p.7 #1 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
Thats it for now. Im pretty darn happy. Af is pretty fast. How fast its not a GM 24mm and not a Sony 85 1.8 but it feels faster than my Sony 50 1.4. I can't go by the GM 85 as that was long ago when I had it so no comment on that one today.
I would test yours if you get it as Rokinon/Samyang as you will read many comments both good and bad on overall performance either way so copy variance maybe at play here. I got lucky again and looks like Fred did as well. I think Matt did too. So purchase with return issues in play. Best advice i can give but outside the color issue and the 2 missing function keys it has a lot of Pros going for it and the price won't bankrupt you.
Hope this helps. I may try some more things but my plate the next few weeks is crazy so maybe off forum for a bit.
p.7 #2 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
Thanks for the tests Guy. I was/am pretty happy but never hurts to know it meets yours and Fred’s and Luis’ standards!
Good luck with all your fun!
GMPhotography wrote:
Thats it for now. Im pretty darn happy. Af is pretty fast. How fast its not a GM 24mm and not a Sony 85 1.8 but it feels faster than my Sony 50 1.4. I can't go by the GM 85 as that was long ago when I had it so no comment on that one today.
I would test yours if you get it as Rokinon/Samyang as you will read many comments both good and bad on overall performance either way so copy variance maybe at play here. I got lucky again and looks like Fred did as well. I think Matt did too. So purchase with return issues in play. Best advice i can give but outside the color issue and the 2 missing function keys it has a lot of Pros going for it and the price won't bankrupt you.
Hope this helps. I may try some more things but my plate the next few weeks is crazy so maybe off forum for a bit. ...Show more →
p.7 #5 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
I shot a non-profit Dinner Banquet Friday night, and a high end Handbag charity auction Saturday night using the Rokinon 85 1.4, Sigma 40 1.4, and Sigma 24 1.4. All 3 lenses are new to me and I specifically chose to use only those on two A7iii bodies both nights.
Of course the Sigma 40 is phenomenal and a beast, but I was absolutely shocked by the Rokinon 85 1.4 sharpness. I can peep at shots from it and the Sigma 40 back to back and they compare to each other.
Only problem i've ran into is I noticed a tendency in low light using AF-C burst, and tracking, and touch of Godox fill flash that the first shots would be razor sharp, then following shots would be increasingly out of focus. Sometimes would snap back, and others would not. However, I also noticed this same tendency with the Sigma 40 1.4 though to a lesser degree.
However, I also updated both my A7iii bodies to the newest firmware Thurs night and didn't touch my existing settings at all, so I very well could need to tweak my tracking settings. I rely on AF-C and tracking almost exclusively for my event style shooting. Almost all of the shooting was at 1.4, thru 2.2, which is consistent to how I normally shoot.
Previously I would be using Sony 55 1.8 & 85 1.8, or Tamron 28-75 2.8 & Sony 70-200 2.8.
Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to switch from the new lense to my previous older primes to see if the focus tracking creep continued with my known lenses.
I Intend to recreate some of the situations this week and see if I can recreate the focus creep on burst of 4-5 shots issue.
When viewing individual photos you can click on Information in bottom right to see EXIF info.
Feel free to snoop.
p.7 #6 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
So I went back and looked at BB again with the Sony and wanted to make sure I had everything correct because i honestly though i screwed up the Sony for some odd reason. Why you ask, well nothing has beat it till now.
p.7 #11 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
I got this lens a couple of days ago as a tester, based on 2 days only of use, I'm buying one.
It's no 85GM for sure, but it's very nice and at less than half the price, it'll be a good 85GM back-up.
Much, much, much nicer than the 1.8/85 FE and that overpriced Batis 85*
*But of course you knew I was going to bag the blue badge, they always have it comin'
p.7 #12 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
Everything sounds/looks quite compelling so far. Most important for me isn't sharpness but bokeh. If it really excels the Batis 85 bokeh-wise, it's a really contender and might end up in my bag.
However, I'm still undecided on the AF-C. I use it for eye-af. Some people say that AF-C struggles when light isn't perfect anymore. I suppose this means that also eye-af will stop working properly. So if you cannot use it for portraits in lots of cases, it might well be the deal breaker. Anyone who has used eye-af more extensively in different situations? How does it compare to other lenses you have?
p.7 #13 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
zeitlos wrote:
Everything sounds/looks quite compelling so far. Most important for me isn't sharpness but bokeh. If it really excels the Batis 85 bokeh-wise, it's a really contender and might end up in my bag.
However, I'm still undecided on the AF-C. I use it for eye-af. Some people say that AF-C struggles when light isn't perfect anymore. I suppose this means that also eye-af will stop working properly. So if you cannot use it for portraits in lots of cases, it might well be the deal breaker. Anyone who has used eye-af more extensively in different situations? How does it compare to other lenses you have?
p.7 #15 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
Melindra wrote:
I got this lens a couple of days ago as a tester, based on 2 days only of use, I'm buying one.
It's no 85GM for sure, but it's very nice and at less than half the price, it'll be a good 85GM back-up.
Much, much, much nicer than the 1.8/85 FE and that overpriced Batis 85*
*But of course you knew I was going to bag the blue badge, they always have it comin'
I got my blue badge for under $700 off the buy and sell board which imo is what it should be priced at.
p.7 #16 · Samyang/Rokinon 85 1.4 Test Thread Images
Nice lenses but I'm just not fond of the Batis 85 and Sony 85 1.8 rendering , bokeh and look. Sharp and fast AF no question. I like the look of the GM 85 but can't deal with the AF speed. For me this is a nice compromise and really a gap lens between my 50 and 135
