Samyang lenses

Rooster

Rooster

Messages
683
Name
John
Edit My Images
Yes
Just reading this month's Advanced Photographer mag and there's a review of four lenses from Samyang, a Korean manufacturer I'd never heard of. They seem remarkably good value but they are all manual focus so that's the reason. Even so, I've just ordered their 85mm f/1.4 portrait lens out of curiousity. Does anyone have one and are they as good as the review claims?
 
Yes I have the 85mm and yes its better than the reviews.
Sharpest lens I've ever owned by far, and I've owned some of the top glass from both Nikon and canon.
 
Sounds good. I fancy their fisheye lens too. About time we had some more competition in the lens market.
 
Add my name to the list of very satisfied users of these lenses.
Both the 85mm f1.4 & 8mm f3.5 came with the Nikon mounts for my D300 which has focus confirmation built-in. I use a Nikon G lens to Canon EOS adapter with focus confirmation on it for a 550D. (The best of both worlds). The 85mm lens has many features that make it a very, very good portrait lens (large lens opening and very shallow depth of field when required and a long enough focal length that you're not intruding into someone's face and the resulting distortion).

That being said, the 8mm is the fun lens. Set it to f8 and to about 10 ft focus distance and everything comes into focus - almost like point & shoot.

Here's an example of a photo of a Corvair Spyder that a friend is restoring.
I've been photographing the restoration progress for him.

APR_6440A.jpg


You won't be disappointed.
 
Last edited:
I've recently bought their 8mm f/2.8 fisheye for the Sony Nex-5N
It's an absolutely fantastic fisheye!

256411_10151012118272878_1949623224_o.jpg

324074_10151011644302878_975452735_o.jpg
 
the 85mm 1.4 is an awesome lens for the price. I picked up a mint second hand copy for £160! I sold it on but have regretted it ever since. Very, very sharp even wide open and the bokeh is gorgeously buttery. As long as you can live with manual focus, it's a no brainer to have one in your bag.

would love the fisheye too!!!
 
I have the 8mm in canon mount and i really like it.

Pretty good quality and build and very good IQ. That being said it does flare alot more than any other lenses i have, but it is predictable and controlable!
 
I've got the 85mm 1.4 on my D3 and it's gorgeous. My eyesight is terrible so MF is a PITA at times, however when you nail it, it's awesome.

It's a shame they don't make something like the 16mm Fisheye for full frame but I believe they have a 24mm TS-E coming in October.
 
I've had my Samyang 85mm f/1.4 for 4/5 months now and for some reason not used it that much, don't know why (?), I use the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 quite a bit instead with fabulous results.


1062_original.jpg


(Samyang 35mm f/1.4)
 
Last edited:
I love my fisheye.
I used it for years on canon crop cameras, then *******ised it for my full frame... wouldn't have wanted to do that to a more expensive lens but at the cost of the samyang, totally worthwhile having a go!


hairy_cow1 by adamdavi3s, on Flickr
 
PDub said:
The 85/1.4 is a MF lens right?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's manual focus, although you can get the Nikon fit with a chip that allows for focus confirmation.
 
Last edited:
PDub said:
The 85/1.4 is a MF lens right?
Click to expand...

All samyang lenses are. That's why they are cheap. It's not really a big deal once you get used to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top