All right, some very early impressions from mine (v.03 on A7R III). Chunkier than expected and thus feels heavier than it actually is - I hadn't realised it uses 77mm filters vs 72mm on the Canon 85L II - but feels very nicely balanced on camera and in the hand. I'm going to be contrarian and say that I don't like too many extraneous dials or buttons or latches or or markings on my lens (GM lenses I'm looking at you), thus I rather like the modern, minimalistic design of the Samyang lens.
I'm going to echo a lot of what others have said in this thread and elsewhere: I LOVE the rendering wide open - clean, punchy, tack sharp. So little CA!!! Basically nothing like the Canon 85L II which I shall best describe as... "dreamy".
AF and Eye AF is not as confident or consistent as I'm used to with native Sony lenses, as expected, with Eye AF especially seeming to struggle in AF-C tracking (toddler coming slowly towards camera). But I need to test this more over the weekend with fast moving toddlers. There's a noticeable drop-off in AF speed indoors even in daylight vs outdoors.
As for my big obsession with bokeh: pleased to report that it looks quite acceptable in relatively tame conditions, but I'll push the lens more in the next few days.
The difference between the two lenses shocked me, and I say this from more samples which I haven't shared. In these casual scenes the bokeh looks more similar than the stark differences in sharpness, but especially contrast. The 85L II looks creamy for sure but to the extent that it looks like there's cream smeared all over it, and I feel that the LOCA is negating small advantages to the Canon's otherwise creamier bokeh.
Again echoing what OP said... I have a feeling the Samyang will be a keeper.
All right, some very early impressions from mine (v.03 on A7R III). Chunkier than expected and thus feels heavier than it actually is - I hadn't realised it uses 77mm filters vs 72mm on the Canon 85L II - but feels very nicely balanced on camera and in the hand. I'm going to be contrarian and say that I don't like too many extraneous dials or buttons or latches or or markings on my lens (GM lenses I'm looking at you), thus I rather like the modern, minimalistic design of the Samyang lens.
I'm going to echo a lot of what others have said in this thread and elsewhere: I LOVE the rendering wide open - clean, punchy, tack sharp. So little CA!!! Basically nothing like the Canon 85L II which I shall best describe as... "dreamy".
AF and Eye AF is not as confident or consistent as I'm used to with native Sony lenses, as expected, with Eye AF especially seeming to struggle in AF-C tracking (toddler coming slowly towards camera). But I need to test this more over the weekend with fast moving toddlers. There's a noticeable drop-off in AF speed indoors even in daylight vs outdoors.
As for my big obsession with bokeh: pleased to report that it looks quite acceptable in relatively tame conditions, but I'll push the lens more in the next few days.
The difference between the two lenses shocked me, and I say this from more samples which I haven't shared. In these casual scenes the bokeh looks more similar than the stark differences in sharpness, but especially contrast. The 85L II looks creamy for sure but to the extent that it looks like there's cream smeared all over it, and I feel that the LOCA is negating small advantages to the Canon's otherwise creamier bokeh.
Again echoing what OP said... I have a feeling the Samyang will be a keeper.
All right, some very early impressions from mine (v.03 on A7R III). Chunkier than expected and thus feels heavier than it actually is - I hadn't realised it uses 77mm filters vs 72mm on the Canon 85L II - but feels very nicely balanced on camera and in the hand. I'm going to be contrarian and say that I don't like too many extraneous dials or buttons or latches or or markings on my lens (GM lenses I'm looking at you), thus I rather like the modern, minimalistic design of the Samyang lens.
I'm going to echo a lot of what others have said in this thread and elsewhere: I LOVE the rendering wide open - clean, punchy, tack sharp. So little CA!!! Basically nothing like the Canon 85L II which I shall best describe as... "dreamy".
AF and Eye AF is not as confident or consistent as I'm used to with native Sony lenses, as expected, with Eye AF especially seeming to struggle in AF-C tracking (toddler coming slowly towards camera). But I need to test this more over the weekend with fast moving toddlers. There's a noticeable drop-off in AF speed indoors even in daylight vs outdoors.
As for my big obsession with bokeh: pleased to report that it looks quite acceptable in relatively tame conditions, but I'll push the lens more in the next few days.
The difference between the two lenses shocked me, and I say this from more samples which I haven't shared. In these casual scenes the bokeh looks more similar than the stark differences in sharpness, but especially contrast. The 85L II looks creamy for sure but to the extent that it looks like there's cream smeared all over it, and I feel that the LOCA is negating small advantages to the Canon's otherwise creamier bokeh.
Again echoing what OP said... I have a feeling the Samyang will be a keeper.
All right, some very early impressions from mine (v.03 on A7R III). Chunkier than expected and thus feels heavier than it actually is - I hadn't realised it uses 77mm filters vs 72mm on the Canon 85L II - but feels very nicely balanced on camera and in the hand. I'm going to be contrarian and say that I don't like too many extraneous dials or buttons or latches or or markings on my lens (GM lenses I'm looking at you), thus I rather like the modern, minimalistic design of the Samyang lens.
I'm going to echo a lot of what others have said in this thread and elsewhere: I LOVE the rendering wide open - clean, punchy, tack sharp. So little CA!!! Basically nothing like the Canon 85L II which I shall best describe as... "dreamy".
AF and Eye AF is not as confident or consistent as I'm used to with native Sony lenses, as expected, with Eye AF especially seeming to struggle in AF-C tracking (toddler coming slowly towards camera). But I need to test this more over the weekend with fast moving toddlers. There's a noticeable drop-off in AF speed indoors even in daylight vs outdoors.
As for my big obsession with bokeh: pleased to report that it looks quite acceptable in relatively tame conditions, but I'll push the lens more in the next few days.
The difference between the two lenses shocked me, and I say this from more samples which I haven't shared. In these casual scenes the bokeh looks more similar than the stark differences in sharpness, but especially contrast. The 85L II looks creamy for sure but to the extent that it looks like there's cream smeared all over it, and I feel that the LOCA is negating small advantages to the Canon's otherwise creamier bokeh.
Again echoing what OP said... I have a feeling the Samyang will be a keeper.
May 31, 2019 at 06:45 PM
Previous versions of ryanli's message #14869103 « Official: Samyang AF 85mm 1.4 FE ($699) »
