Samyang 85 1.4 vs canon ef 85 1.8 - which one to choose?

[sweetcancer]

Hello!

I hope someone here could help me with my problem, you see i want a fast 85mm prime to use with my 5D mark II, and am on a budget. I have narrowed it down to the lenses mentioned in the title, and i guess my question ultimately is, is one better than the other optically? And if the samyang one is, is it so much better (especially wide-open) that it is worth not having af? I would come by without af, but it would be nice to have it for some occasions.

I appreciate your help!

Ps. just to clarify, "better optically" to me means quality in color and contrast reproduction and smooth bokeh.

[AJ]

For me, AF would trump any differences in color and bokeh.  I own a 85/1.8 and it's a great lens.  One of the bargains in the Canon lineup.

Now, if we were talking 14 mm - who cares about AF, I'll pick the Samyang.  But for 85 mm at wide apertures, focusing is critical.  Maybe the Samyang would work if you're doing posed photography only, but for fast work it'd be a real challenge.

Is Sigma 85/1.4 in your budget?  You'd get AF plus large aperture.  I hear good things about that lens.

[preppyak]

Since the price difference is so small (<$100), I'd have to say that the Canon version and having AF is worth it. Both are generally graded out as equals i terms of image quality; the Samyang lenses have a little different look to them, so, its really up to what your eye likes more. The 85mm f/1.8's only problem is CA, but, that can be fixed pretty easily in post.

At the 14mm and 35mm end, the Samyang lenses make sense. They are 1/4 the price of the L lenses, and yet largely deliver amazing IQ on a budget, with the tradeoff being AF. When you're saving $1000, its worth the loss. Or if the 85mm f/18 wasn't known for great AF, it might be worth it. But, for how often you'd really use f/1.4, especially manually focusing, it seems a silly tradeoff

[NormanBates]

Both are generally graded out as equals i terms of image quality

equals my ass
the samyang is very similar to a canon 85mm, but that's not the cheap 85mm f/1.8, but the the 85mm f/1.2L; it's also very close to the zeiss 85mm f/1.4
scroll down to the samyang 85mm here, and check the links (specially the bokeh tests)
http://www.similaar.com/foto/equipment/us_lensc.html#samyang

now, if you're going to shoot stills (for video it wouldn't matter), the better image quality may not be worth losing the AF
it will depend on your subject: if you're shooting models in a studio, you may have time to focus; if you're shooting your kids, I'd forget about it

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've not found Samyang lenses to be worth the postage.  Some seem to get good ones, but not me.  Its a risk due to sloppy manufacturing.

[darrellrhodesmiller]

i cant speak for the Samyang, but i own and love the 85mm f1.8 canon. one of the main selling points of this lens is the lightning fast autofocus.. if there is little to no difference in price, why not get autofocus? the diff between f1.4 and 1.8 is very little in the big scheme of things.

[elflord]

Hello!

I hope someone here could help me with my problem, you see i want a fast 85mm prime to use with my 5D mark II, and am on a budget. I have narrowed it down to the lenses mentioned in the title, and i guess my question ultimately is, is one better than the other optically? And if the samyang one is, is it so much better (especially wide-open) that it is worth not having af? I would come by without af, but it would be nice to have it for some occasions.

I appreciate your help!

Ps. just to clarify, "better optically" to me means quality in color and contrast reproduction and smooth bokeh.

Is the Sigma 85mm out of your budget ? If not, it's definitely worth a look.

[elflord]

I've not found Samyang lenses to be worth the postage.  Some seem to get good ones, but not me.  Its a risk due to sloppy manufacturing.

You've written this a couple of times. Which lenses did you try and what problems did you have ?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've not found Samyang lenses to be worth the postage.  Some seem to get good ones, but not me.  Its a risk due to sloppy manufacturing.

You've written this a couple of times. Which lenses did you try and what problems did you have ?

I published images.  do a search, there are lots of buyers with similar issues, and lots of very happy buyers.  Its hit and miss.  BTW, I bought the 14mm f/2.8.  Fool me once, shame on you, but twice - shame ojn me.
 
Samyang has good designs, its the spotty hit and miss production quality that causes some to be very happy, while others hate it.
 
In the case of the 14mm, it was supposed to be a FF lens.  But, the owners manual warned you off the bat that it was optimized for crop camera bodies and might perform poorly on a FF body.  They were certainly right.
 
So, be prepared to spend shipping both ways if you mail order a bad one, or find a dealer who will pay return shipping, like Amazon.  My seller did not, so I got stuck paying $35 to try a junk quality lens.  Then, I found others saying the same thing.

[sweetcancer]

Thanks for all the replies! Unfortunately the sigma doesn't fit into the budget.

I do shoot kids sometimes, as I work at a day-care center, and would love to get some "fast 85" pictures of them as well. All that aside, my primary purpose for this lens would be portraits of my soon-to-be-wife (for her fashion blog) and friends in controlled out-door environments (well, as controlled as out-door environments come). For this purpose, i believe the samyang would do a better job, as I would probably use manual focus (using live view) anyway.

But, (there's always a but) I love to take my 50mm 1.4 out with me when i'm just taking a longer walk with the dog and stuff, I would also love to do this with my 85. I have my dog on one hand and the camera on the other, so i usually have my camera on Av mode, center af point selected, and then I just point and shoot to anything. Couldn't do this with the samyang. And also, i love the laughter and smiles of kids parents when I show them the pictures printed from the 50mm 1.4, with samyang shooting kids would be more difficult. (not impossible, just more difficult.)

So difficult to decide! Does anyone have a link to a side-by-side model shoot to clearly show the differences of these lenses?

[NormanBates]

my high opinion of the samyang was based on charts, studio tests, etc (*), so I found that an interesting challenge, to see if it actually does better in real world

I found this thread:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/962374/0

with lots of praise for the samyang, and a side by side portrait test (in the second page)

I'd say there's no contest


(*) I don't own the samyang 85mm, my only samyang is the 8mm fisheye (which is also amazing) - I would have gone for the samyang 85mm and 35mm if I didn't already have two very amazing Leica vintage primes at those focal lengths (Leitz Elmarit-R 35mm F/2.8 and Leitz Elmarit-R 90mm f/2.8 ) - I may still add the samyangs to my collection if I need faster lenses

[sweetcancer]

I found this thread:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/962374/0

with lots of praise for the samyang, and a side by side portrait test (in the second page)

I'd say there's no contest

Wow thanks for the link! yeah it's pretty clear now i'm going for the samyang. Hey how about onion ring bokeh? do i need to worry about that?

[RLPhoto]

You can pickup a used EF 85mm 1.8 for sub 400$ on eBay. It's a good lense, but have you considered the 100mm f/2? I think the extra compression is more flattering for portraits.

[NormanBates]

the samyang 85mm f/1.4 is even cheaper, at only $300: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0025EWXEU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=similaar-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0025EWXEU&adid=10XGEXAW69SC1PMEAKE8&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.similaar.com%2Ffoto%2Fequipment%2Fus_lensc.html

the key here is whether you can live without AF


@sweetcancer
the samyang is a bokeh specialist, I don't thing there's anything to worry in that area, but what do you mean, onion ring bokeh?
if you're talking about the issue with samyang's super-long mirror lenses, it's not on the 85mm, this is not a mirror lens

[sweetcancer]

That's what i'm talking about, even though that is an example from a sigma 50/1.4. I have read some complaints about the samyang in this regard, although the example images I have seen are no way near as bad as the sigma above.