Rokinon/Samyang 35mm f/1.4

Rokinon 35mm f/1.4 Auto Focus Lens for Sony E-mount Nex Series Cameras

I have always been scheptical over Rokinon/Samyang lense. Even more so for their autofocus lenses. At first I had rented the Zeiss 35mm f1.4 for a wedding. After getting home and looking at the photos, I was very disapointed at the reults of this lens at wide open aperture. I knew that for my 3 weddings a year it wasn't worth the price to me. And for my protraiture work I thought i could get away with a different 35mm. I was in love with my Sony 85mm f1.8 and I wished Sony had as similay quality 35mm f1.8 in their lens line up. No such luck at that time. The only options where the Sony 28mm f2 and the Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art. I had already owned the 28mm f2.8 and wasn't happy with it thus I really hand one option left. Buy the Sigma Lens.

The Sigma 35mm Art is fantastic. There is a good reason for all the hype. My problem with this lens is it was rendering much warmer tones that all my other Sony glass. After a year of use I got tired of this and I sold it. Even though in my heart I was still waiting for the Sony 35mm f1.8, I decided to take my chances with the Rokinon 35mm f1.8
I got the lens used and it was about 1/2 of what the Sigma lens sold for. This gave me some extra cash out of my Sony to drop in my Fuji kit and still retaing the 35mm focal length and even the f1.4 apperture.

Using the Rokinon 35mm f1.4 for a few months now. I think I have earned the right by now to pass some judgement.

First i have to say that the build quality is great. In my opinion the build quality is superior to 98% of the kit lenses out there. So far only one kit lens stands as an exception. The Fujinon 18-55 f2.8-4. Build quality is probably not the most important aspect of a lens but it's up there. My top two are image quality and autofocus accuracy/speed. So why did is start with build quality? Because before it can show you what it can you, you have to get your hands on it first and feel it. Moving on.

Autofocus is impressive. Maybe I set my expectations very low when I purchased this lens. All i can say is, that the autofocus of this lens is almoust par with Sigma, Sony and Tamron. I saw one or two more shots out of focus with this lens that I saw with the Sigma per photo session. Which is not bad given the savings.

Image quality is great. If you have ever used any Rokinon/Samyang lens in the past you probably know what the image quality is fantastic. There has been no compromise in image quality when adding the autofocus.

Price, currently the lens is on sale for $598 including the $200 discount from $798. Is it worth $798? No, I would get the Sigma again and deal with the color issues or the Sony 35 f1.8 that I keep dreaming of. Is it worth 598? Id have to still say no. For that find a used Sigma lens. You are probably asking yourself, but why? Well, the answer is in brand name, support, and value / depreciation. I think Sigma, Tamron and Sony lenses generaly maintain their value much better than Rokinon/Samyang products.