p.7 #1 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
ilikeblonds wrote:
I don't think I'm on the latest version, mine came as v3. Yeah that's a rough estimate of misses, I'll go over my images later and see what the actual miss rate was
From what I’ve been reading, V4 is much better so maybe getting the dock and updating could fix your AF issues.
p.7 #2 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
ilikeblonds wrote:
I don't think I'm on the latest version, mine came as v3. Yeah that's a rough estimate of misses, I'll go over my images later and see what the actual miss rate was
From what I’ve been reading, V4 is much better so maybe getting the dock and updating could fix your AF issues.
p.7 #3 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
Photosbydlee wrote:
I had mine up until May 2018 when I switched to Sony, the FE 85 was my first native lens. I think I won the lottery with my copy of the Sigma, it was always so good AF wise. I know one guy who used to use it on his A7RII with good results and he loved it on there..
Oh wow, I didn't try to adapt it.
It's very good quality considering its no where near the price of the Nikon or Sony versions it compares with.
Actually preferred it to my Nikon 85 1.4 gold ring.
p.7 #4 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
Bob_S wrote:
Oh wow, I didn't try to adapt it.
It's very good quality considering its no where near the price of the Nikon or Sony versions it compares with.
Actually preferred it to my Nikon 85 1.4 gold ring.
Sigma generally has been great to me.
If you have an adapter you should give it a try and see how it goes! The guy who I know that adapted found it performed even better in mirrorless like most lenses do.
p.7 #5 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
Photosbydlee wrote:
If you have an adapter you should give it a try and see how it goes! The guy who I know that adapted found it performed even better in mirrorless like most lenses do.
I don't have one, but might give it a go if I can get my hands on one.
p.7 #7 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
This lens arrived today. I was a bit worried as so many people online warned me about copy variation but I’m very happy to say it’s well centered, tack sharp wide open and AF is fast and accurate at all distances
p.7 #8 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
Photosbydlee wrote:
This lens arrived today. I was a bit worried as so many people online warned me about copy variation but I’m very happy to say it’s well centered, tack sharp wide open and AF is fast and accurate at all distances
A big issue for many people is front/back focusing on the eyes. Also let’s say you take 10 continuous action shots. Some of the AF problems are many misses in that scenario. Check these things out, but hope you got a good one and I look forward to your shots!
p.7 #9 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
abadger wrote:
A big issue for many people is front/back focusing on the eyes. Also let’s say you take 10 continuous action shots. Some of the AF problems are many misses in that scenario. Check these things out, but hope you got a good one and I look forward to your shots!
Thanks will try give that a shot! I very rarely shoot in burst mode so probably wouldn’t notice it under normal circumstances. I did a few Eye Af shots of my gf before and it nailed focus perfect each time. The focus is pretty much silent too which was interesting as quite a few reviews I’ve seen have noted some noise so I guess I got lucky.
Thanks, it’s already dark by the time I finish work here (southern hem) so might try something around the house later
p.7 #10 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
Photosbydlee wrote:
Thanks will try give that a shot! I very rarely shoot in burst mode so probably wouldn’t notice it under normal circumstances. I did a few Eye Af shots of my gf before and it nailed focus perfect each time. The focus is pretty much silent too which was interesting as quite a few reviews I’ve seen have noted some noise so I guess I got lucky.
Thanks, it’s already dark by the time I finish work here (southern hem) so might try something around the house later
Most of the AF noise is an issue for video, where it get picked up my the microphone. But this lens is pretty bad AF-wise for video so I wouldn’t use it for that anyway.
p.7 #11 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
abadger wrote:
Most of the AF noise is an issue for video, where it get picked up my the microphone. But this lens is pretty bad AF-wise for video so I wouldn’t use it for that anyway.
I also don’t do any video so won’t be an issue!
