Samyang SY85MAE-N 85mm F1.4 Lens for Nikon AE

I purchased the Canon mount version for my Canon 6d and 5d Classic (Both are Full Frame bodies). Let me start by getting this lense's few bad bits out of the way.: 1) It is manual focus. This is neither good nor bad... It just "IS!" but this is the biggest thing to keep in mind. To me, manual focus is akin to a manual shift in an expensive Sports Car. Yes, it is true you could buy an automatic Carvette, Ferrari or Porsche... but Why? It's part of the driving experience to manually shift gears.... True, there is a learning curve ( You have to learn to drive a stick). True, you can't be lazy and let the car shift for you ( It takes extra effort ). and True, it is something extra to have to think about to get pleasing results... BUT, waaaay more gratifying and in tune with the machine. There is no doubt that the lack of auto focus (AF) makes this lens cheaper, but the optics and images you get from this lens are excellent. Price does not tell the whole story of quality, though. Carl Zeiss (Sony) makes a manual 85mm f1.4 for Canon, Nikon, and of course, Sony DSLRs; It rivals and in some ways surpasses Canon's $2,000 dollar 85mm f1.2L, but cost around $1,200! The fact that you can get Pro level photos from a sub $300 lens ( Samyang/ Bower/ Rokinon/ Walimax/ Vivitar... Same lens, different branding) is amazing. Positives: The Build Quality: is very good for this lens. It has a nice sized front element, not as large as the Sigma 85mm 1.4 or the Canon 85mm f1.2L, but large none the less. The mount, aperture ring and focus ring/scale are all metal and feel hefty. The optics in this lens are very good and there is a fair amount of glass in this lens. It is a very sharp lens and displays very little C.A., but does sometime exhibit color fringing, as most 85mm lenses will, given the angle of your shot, contrast, and lighting conditions. I'm no expert, but I think fringing may have something to do with reflections in the lens/lens coatings... or lack there of. There are, I think, 8 or 9 aperture blades which make for very creamy bokeh, isolation and background blur. The focus ring is well dampened, turns in the traditional direction, is wide and well textured (rubber). The aperture ring turns smoothly and clicks positively on F-stops, but 1 Neg. is that it goes from f1.4 directly to f2.0 skipping f1.8 all together... F1.8 is a favorite aperature of many of us. Negatives: Focusing- I would not recommend this lens for a crop sensor or Micro 4/3rds sensored lens. I own the Canon EF 85mm f1.8 and the Sigma 50mm f1.4, they both can manual focus ( On Full Frame Bodies ) fairly close to a subject, but this lens needs a good amount of distance to focus correctly... And that's on an FF camera body!! The lens hood is just OK, but does not fit well in reverse on the lens for storage. The lens cap is one of those sad, edge pinch affairs sometimes used by Canon... So you'll want to purchase a $5 or $6, 72mm center pinch cap and/ or lens hood with this lens. This lens sometimes over exposes bright whites and shiny objects in bright room light or sunlight, so a CPL or warming filter may also be in order for proper exposure and W/B, but again, I had this issue when I rented much more expensive 85mm Lg. aperture lenses, as well. Now here's the BIG negative that caused me to almost subtract a star and is hard to overlook... They only make a focus assist, EXIF data, focus beeping confirm chips for Nikon, and that one is $40 more than the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower version for Nikon without the chip. This is HUGE because when focusing at large apertures (Small F-stop numbers) the F.O.V. is so narrow it is hard to be sure of your focus, even with focus peaking, focus Mag. and other methods. The purpose of this little chip, is to give feedback back to the camera body so it knows how much exposure compensation, what shutter speed, and what focal range your subject is at. It also allows your camera to record EXIF data, like which lens you used, where you focused your shot, Histo, how much flash to use, etc. in addition to all that other Info., but MOST importantly it allows your camera to beep and light the in-focus lamp when you have achieved focus. This very important chip is NOT expensive. It should not cost $40 more for the Nikon version that has it. and It should be included on Canon, Sony, Pentax, etc. versions of this lens. So, here's what you can do. You can order this AF confirm chip from that site that starts with an E and ends in Bay, from Hong Kong/ China/ Japan (They only seem to be over seas! Lol) and wait a month for it to arrive, or you can purchase an adaptor that has this chip on it, from a U.S. seller off of Amazon. The adaptor is unimportant as long as it has the chip for your camera brand on it. Take a razorblade and carefully go under the chip to free it... Now you have the chip that you need. 1) remove the mounting screws from the back of the Samyang/Rokinon/ Bower lens mount, to avoid getting glue on the lens. 2) look at the back of an auto focus lens that you already have, and practice a few times placing it in the same location that you see on the back of your auto focus lens, then actually glue or double sided tape the chip to the mounting ring. There are Yout*be tutorials that show you how to install this chip. I installed this chip, and while it is not 100% accurate when you are manually focusing, it gets you very close. The problem with these chips are: 1) Almost all of them are preset to 50mm, although I think some can be programed to 85mm. 2) They will beep and light your focus dot eratically, not the normal two solid beeps. 3) The aperture will always read 1.4, you will only be able to change the aperture from the Aperture ring on the lens itself. Wheeew, I hope this helps you and doesn't scare you away. This really is a fantastic lens, and it produces beautiful photos on the level of the Big Boy brands.

