Fred Miranda wrote:
Thanks for the link. I've checked some of the full size images and the Sammy 85 is no GM killer. It has more pronounced mechanical vignetting (cat-eye boked) which in some images showed a slight swirling effect at mid-distance. This is a GM's strength for sure. Other than that rendering seems smooth and pleasant and f/1.4 performance is no slouch.
We can't judge AF speed and accuracy yet but all images also have the Samyang warm cast.
Personally I like the warm cast of Samyang lenses for portraits, which are my primary use case for lenses like this. The rendering looks nice; better than the 85 f1.8, although probably not quite as good as the GM. The greater cats eye effect is definitely a bit disappointing, although I don't think it looks any worse than the 85 f1.8 in this regard. It may be a touch better; I don't think I've seen as much swirl as I've seen for example in shots with the f1.8 Sony.
gocolts wrote:
The size comparison in the above video to the Batis 85 is interesting as I own the Batis.
Same here. Interesting to hear it feels like, more or less, the same weight as the Batis. I don't need the new Samyang to have fast AF personally, but I'm looking for high accuracy. My Batis should be stronger in a few ways, compared to the Samyang/Rokinon 85, but they're pretty much in areas where I don't need a lot in an 85. So I'm actually toying with the idea of a switch when it becomes available. I had their manual 85/1.4 in A mount a short while and really liked what I saw from it.
I like my Batis just fine, but it never excited me either. I definitely feel the 1.4 draw.
I'm not a big, single-person portrait guy so don't want to drop GM cash on an 85 (or 135). So it's between the Sony 85/1.8 and this new Samyang. I'd be curious to know, for those with a 1.4 preference, how often at the 85FL you need that additional 2/3 stop. I usually prefer portraits with both eyes in focus, so too shallow a DoF won't help. Do you really have to have the head in a single plane to avoid blurriness? I like the dreamier look out OOF areas on 1.4s, obviously, and also shoot in low-light often so that would be handy, but even the Samyang is considerably bigger than the Sony, and also lacks the custom button, which I appreciate. I'll be waiting for full reviews of the Samy in any case.
I do a lot of low light shooting and also don't use a fast 85 exclusively for portraits, so the 1.4 will be useful for me. I also like being able to control OOF areas even when the distance to the subject is longer than what's typical in portraits. Think full body in frame. Not looking to use 1.4 for head/shoulders type portraits much.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I've sent a requested to Samyang to get a copy for review. It would be interesting to see how it compares to the Sony FE 85/1.4 GM and FE 85/1.8.
I did the same with Rokinon as well but you are most likely to get a copy than I am for testing
Fred Miranda wrote:
I've sent a requested to Samyang to get a copy for review. It would be interesting to see how it compares to the Sony FE 85/1.4 GM and FE 85/1.8.
Very interested to see this, hope they get you one.
I haven't seen any other news or reviews yet but this lens seems quite interesting.
I was wondering how it compares to the EF version (which was reviewed so-so) since the FE lens is a new design. I finally thought of tracking down the MTF charts for both versions and the new Sony/FE lens seems substantially more contrast-y and sharper wide open -- pretty exciting if AF is decent.
