Samyang/Rokinon Tease 135mm Lens

[Lawliet]

14mm is a very nice offering but based on my experience with that lens you still need AF for sensors with 18mp and above, no matter how much you may stop down the lens.

That's more a case of "if all you have a hammer". W/O focus peaking or at least a good ground glass the AF makes getting at least something in focus easier. But by it's very nature it is limited to a very small area, making no statement about the distribution of in/out of focus zones in the image - an emergency solution, not the ideal one.

 

[PVS]

It's true but to a certain degree. Recently I bought the A7 so I could have fun with bunch of legacy lenses that I just couldn't apart with (mostly mf Rokkors and Nikkors) and having true DoF preview with fast glass helps (much more than focus-peaking does), but with anything longer than 50mm you really need some extra effort. The fastest longer lens that I use on A7 is 105/2.5 and I thank Sony for making 100% of any selected area easily accessible, otherwise it'd be pain in the arse to focus. Focus-peaking is not an ideal replacement for split-prism, it just ain't.

Except for the LView I can't imagine anyone having fun with these lenses shooting with matte prism which serves f/2.5 lenses and slower (in Canon's case). Hyperfocal markings could help Samyang lenses usability but mostly for landscapes and wider lenses.
I remember with film I could easily get away by using hyperfocal marks and stopping down to f/8-11ish, but digital sensors are not that forgiving.


Anyhow, they need to step-up the game and start making AF lenses, then their pricing would start making some sense (or not, Sigma's pretty much in the lead with few of their recent offerings such as 35A).

Honestly, in my experience, their optical formulas vary from good to mediocre when compared to Canon's or Sigma offerings. But their QC and build quality is even worse, so who is it for?

 

[Lawliet]

Anyhow, they need to step-up the game and start making AF lenses, then their pricing would start making some sense (or not, Sigma's pretty much in the lead with few of their recent offerings such as 35A).

Honestly, in my experience, their optical formulas vary from good to mediocre when compared to Canon's or Sigma offerings. But their QC and build quality is even worse, so who is it for?

Those two points go hand in had once you consider their place in the field of motion picture - Samyang offers those lenses at an absolutely entry level price point, the whole set sells for less then a single cp2. At the same time AF is mostly a solution in want of a problem, one of those aids that make me think "stop helping me".

The use in still photography seems more like a byproduct to me.

 

[slclick]

Anyhow, they need to step-up the game and start making AF lenses, then their pricing would start making some sense (or not, Sigma's pretty much in the lead with few of their recent offerings such as 35A).

Honestly, in my experience, their optical formulas vary from good to mediocre when compared to Canon's or Sigma offerings. But their QC and build quality is even worse, so who is it for?

Those two points go hand in had once you consider their place in the field of motion picture - Samyang offers those lenses at an absolutely entry level price point, the whole set sells for less then a single cp2. At the same time AF is mostly a solution in want of a problem, one of those aids that make me think "stop helping me".

The use in still photography seems more like a byproduct to me.

Try having failing vision and still having a love and passion for stills. Then you'll want your AF to be spot on. I owned Zeiss glass in the past and made a nice living for a couple years on alternative Fine Art photography with lensbaby and other specialty MF lenses but I can no longer use them due to Acute Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy and Presbyopia. Good thing for the 24-70 mk2 and the 70-200mk2

So you calling AF a byproduct is a slap in the face.

 

[PVS]

^^Well, I probably got the answer I was looking for. As far as I remember they indeed started as a company making lenses for security and TV cameras.

 

[Tinky]

As far as I remember Kwinnon started off ripping off Leicas.

 

[NancyP]

I see nothing surprising about Samyang adding a 135 to its stable of manual focus lenses for video enthusiasts and even stills shooters. I am still using, via adapter, an old AIS Nikkor 105 f/2.5 manual lens on my 6D. Excellent color and contrast, but it does have a bit of chromatic aberration in the corners. I very much enjoy my Samyang 14mm, which is focused via magnified live view for landscape and does splendidly.