I now need to decide if I’ll kept the Sony 85mm f/1.8 for something light when I travel. I will say this lens is pretty big but pleasantly light for its size and still feels solid.
p.7 #12 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
I used it last Saturday in a little trip I made to the Great Wall and it focused perfectly 99% of the time. A few days ago in the Summer Palace the same, almost perfect, and yesterday in a park almost perfect again. But last week the lighting situation was a bit different and my hit rate was lower (maybe 60% in perfect focus). So I think it’s very light dependant. I’m also now disabling IBIS and using regular shutter (not electronic or half electronic) when shooting at very fast shutter speeds and that seems to help as well.
p.7 #13 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
numbertwo wrote:
I used it last Saturday in a little trip I made to the Great Wall and it focused perfectly 99% of the time. A few days ago in the Summer Palace the same, almost perfect, and yesterday in a park almost perfect again. But last week the lighting situation was a bit different and my hit rate was lower (maybe 60% in perfect focus). So I think it’s very light dependant. I’m also now disabling IBIS and using regular shutter (not electronic or half electronic) when shooting at very fast shutter speeds and that seems to help as well.
I obviously haven't used mine a great deal but I found mine to perform quite well in very low light. I had electronic shutter and IBIS enabled and didn't have any issues. The only issue I did have (which isn't technically the lenses fault) was the minimum focusing distance. It's 10cm more than the Sony 85mm which isn't much but I have been using the 90mm Macro more recently so I think that has put me off when it comes to sensing distance.
p.7 #14 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
So, I just received this lens from B&H and if the version for the lens in the camera menu is correct, it’s a v3. Seems like that should have been v4 when I bought it as it’s been out for a while. Now I guess I will need to get the dock.
p.7 #15 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
die_kruzen wrote:
So, I just received this lens from B&H and if the version for the lens in the camera menu is correct, it’s a v3. Seems like that should have been v4 when I bought it as it’s been out for a while. Now I guess I will need to get the dock.
Maybe it was older stock. I got mine about 3 months ago now and it was in version 4, although here in Aus they come straight from the supplier so that may be why too.
p.7 #16 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
Mine had trouble focusing in less than ideal lighting which frustrated me. Even after getting a dock and adjusting the punt and updating the version, I still didn't feel very confident in it. Probably hovering around 60-70% hit rate on eye af-c so I ended up selling it with a steep discount to my buddy who just switched over to Sony.
When it did hit though, the images were quite nice. Might switch over to the batis 85, I also want something smaller but don't like the Fe 85 rendering.
p.7 #17 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
ilikeblonds wrote:
Mine had trouble focusing in less than ideal lighting which frustrated me. Even after getting a dock and adjusting the punt and updating the version, I still didn't feel very confident in it. Probably hovering around 60-70% hit rate on eye af-c so I ended up selling it with a steep discount to my buddy who just switched over to Sony.
When it did hit though, the images were quite nice. Might switch over to the batis 85, I also want something smaller but don't like the Fe 85 rendering.
Which camera were you using when it had trouble focusing?
p.7 #18 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
die_kruzen wrote:
So, I just received this lens from B&H and if the version for the lens in the camera menu is correct, it’s a v3. Seems like that should have been v4 when I bought it as it’s been out for a while. Now I guess I will need to get the dock.
In the Q&A for this lens on the B&H site, someone asked "What is the firmware number for this lens?" A staff member answered "the lenses we are selling have the latest firmware updates as of 6/1/20."
p.7 #19 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
ilikeblonds wrote:
Mine had trouble focusing in less than ideal lighting which frustrated me. Even after getting a dock and adjusting the punt and updating the version, I still didn't feel very confident in it. Probably hovering around 60-70% hit rate on eye af-c so I ended up selling it with a steep discount to my buddy who just switched over to Sony.
When it did hit though, the images were quite nice. Might switch over to the batis 85, I also want something smaller but don't like the Fe 85 rendering.
Mine has had 0 issues in all kinds of lighting. I think I got really lucky with my copy which is making me hesitant to sell it in favor for the Sigma.
p.7 #20 · Samyang 85mm 1.4 FE - Current owners still happy with the lens?
NJPhotographer wrote:
Which camera were you using when it had trouble focusing?
I was using an A7III, upgraded from version 3 to 4 and still issues. Not sure a version update would've helped me though considering some others had solid copies with little to no AF issues. I just got unlucky and was too late to return.
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Photosbydlee wrote:
Mine has had 0 issues in all kinds of lighting. I think I got really lucky with my copy which is making me hesitant to sell it in favor for the Sigma.
