New Samyang 35mm f/1.4 for Sony

[Dusty]

SonyAlphaRumors reports a new Samyang 35mm F1.4 (manual focus, of course) in Alpha mount soon to be available for 389 Euros ($540 USD).

This is a FULL FRAME 35mm, so 850/900 users needing slightly wide low light ability should be happy!

Dusty

[David Kilpatrick]

We have had a look at the 35mm for Nikon, and tried it. It's a very good lens, minimal distortion, some wide aperture vignetting, but very sharp indeed and nicely made. The Alpha version will not have a chip (they think it may take another year before chipped Alpha Samyangs appear) and will be 'later in the year'. There is only one Nikon sample in Europe.

David

[bfitzgerald]

If Samyang started making autofocus lenses they'd cause serious problems for Tamron and Sigma as well as the main camera makers who do their own lenses.

[David Kilpatrick]

Right now, if I was Sony I'd be thinking hard about the benefts of having lenses made in more than one, two or even three places. It looks as if Sony has avoided the Alpha division being affected (so far) by the events in Japan, where Sigma and Canon may both have to shut down and rebuild lens manufacturing. But all the makers must now be thinking - where else can we get top grade lenses made? Samyang must be a contender just as much as Cosina has been, after the great work they have done so far.

David

[Lonnie Utah]

It looks as if Sony has avoided the Alpha division being affected (so far) by the events in Japan, where Sigma and Canon may both have to shut down and rebuild lens manufacturing.

Not um-important news in the world of the camera wars.

2x negative by intention....

[agorabasta]

Not um-important news in the world of the camera wars.

2x negative by intention....

I'd easily survive a few more years on my existing hardware, if that could save just a single human life up there, you know where... I think, you feel about the same.

But, still, yes, the horrible things, happening just as we chat, shall have their effect, definitely.

[Javelin]

I think Nikon in terms of Cameras might be in the worst shape in this disaster.

Edit: I just read a report that they are actually in pretty good shape and could have their facilities up in 2 weeks or so if they can get electricity.

Right now, if I was Sony I'd be thinking hard about the benefts of having lenses made in more than one, two or even three places. It looks as if Sony has avoided the Alpha division being affected (so far) by the events in Japan, where Sigma and Canon may both have to shut down and rebuild lens manufacturing. But all the makers must now be thinking - where else can we get top grade lenses made? Samyang must be a contender just as much as Cosina has been, after the great work they have done so far.

David

[pakodominguez]

I think Nikon in terms of Cameras might be in the worst shape in this disaster.

Edit: I just read a report that they are actually in pretty good shape and could have their facilities up in 2 weeks or so if they can get electricity.

Nikon's plant that was affected is the one where they produce the D700 or D3X.

I think is Canon that had to stop many facilities (related to photography), while Sony stopped one of the semi-conductors facilities. The NEX is made in Thailand, as well as many lenses and cameras. The 85 f2.8 is made in China... I don't think camera production will suffer, at least no more than car production they need more energy...)

[mvanrheenen]

I was looking for a replacement for my Sigma 30 mm EX DC and bought the Samyang 35mm lens. I wanted to share my thoughts about it. As a beginning amateur I don't exactly know what the more experienced photographers want to know, so if the information doesn't have all the details, please let me know what I can do to test it for you.

As I already have the Samyang 14 mm I knew the brand and the quality of their products. Just as the 14 mm, the 35 is of a good build quality. Even the lens hood feels a lot less plastic fantastic as the one on the 14.

I like manual focusing and do so, even with my AF lenses. Focusing with the 35 mm has a bit of a learning curve, especially on the a580 because of the somewhat short OVF. But after less than a week getting to know the lens, focusing gets easier and easier, even at wide apertures. The focus ring is really good. Smooth action, but not to loose and big enough to use it comfortably.

Literally the biggest negative point is the size and weight of the lens. It's easy the biggest 30-ish mm lens I've ever seen! With more than 11 cm in length without hood and more than 650 grams, it's no lightweight. On the other hand, it does feel very sturdy and on my a580 with hand strap and tripod plate it feels fairly balanced.

Optically, the lens performs as expected: very good considering the price! The lens is fairly sharp wide open and gets very sharp from f2.8 onwards. I'm very impressed! Although I like manual focusing and can handle myself pretty well with it, I can understand it could be a problem for people, especially on wider apertures. The Sony Focus Check LV system can be handy in those situations, as I discovered when I just began manual focusing.

I wanted to share some shots I made to demonstrate sharpness in the focus areas on large apertures. All shots are made in available light, shot from hand and focused using the OVF of my a580 camera. No processing has been applied, just used Photoshop to convert the RAW image to JPEG an crop it.

original (click the link for the original size)
f2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO 800

http://www.pbase.com/mvanrheenen/image/136195613/original.jpg

1/80 sec, ISO 800

100% crop



original (click the link for the original size)
f1.4, 1/500 sec, ISO 100

http://www.pbase.com/mvanrheenen/image/136195624/original.jpg

100% crop



As you can see, nothing to complain about. You can see the CA on f1.4, but it's not uncorrectable in processing.

Hope my little review give some insight into the performance of this lens. I would recommend it for people who want quality for a fair price and don't mind manual focusing.

Mark

[David Kilpatrick]

Good info, I corrected your broken image/link structure (don't know why it did not work, it parsed OK).

On the music shot, the low level of colour bokeh effect is impressive. The right hand side (close) is slightly more green and the left side (distant) slightly more magenta, but this is nothing like as bad as the 35mm f/1.4 Nikon lens or any of the fast Sigma lenses.

This points to very low CA.

David

[mvanrheenen]

Good info, I corrected your broken image/link structure (don't know why it did not work, it parsed OK).

On the music shot, the low level of colour bokeh effect is impressive. The right hand side (close) is slightly more green and the left side (distant) slightly more magenta, but this is nothing like as bad as the 35mm f/1.4 Nikon lens or any of the fast Sigma lenses.

This points to very low CA.

David

David,

Strange thing about the broken links. I checked them prior to posting and they seemed fine. Thank you for correcting the problem though!

Although the second example isn't the best test for CA, I'm glad it's limited to what it is. I'll try to make some better examples in CA prone situations for everyone to review.

Mark

[agorabasta]

Sorry, but can't share the optimism over the 'low CA'.
First, the cat's hair is all painted green with exactly the very strong LoCA.
Second, the seemingly low CA in the other sample comes from the strong yellow tint that simply masks the CA. Just correct the WB to remove the tint, and the strong LoCA is all over the place.
And mind also, that LoCA is not compensated even in the parts being seemingly in the best focus. And being longitudinal, that CA is generally incorrigible in PP.

Once again - sorry, but the lens appears outright horrible to me. Some measly SAM DT 35/1.8 is incomparably better as it at least has its LoCA completely compensated at the point of focus.

[mvanrheenen]

Hi agorabasta,

I see what you mean by the photo of our cat. Especially in the 100% crop you can see the green best at the whiskers on the right.

In defense of my photographic skills: the picture of the notes has the correct white balance. This is a 100 year old book and the pages actually are this yellow.

Mark

[agorabasta]

Hi there, Mark!

It doesn't matter if the tint is real or due to WB. It hides the CA either way. If you neutralise the paper colour, you then reveal the CA.