I have been using this lens almost exclusively for approximately 7 months.A little bit about my photography: I am currently working as a semiprofessional portrait and wedding photographer. What this means to me is I am working for paying clients, but photography is not my main source of income. My main focus is individuals, but I have also shot couples and groups of three with this lens. That being said, I shoot on a crop sensor body which effectively makes this lens a 127.5mm equivalent. This makes it difficult to shoot groups larger than two or three.Build quality: This thing is a tank. While the outside is mostly plastic, the lens feels substantial and sturdy. I am not the type of person that needs to be able to build a house with my gear. Fully metal construction is not necessary for me, it may be for you. For my needs and purposes, the build quality is fantastic. The mount is metal and feels sturdy when attached to the body. Both the focus and aperture rings are perfect. I love the long throw on the focus ring. It is perfectly dampened to make getting focus much easier. With the focus confirmation chip for Nikon, getting acceptable focus at 1.4 or 1.8 is fairly easy.Image quality: Outstanding (see images and settings at the bottom of the review). The sharpness is really something incredible. When I nail focus, I can count individual eyelashes on someone from 30 feet away. Photos hold up very well to 1:1 inspection in Lightroom. Some people prefer lenses that are a little bit softer for portraits. However, I do like being able to rely on that sharpness when needed. I can always brush the face for a little more softness. As far as color rendition and contrast, take a look at the sample photos provided. My basic editing in Typically involves adding a touch of contrast and vibrance to photos. I also usually add 1/3-2/3 of a stop of exposure. Other than that, the colors you see are very close to what this lens produces when shooting RAW on the D7100. The bokeh is absolutely stunning as well. I prefer the background blur of a 50mm like the 1.8D which I also own, but this is still excellent. With the right background conditions, you can get some wonderful bokeh balls. I shoot a lot in sunny conditions and like to put trees in the background. They let small patches of light in and truly make for some stunning shots (see the first sample photo). Some of the negatives I've noticed: harsh lighting combined with an aperture of f/2 or below makes for some noticeable chromatic fringing.Let's talk about manual focus for a second. For moving subjects, you need to be good. I am not yet to that level. I rely on my Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 for weddings and do not yet feel confident taking this lens out for that environment. However, the engagement session or bridal portraits are where this thing shines. I was the amateur photographer that took hundreds of photos with auto focus lenses just because it was so easy. It definitely took a few months to get used to this lens. On paid shoots, I would worry that clients would think I didn't know what I was doing because I was not taking photo after photo, but instead bursts of 3-4 per set up. However, after getting some truly stunning imagery out of these sessions, I let myself relax and settle into the groove of this piece of glass. My recommendation is to take 4-5 shots while making micro-adjustments to focus. Then pick the sharpest at the end.Who is this lens for? It is for someone who wants to experiment with professional level quality but recognizes the steep learning curve and limitations of this product. It is for the photographer that really wants to dive into the technical aspects and have much more control over their photos. It is not for the parent who wants to shoot their kid’s sports game. It is not for someone looking for a walk around lens for family outings/vacations (look into something like the 18-200). There are absolutely limitations to this piece, but where it excels, it is incredible. If you understand those limitations and wish to put it to the use it was intended for, you cannot go wrong for $300.Aperture settings for sample photos:1: f/22: f/1.43: f/2.54: f/1.4 (you can see some chromatic aberration even after removal in Lightroom)

Manual focus is slow turning and precise. Good value for money very sharp. Infinity focus is not fantastic but a really good portrait lens.

potriat photo shooting

Great!!

