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And it’s not exactly the type of lens one would be routinely using for sports or wildlife where one most often will use burst shooting. I’m not particularly concerned: It’s only an issue on the A9, I had no problem shooting bursts with the A7riii. You will lose focus after a few frames and the lens cannot re-acquire focus. At first, I thought it was an issue I was finding just with my camera and lens but later found out Samyang is aware of the issue. There is one caveat that may be fixed by a future firmware update: the lens can’t continuously autofocus with burst shooting on the A9. There is just a slight whine to the focus motor but in total, it’s not really any louder than the Sony 85mm F/1.4. While the Rokinon/Samyang lens can produce some lovely bokeh at wide aperture, as you stop down to F2.8 and smaller, you start to get the angular shape of the aperture as opposed to perfectly rounded circles.Īutofocus is mostly a positive experience. The Sony 85mm F/1.4 GM lens sports 11 aperture blades, allowing it to maintain very round aperture even at smaller apertures. But having used the 85/1.8, the Sony 85mm F/1.4 GM and the Rokinon/Samyang for extended photo shoots, you definitely appreciate that the Rokinon/Samyang is lighter than the GM.īelow, we take a look at the aperture blades: aperture blades of Rokinon 85mm F1.4Īs shown above, the Rokinon 85mm F/1.4 has a fairly standard 9 aperture blades. In practical use, the lens + camera combination is noticeably heavier with the Samyang / Rokinon compared to the Sony 85mm F/1.8. At the same time, it’s the second cheapest option, just $150 more than the Sony 85/1.8. Remarkably, the Samyang/Rokinon 85mm F/1.4 is the lightest 1.4 options by a wide margin, 170 grams lighter than the GM lens and 280 grams more than the Sony 85/1.8. Let’s compare the weight of the various 85mm lens options for Sony along with price: Still, the size is overall a positive for an 85mm lens with 1.4 aperture. It is notably larger than the Sony FE 85mm F/1.8 in both bulk and weight.
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Manual focus ring is ridged and works smoothly.Īs shown in the above photos compared to the Sony FE 85mm F/1.8, the 1.4 aperture adds a good amount of size. The lens is fully controlled from the camera body. Unlike many Sony first party lenses, there are no additional features on the lens body: no focus hold button, no AF/MF switch, no aperture ring.
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It definitely feels like a precision professional instrument in the hand. The barrel is a solid metallic design and weather sealed. Body and Handling:īuild quality is very solid though basic. Let’s see if it’s going to become a permanent part of my kit. Would this be the chance for me to get a top quality lens with the benefits of 1.4 aperture, at a price and weight more reasonable than the other options?įor this review, I tested the Rokinon 85mm F/1.4, which is identical to the Samyang version. While I was personally happy with the Sony 85mm F/1.8, the announcement of the Samyang 85mm F/1.4 piqued my interest. I reviewed the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 which found a permanent place in my camera bag. Considering the hefty price of native Sony-branded lenses, Samyang can offer a great value as they start to make competitive lenses. In recent years, Samyang has been improving the quality of their lenses and offering more autofocus options.
Samyang sold the lenses under multiple brand names, “Rokinon” often used in USA markets. If you go back a few years, Samyang was known to make affordable fair quality manual focus primes in various mounts. I reviewed and preferred the Sony FE 85mm F/1.8 to save significant dollars and weight. I previously reviewed the Sony 85mm F/1.4 GM, the flagship Sony lens which is exceptional but also exceptionally expensive and quite heavy. For many users, a 1.8 aperture is fast enough, while allowing for a lens that is much cheaper and lighter in weight. Truly premium “professional” 85mm lenses will utilize a fast 1.4 aperture (with a few 1.2 options in other brands). A fast aperture prime lens allows for lovely background separation and bokeh. The telephoto length allows for flattering compression of subjects.
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Shooting outdoors when you have space to maneuver, it gives you a proper working distance for everything from headshots to full body images of small groups.
I’ve said this repeatedly in various posts: 85mm is my favorite focal length for portraits.