p.1 #1 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
****UPDATED WITH NEW PICS BELOW****
I am by no means a professional lens tester but I really was curious about these two. If there's one thing I have a lot of in the house its toys, so I set a couple up and took some quick snaps of them with the same settings. Each shot was on a tripod with a 2 second delay @ ISO 800 because of the lighting. I used live view to focus both lenses manually on the zebra thing in the middle.
The Rokinon looks good, but not quite as good as the Canon, especially in the foreground blur ability near wide open. The Canon is also sharper in the 100% crop, though that may not matter much all things considered.
This is only one indoor comparison in dim light, but I have also done an outdoor comparison and the results are pretty much the same. When you consider the cost of these two the Rok is really a great buy if you can stomach the manual focus.
p.1 #4 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
Come on now... does anyone really expect the Rok to hold a candle to the undisputed champion of wide-open sharpness? For it's price, however, the Rok really is the deal of the century. I think they would sell them faster then they could build them if they doubled the price and made it AF...
p.1 #6 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
TAGfan wrote:
Jason you are absolutely right. For the price, I don't know if there a better lens for portraits. If you can master manual focus, that is.
This is an alternative forum. And as usual there will always be alternatives. Maybe not for the same price points but for a little bit more, you can get
The focus is on teddy bear's right eye. Perspective are alter slightly due to the different focal length and minimum focusing distance, to show the OoF front and back performance. IMO, there is no definite method to pit one lens against another as they all behave differently. They all make great pictures.
p.1 #7 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
TAGfan could you show us a comparison crop at say f/2? I'm curious as to when(or if) the Samylux and 85L start to become equal in performance(sharpness).
EDIT: on a second look, it seems that Makten is right, there is some motion blur in the Samyang crop.
p.1 #8 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
I have the Contax 85 and I can tell you it's not really special until it has been stopped down. IMHO. But stopped-down it produces some knock-out micro-contrast and just beautiful overall images. Of course your copy may be better than my early AEG copy.
p.1 #10 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
Hey Tagfan, Thanks for doing the test, always nice to be able to compare stuff before you buy. I was wondering though, the Rok 1.4 crop looks like it is soft (at least partially) from movement, and not optical issues? The points of light look like they are moving in a line. Could it be the mirror slap?
p.1 #14 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
TAGfan, could you take both lenses outdoors during the day and shoot something wide open at a high shutter speed? One at infinity, and nearby? It looks to me like there might be some shake in the Rokinon shot. The easiest way to answer that question is to take a photo at 1/1000sec or faster.
One thing is for sure, the bokeh (a primary reason for buying an 85/1.2) looks pretty similar between the two.
p.1 #15 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
The primary reason for getting the 85 1.2 is 1.2. If you don't need that, then $2,000 can buy quite a few other good fast 85's for you to try out. I have tried a bunch and for "me" my copy of the 85L II is without fail the best 85 I have ever used, wide open and stopped down. I will probably be selling the C/Y version I purchased last month just because it doesn't really offer much that I already get with the 85L II... and autofocus to boot. Now, irregardless of the price, the Rok is again, the best 85 in terms of sharpness and bokeh for the money, IMHO, that has a native EF mount, period. BTW, I am interested to see your new test TAGfan... I'd imagine we are still going to find the Rok less crisp than the 85L II. But ut should be... for $1700 less.
p.1 #18 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
So just took some new snaps outdoors with the two lenses. Set up is the same - used a tripod, 5D ii lenses focused manually on live view, imported into LR2 and exported as JPEG with base settings concerning noise reduction and sharpening. No additional PP was done.
Remember - I'm non-biased, I like both these lenses, and obviously own them. I was just curious about these two given the huge price difference. Make your own conclusions based on your budget, needs and comfort with manual focus.
I'd have to say that without camera shake the Rok looks better at 1.4 in the crop. However, after that the Canon wins, but the difference is negligible. I also notice that the Canon has better contrast, though the color from both is excellent. The Canon also has better foreground blur (look at the pig @1.4) but that's really splitting hairs.
p.1 #19 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
nice. Can you do 1 more test. Shoot straight into bright lights. I would really like to see how good the multi-coating of the Samyang is. I am waiting for their 35/1.2 so would be good to know in advanced.
p.1 #20 · UPDATED -- Showdown: Rokinon vs Canon 85's
That is a incredibly impressive performance from the Rok. Count me as impressed. I don't think the 85L ii is focused dead-on in the 1.4 crop, but that is just splitting hairs...
