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Samyang 85 mm f/1.4 Aspherical IF

Pictures:
Specifications:
Manufacturer Samyang
Model 85 mm f/1.4 Aspherical IF
Lens style Telephoto
Focal length 85 mm
Maximum aperture f/1.4
Angle of view 28.3 o
Closest focusing distance 1 m
Maximum magnification
Minimum aperture 22
Number of diaphragm blades 8
Auto focus type MF
Lens Construction 9 elements / 7 groups
Filter diameter 72 mm
Macro No
Available mounts Canon EF
Nikon F
Sony A / Minolta
Pentax K
Four Thirds
Samsung NX
Dimensions 78 x 72.2 mm
Weight 513 g
Additional information 1 aspherical lens.
Average rating (10 owners reviews)
Build quality
Optical quality
Value for money

Overall

4.57 Good
Owners reviews (10)
  1. sebb
    sebb 9 April 2020, 10:57
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 80.187.x.x
    Owner since: 5 years
    Price: ~ 250̈́
    User profile: Amateur

    Cons: Longitudinal CA in OOF areas, lens hood a bit difficult to attach (especially reversed), \"strange\" change in tension when turning the focusing ring quickly, rather aesthetic sunstars/flare resistance

    Pros: Size, sharpness (very good from f/2), overall look & feel

    Summary: Owning it for 5 years now and still liking it. Many of my favourite shots were taken with this lens. Great as a compact midrange telephoto lens on APS-C sensors.

  2. Fookus
    Fookus 19 February 2016, 13:46
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 94.208.x.x
    Owner since: 5 years
    Price: 250
    User profile: Amateur

    Cons: no close focus

    Pros: again a wonderful lens from SamYang; good for walkaround and portraits. Sharp and contrasty

    Summary: get one!

  3. Kiwi Jono
    Kiwi Jono 26 May 2013, 19:22
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 121.74.x.x
    Owner since: 1 month
    Price: US$259
    User profile: Amateur

    Cons: Mine sometimes purple fringes quite a bit in high contrast areas wide open (or nearly so). Otherwise no CA is noticeable

    Pros: Sharp wide open (center), best lens I have for bokeh, good colours, nice focus action. Cheap feeling hood but perfectly functional. Has "A" position and supports auto exposure modes on Pentax.

    Summary: Lovely lens and really getting to like it. Yes focus takes a bit to get used to with the very narrow DOF but I don't think most AF lenses would be that accurate anyway (from what I have seen). I like the feel of the manual focus - firm enough that it does not move on you if you supporting the lens by the focus ring. No problems with sticky aperture (so far anyway) on my copy. However I do see quite a bit of purple fringing at times. Amazing value for money!

  4. Arninetyes
    Arninetyes 11 March 2012, 15:12
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 99.130.x.x
    Owner since: 1 year
    Price:
    User profile: Amateur

    Cons: Sticking aperture blades When stopped down, not as good as competition

    Pros: Excellent IQ, nearly wide open Excellent bokeh No distortion

    Summary: Generally, I'd rate this lens higher, if I didn't get a bad example. First: image quality is excellent when nearly wide open, and still very good when stopped down. Bokeh is superb--certainly the best of any lens I have, and better than Nikon manual focus 85mm. Unfortunately, my copy has sticky aperture blades that stick wide open when trying to stop it down. This happens about half the time resulting in sometimes wildly overexposed images. Sadly, there seem to be quite a few copies around with sticking aperture blades. As long as you get a good copy, enjoy it! However, quality control seems to be more of a problem than it is with other 3rd party lenses, like Tokina.

  5. Martin
    Martin 13 September 2011, 22:39
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 82.75.x.x
    Owner since: 1 month
    Price: 275euro
    User profile: Semipro

    Cons: No AF.,

    Pros: Very sharp,even full open.Very low priced.good build quality.Ate 1.4 very usefull .It was cleary designed and build and focusest for portret and full opening usening.

    Summary: Center and corner sharpning almost the same ,whitch it makes it very usefull for portret and low light fotography which it ofcource ment to be fore.