I jumped on this lens when i saw it on amazon wearhouse deal (used) for 209$. I always wanted 85MM lens but its one of those focal lengths I use only for slow portraits outdoors or video. Samyang makes an AMAZING 85 autofocus lens which costs 800$ (sony mount) but I am not willing to pay for that price tag so after hearing good reviews for the manual focus version, i bit the bullet at 209$I dont use this 85mm focal length as often as my 55MM zeiss so I was willing to deal with manual focus because for video, i almost always shoot manual, and for outdoor portrait, i'm pretty OK with manual focus using sony a7-III focus peaking function (which works amazing btw).Build quality is just amazing. All-metal construction, totally solid tank-like feel. Metal mount. Aperture ring clicks for that affirmative feel. Focus ring is VERY well balanced with just enough tension to make a precise dial to focus -- not loose, not too stiff that it ruins MF on video. The weight's hefty but not too bad. Balances very well on the hand. I find it easy to carry.AF is dead simple with focus peaking on sony a7-III as i said. I do find it reasonably sharp wide open f1.4 on center and pretty good on corners as well but I think my 55MM zeiss lens is sharper across the field. I will use this lens mainly at f1.4 for portrait and f4-ish for video. One thing that is a bit annoying is the color fringing. You can see that on the third image visibly (no correction applied)... the white letters before and after the focal point show the purple and blue chromatic aberration. A bit hard to correct on lightroom IMO but doable via the MANUAL sliders in adobe LR. Bokeh is really buttery and pleasing at f/1.4.Overall at 209$ I'm over the moon for this buy. New pricetag isnt too bad either at 335$ but at that price now youre hitting 500$ mark where you can get an excellent off-branch AF 85mm (viltrox 85 f1.8) .I highly highly recommend this MF lens if you can find a deal here. If youre like me and use 85 rarely OR use it exclusively for VIDEO with MF, you really cannot go wrong with this. I cant think of anything bad other than the chromatic aberration issues (which is correctable with lightroom with one minute of correcting at post....happy shootingUpdate....If you're using this with Sony a7-iii , use MF magnification along side focus peaking ... It makes focusing wayyyy more sharp. Also make sure you goto settings for inbody stabilization and manually set the Ibis to 85mm. Makes in body stabilization set to proper amount for ultra steady shot. Images are sooo sharp with all of the camera assistance.Update.:.More I use this lens. The more I am really loving the value. If you learn to use MF , you're really going to love this lens. Excellent for even video

I got the lens for night sky photography. As the autofocus is not working anyway wiht night skies there is no problem for me that this lens only offers manual focus. The aperture of 1.4 was an important feature to me. The lens is still very light with 540 g compared to other lenses offering this max. aperture. The lens is delivered with a hood and a bag which is much appreciated. Even wide open the lens does not produce much coma as you can see in the first picture. One has to be careful focusing and I recommend rechecking once and a while. Even a very light touch of the focus ring can produce blurry pictures. The picture of the Andromeda Galaxy is cropped. Both pictures are processed jpg-pictures done just by the regular Windows Photo program. I used contrast to get a darker background. Advanced night sky photographers would get better results using RAW and a special program like Adobe photoshop or Affinity. The camera was a Canon EOS RP. The lens shows the distances for manual focusing and the range of sharpness according to the aperture one chooses at the focus ring. The handling is very smooth. I only had trouble to get off the rear lens cap when the lens was cold. If one uses the maximum aperture the picture on the monitor of the camera shows very well the brighter objects of the night sky. This is a big help for orientation.There is an even better lens on the market. It is the 85mm 1.2 lens. But it is almost triple the price and double the weight. It also includes a chip which gives electronic information to the camera. So you can see which lens you used and which aperture. But this is not so important for me and mainly because of the weight and the price I got the 85mm 1.4 lens.There is also a special 85mm 1.4 lens offered for the Canon R system. I did not get that one as it is longer and heavier and can only be used with the Canon EOS R or RP. The "regular" lens I use with an adapter on my Canon EOS RP and I can also use it with my regular Canon DSLR with APS-C sensor. So it is more versatile. For somebody who switches completely to the Canon R system this would of course be no issue.So after more than a couple of hundred pictures I can say that I am very happy with this lens.