Samyang 85mm f1.4 IF MC

mulch

mulch

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I would be interested to hear of any people’s experiences using the Samyang 85mm f1.4 IF MC. It can be obtained very reasonably priced (might be a good reason for this!), but I’ve not come across any reviews to help me decide whether to go for it....or not. The camera is a D300s and intended use would be for grandchild and general portrait shots. I’m aware it’s manual focus only, which could be a problem when trying to get shots of a ever moving grandchild.
I’ve only recently heard of Samyang and never seen one ‘in real life’.

Any feedback will be much appreciated.
 
Love it. It's a fab lens. Have a look at my Flickr feed at the samyang set.

Had it on the d90 - awesome. Good still on the d800.

Bargain at the price....IF you don't mind MF

S
 
Samyang lenses sell under several different names - Rokinon for example - and often get reviewed under those names. Here's an example. And here's another.

I had the Nikon version in the past on a D300s and couldn't fault it. Sharp for the sharp bits and creamy for the soft bits.
 
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Thanks for the quick replies.

Shaheed - your excellent Flichr images using this lens do help me towards getting it. I've seen it at £250 which also helps!

Paul - read the reviews, thanks for the links. My only concern was and I quote "Stopping the lens down makes your viewfinder very dark and sometimes even unusable which makes focusing tough to do".....particularly if the subject is on the move as well for my aging eyes.

Decisions, decisions.

Thanks again.
 
mulch said:
Thanks for the quick replies.

Shaheed - your excellent Flichr images using this lens do help me towards getting it. I've seen it at £250 which also helps!

Paul - read the reviews, thanks for the links. My only concern was and I quote "Stopping the lens down makes your viewfinder very dark and sometimes even unusable which makes focusing tough to do".....particularly if the subject is on the move as well for my aging eyes.

Decisions, decisions.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

If you get the ae version, you control the aperture from the camera - wont look dark through the viewfinder.

It's sharp and bokeh is nicely rendered. Kids at f1.4 is a challenge but when nailed, it's lovely. As devil's advocate (and I do love this samyang lens) also consider the Nikon 85 f1.8 for its AF ability for moving kids.

Hope that helps

S
 
mulch said:
Hi
I would be interested to hear of any people’s experiences using the Samyang 85mm f1.4 IF MC. It can be obtained very reasonably priced (might be a good reason for this!), but I’ve not come across any reviews to help me decide whether to go for it....or not. The camera is a D300s and intended use would be for grandchild and general portrait shots. I’m aware it’s manual focus only, which could be a problem when trying to get shots of a ever moving grandchild.
I’ve only recently heard of Samyang and never seen one ‘in real life’.

Any feedback will be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Yes :eek:
 
Fantastic lens and great value for money. I use the AE Nikon version on both my APS-C digital Nikons and my 35mm film bodies.

It's far easier to focus on my film cameras, as the viewfinders are far nicer and much bigger than anything available on digital, but I can take as many shots as I need on digital to get the shot without worrying about wasting film.

Some digital Nikon have the electronic rangefinder feature that significantly helps with manual focusing or there's also live view.
 
Still one of the sharpest lenses Ive ever owned!

One I took a few weeks ago


Espresso Preparation by TCR4x4, on Flickr

And another, open it full size in flickr, you can see the sharpness on the coffee grounds


Espresso Preparation by TCR4x4, on Flickr

And the one I always pull out when someone asks about the Samyang.. 100% crop, taken through a filthy double glazed window.


Chicken 100% crop by TCR4x4, on Flickr
 
Nice images Tom, particularly like the chicken crop.

Might go for it on Amazon which then would allow me to try it out to see if I can get it to 'focus' on my D300s. As I mentioned earlier, I'm just a bit worried about my aging eyes not up to the job. So it would be nice to try before buying.
 
Sharpness is not an issue. No AF may be - for the price you can get a very sharp and accurate 85mm f/1.8 with AF. f/1.4 vs 1.8 is not so much when you consider AF vs MF

You need to consider getting special focusing screens as anything standard will be useless.
 
daugirdas said:
Sharpness is not an issue. No AF may be - for the price you can get a very sharp and accurate 85mm f/1.8 with AF. f/1.4 vs 1.8 is not so much when you consider AF vs MF

You need to consider getting special focusing screens as anything standard will be useless.
Click to expand...

I think this is the main issue - hence my devil's advocate post!

I did manage to MF with moving kids but there have been times I longed for an AF f1.4 (not available at this price).

S
 
Just wanted to chip in: I bought the Samyang 85mm lens recently... didn't know that Canon version doesn't come with the focus confirmation chip ( Nikon version has the focus confirmation chip). It was very difficult for me to focus when the lens is wide open at 1.4 so I decided to attach a Dandilion chip for focus confirmation which i got off ebay for £18 (Chinese version of the chip cost around £6). Since attaching it with superglue (was a bit messy) its working fine and focussing is now a breeze. I am really enjoying the lens now and highly recommended it :D

Aperture 1.4

IMG_1068 by Tharksha, on Flickr

Dandilion chip attached

IMG_1070 by Tharksha, on Flickr
 
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