  6. Alexander
    Alexander 3 February 2011, 15:48
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 80.94.x.x
    Owner since: 1 year
    Price:
    User profile: Semipro

    Cons: Nice bokeh. Sharp fully opened. Not prone to doubling of lines. Convenient focusing ring with enough movement.

    Pros: There is no automatics of any type for Sony mount. There could be at least automatic lens mimics chip (as exist for all adapters). Automatic aperture control would be preferred. Lens contrast falls down if opened against light even with shade. Diaphragm blades are not circular - it is seen starting from f2.8 in light spots. MDF could be less than 1 m. Bokeh can have rather sharp out-of focus lines in some conditions. Green (far field) and purple (close field) fringing in out-of-focus areas.

    Summary: Samyang 1.4/85v is a great lens for the money. If one is ready to struggle manual focusing and aperture, that lens is a very nice portrait lens. The pros above could be significant if the lens cost several times. They are mostly a sign to the company as a request for improvements.

  7. Alexx
    Alexx 12 July 2010, 18:25
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 89.123.x.x
    Owner since: 6 months
    Price: ~250 eur
    User profile: Semipro

    Cons: The manual focus is killing me... Although I found out a way to focus using the live view finder + digital zoom, it takes way too long to take a shot. (not sure if this is a con... but if you get the focusing right, every photo is a master piece... regardless if you're a good photographer or a guy that never held a camera in his life)

    Pros: Astonishing restuls. Basicly you can point it on any garbage and you'll get a work of art.

    Summary: It's an amazing lens... but currently I'm researching for an autofocus alternative for it.

  8. Asd
    Asd 8 December 2009, 23:33
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 212.80.x.x
    Owner since: 3 months
    Price: good
    User profile: Amateur

    Cons: Cheap lens hood and lens caps, flare prone lens, little bit of CA wide open in extreme conditions, huge (1,2m) minimal focus distance

    Pros: good build- lot of metal and glass, optically strong perfomer, sharp wide open, nice bokeh, price

    Summary: It is very good lens with some weak points. There will be problem to shoot shoulder-head portraits with fullframe camera due to big MFD. On APS-C cameras it is real gem.

  9. Alexander Rabtchevich
    Alexander Rabtchevich 8 December 2009, 13:50
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 80.94.x.x
    Owner since: 3 months
    Price: 320 USD
    User profile: Semipro

    Cons: Not-circle light spots starting from F 2.8, thought it is only visible at large prints MDF could be less The cap is difficult to put on and off if the shade is put on Once the diaphragm stopped moving while the ring moved, but it has gone

    Pros: Very good optical quality. Nice picture, very suitable for portraits, pleasant backgrounds Good sharpness Comfortable focusing ring with enough moving path

    Summary: Very good lens. Fast, sharp, with a nice bokeh. The closest competitors (though with AF) cost several times higher. Some wishes to Samyang: there are two things I miss all the time. The first is a PCB to tell the camera the lens is on. Sony cameras only shoot in M mode with lenses without a chip, so the built-in camera stabilization doesn't work either. If the manufacture start to sell the chipped fitting flange to customers who already have bought the lens I will be happy! The second wish requires lens re-design. If it is impossible to control aperture from the camera, the lens could have a dedicated ring (or button) for instant diaphragm closing from 1.4 to selected aperture. Such design was used in some M42 lens before they obtained automatic diaphragm.

  10. Sam Jackson
    Sam Jackson 29 August 2009, 03:42
    Build quality
    Optical quality
    Value for money

    Overall

    IP 58.96.x.x
    Owner since: 3 months
    Price: $420AUD
    User profile: Semipro

    Cons: lens flare, slight CA wide open, minimum focus distance is huge, circular aperture is gone by f/3.5

    Pros: focus ring is perfect, usable wide open sharpness and extremely sharp by f/2.8, neutral colours, nice weighting

    Summary: build quality is much higher than i expected, especially the focus ring, it has a nice oiled feel. . . like a proper old lens. no matter what the numbers say, this lens is extremely sharp in the real world, comparable to my carl zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 even. very happy with this purchase! for the price i could not think of a better bang for your buck lens!

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