenses with AF (mostly zooms through) and the manual focus ring is often crap. For example, I own the Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 and the ring offer no resistence. It is impossible to do a smooth rack focus (going from a subject to another in another focus plane).

So for my video work, this is the main concern.

SloPhoto,

Thanks, I will look at these alternatives. Yes, I prefer to have fast lens, 2.0 or faster. 2.5 is a bit slow, 3.5 is definitelly too slow.

But I will go read these reviews.

You're not getting many comments regarding the focus ring of the 85 f1.8 because most users are doing AF almost all the time. Personally, I've used that lens extensively for indoor sports, and some portraits but don't know how to grade it's focus ring.

I also have a Rokinon (Samyang) 85 on order, its crossing the country on the Fedex truck at this moment. I have seen enough good work shot with this lens, I can't wait to see how mine performs.

The Rokinon is cheap enough $250 that you can also get another prime. Maybe a used 50mm F1.4?

jparchibald wrote:
SloPhoto,

Thanks, I will look at these alternatives. Yes, I prefer to have fast lens, 2.0 or faster. 2.5 is a bit slow, 3.5 is definitelly too slow.

But I will go read these reviews.


Then I would put it between the samyang and an old AI-s nikon.

WmPat wrote:
You're not getting many comments regarding the focus ring of the 85 f1.8 because most users are doing AF almost all the time. Personally, I've used that lens extensively for indoor sports, and some portraits but don't know how to grade it's focus ring.

Yes, I understand that. These are still lenses, not cine lenses. That is why I am asking here about the specifics caracteristics I am looking for.

timpdx wrote:
I also have a Rokinon (Samyang) 85 on order, its crossing the country on the Fedex truck at this moment. I have seen enough good work shot with this lens, I can't wait to see how mine performs.

The Rokinon is cheap enough $250 that you can also get another prime. Maybe a used 50mm F1.4?

I am covered in the 50mm departement. I know the Rokinon is a good deal and great for still, but I don't want to buy it if another lens, even more expensive, might serves me better.

The Zeiss 85/1.4 ZE (or 35/2) is too expensive for you? I believe Zeiss is building these lenses with follow focus in mind...

I don't know. I'm new to this equipements, since I'm not a photographer. How much does it cost? do you have a link? I would like to spend about 500$ max on the 85mm.

i'm curious about something, how is the af speed compared to the canon 1.8? that thing is blazing fast in the af department and great for sports how do the others hold up especially the Rokinon?

For Sharpeness at differents apperture, you can review the 100% original size of the photos took by 85mm F1.8 lens below (you can change different apperture for the lens to get different photos)

http://english.sellpower.net/modules/flickrorg/dlsr_index.php?id=1&dc_model=0&iso1=0&iso2=0&len_id=77&exposure1=0&exposure2=0&shutter1=0&shutter2=0&num_focal_mm=0&num_focal_mm2=&B1=Query

I have a 85mm F1.8 from canon and would change it for nothing!!! Well apart from maybe a 85F1.2L!

h_2_o wrote:
i'm curious about something, how is the af speed compared to the canon 1.8? that thing is blazing fast in the af department and great for sports how do the others hold up especially the Rokinon?


What lens are you asking about against the Canon 85 1.8? most of the lenses discussed above are MF only. For straight Video work MF lenses are a good bet, and lenses that are MF only will usually have a better focus action than an AF lens that you can MF with

Ian, thx for some reason i was thinking that the Rokinon 85mm had af like sigma. it does not so that pretty much renders my question moot. thx again

The ring must be precise and well damped

Short answer:

I'd be surprised if many people described the 85/1.8 this way. Adequate, maybe, but not precise and well damped, IMHO.

jparchibald: no autofocus lens has focusing that is "precise and well damped" by comparison to the best manual focus lenses. Canon USM lenses are probably the best in this regard, but you should probably seek out manual focus lenses if you intend to shoot only video and this is your primary consideration.

Fortunatly, there are a lot of manual focus options for Canon. I don't know anything about the Samyang; probably it's fine. The Zeiss ZE 85 1.4 is available, and older manual focus Nikon, Minolta, Pentax and Olypus lenses can be used with adapters.

The Samyang is amazing. I've already posted many images before, here is a repost of my mini review:

Here's my (reposted) Samyang 'review':

So I managed to shoot a few decent frames with this lense recently, as well as at my most recent gig, but found results on the web inconclusive at best compared to my findings - I'm posting here with my thoughts as I've received more then a couple inquiries about it. I am not a professional or even casual reviewer of gear, just a professional user of it, so please take these findings with a grain of salt.


What is it? Samyang 85mm 1.4 MF lense. Apparently branded also as Polar and a few other names.

Cost? Around $300-$350

Where did you get it??: Foto-Tip (Poland). http://www.foto-tip.pl/sklep/default.php I should note that it was shipped express 'regular' mail, arrived in 5 days (tracked - though I needed to ask for the number) and I did not have to pay any form of customs or duty on it. YMMV.

About the lens:

First, manual focus only. Heavy and very well constructed. In preparation for alt-lense usage I've been using my fast Canon glass in MF only, but this lense makes it 'feel' a lot easier - the focus ring is easy to grip and very easy to use. This is not to say it spins quickly, but rather firmly, allowing for precise focus. Also comes with plastic lense hood, which is necessary for limiting flare wide open. Image below @ 1.4 without hood illustrates the flare - since I'm new to manual focusing, getting the pigeon's face more or less sharp felt great! :