Out of the three the Sirui seems to be getting really positive reviews, especially for the rendering.
I agree though that getting a second hand 35GM is the better value for the long term. I actually got the 35GM this week so I know all about the struggle
I have Samyang and Sigma fast primes in other focal lengths, but the 35mm has to be the GM. It kinda has legendary status and I like it even more than my 50/1.2 GM.
That said, if you don't use 35mm very often than, yes, it's probably too pricey an option. That's the reason I went with Samyang for my 135/1.8 because I just don't use 135mm often enough to warrant splurging on Sony's GM.
I think it really depends on what you're going to use it for.
There are other fast 35mms that I prefer over the GM, for example when it comes to rendering/portraits...
I'd rather get a Sony 35/1.8 over any of those lenses, or a Sigma 35/2 contemporary, but I agree with the posters above, the Sony 35/1.4 GM is an epic lens. Buy a minty used one here on FM and save big.
I'm going to use it for portraits and street photography. I had a 35 f1.8 years ago then went to the Tamron 28-75 but it just doesn't give me that look I like.
_mitzi_ wrote:
I'm in same boat. Haven't tried the GM, is it worth the extra weight over other options?
I will be using mine together with my 24-50 and they are nearly the same weight. 440 gram for the zoom and 526 for the GM prime. It's honestly not bad.
showtm490 wrote:
I'm going to use it for portraits and street photography. I had a 35 f1.8 years ago then went to the Tamron 28-75 but it just doesn't give me that look I like.
So, I don't think you need the utmost sharpness across the frame offered by the GM. I guess fast AF is useful for street (unless you zone focus), but the GM is actually not that super fast when racking over large distances.
Unfortunately, I'd don't remember how well the Aurora handles AF on Sony, but rendering-wise I think it should be top-notch (suffering from sharpness across the frame at wide apertures most probably though).
Samyang P is mostly about compactness I think, while the other Samyang is a slight refresh of the, quite old now, original AFAIR...
I think I'd pick the Sigma 35/1.4 DG DN (unless you intend to shoot mostly at MFD where this lens suffers quite a bit I think) if I wanted something close to the GM but cheaper .
35 is my favorite focal length, and I own the 35GM, Sigma i35, FE35 and TT Artisan 35 f/1.4 MF.
Their frequency of use is in that order, with the FE35 and TT Artisan having no love over the past 18 months.
FYI, you will find that with any Samyang optics, including the AFii series, focusing on even slowly moving subjects, particularly people, results in a very low focus hit rate in AF-C. With an A9iii... The difference in accuracy between Samyang and Sigma is startling. So if you plan to do street or even event photography, I'd stick with Sony or at least go with Sigma. Don't know anything about Sirui, other than based on my experience with their tripods, I'd never buy their lenses, but that is pretty unfair and biased.
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