choosing an 85mm

D

dannyg1255

Active member
Hi I am currently looking for an 85mm to add to the collection and was wondering what everyone thinks of some of the cheaper lens. Or if anyone knows a good thread already started on the topic.
thanks!

Bower 85mm 1.4
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/614836-REG/Bower_SLY85C_85mm_f_1_4_Manual_Focus.html

canon 85mm 1.8
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12182-USA/Canon_2519A003_85mm_f_1_8_USM_Autofocus.html

Sigma 85mm 1.4
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/727169-USA/Sigma_320101_85mm_f_1_4_EX_DG.html

or

Zeiss 85mm 1.4
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/583976-REG/Zeiss_1677_838_Telephoto_85mm_f_1_4_ZE.html

or if there are any other suggestions. Thanks again!
 
I love my bower 85 the focus ring is very fluid feeling unlike the canon plastic on plastic feel..Never used the zeiss which I am sure is a perfect lens if you have the cash.
 
The best bang for the buck would be the Rokinon 85mm 1.4 which is around $250 and is the same exact lens as the Bower (Samyang makes them both). It's both fast and sharp and is perfect for video. If you want to do stills, the Canon is the best choice since it's the only one that has AF on it in that list. The money is no object choice would of course be the Zeiss ZF (the Nikon version) which will give you a manual iris ring making the lens the most portable among camera brands.
 
I'm not sure about the quality (just look on the-digital-picture.com or dpreview.com for reviews and quality/aberration charts.) but the Canon lens seems like the best deal, I wouldn't suggest wasting your money on the Sigma or Zeiss, as Sigma usually is crap and Zeiss is usually no better than Nikon. The Bower or Rokinon may save you a bit of money, but they don't have AF (which is not always reliable anyway, but comes in handy for many purposes.) As well, the Canon is also relatively cheap and actually looks the most professional body-wise out of all the choices, which is just another bonus.

P.S. I just looked on the-digital-picture and the Zeiss is a load of crap for how much it costs, and so is the Sigma. Bad news is that the Canon is just a hair worse than those two lenses, but not enough to make any difference and it especially doesn't make a difference that you should spend $1,000 on. Sadly, there's no example for the Bower, so I'd try to find that somewhere and see. So far, I'd pick the Canon hands down, but if you go with the Bower route, I'd consider just buying a $50 vintage 85mm prime, as they don't have AF either so why even spend as much as $400 on the Bower? Whenever you make a purchase, you really gotta weigh out the features and negatives to find the cheapest route, because lenses truly aren't what you should be paying much for in photography and filmmaking - you have to save that money for the things that truly don't have a cheap alternative.
 
Snapper123 said:
but if you go with the Bower route, I'd consider just buying a $50 vintage 85mm prime, as they don't have AF either so why even spend as much as $400 on the Bower?
Click to expand...
The Bower costs $250 not $400, and I am not aware of another 85mm f1.4 manual lens at this price range that is equally sharp @ f=1.4.
Could you please indicate me a $50 vintage 85mm prime? I'd really like to buy that ;)
 
I have owned both a Rokinon 85mm 1.4 (as Chris W mentioned, also branded as Bower and Samyang) and Zeiss Planar T 85mm 1.4. If you are also shooting stills, I think your best choice is the Canon for only about $100 more than the Rokinon. That way you get auto focus for stills. I have the Zeiss for two reasons. I first bought a Zeiss Planar T 50mm 1.4 and really fell in love with the feel of the focus and aperture rings...buttery smooth. Then I bought the Rokinon 85mm 1.4. The focus and aperture rings felt very stiff when compared to the Zeiss 50mm.

I found an amazing deal on a Zeiss Planar T 85mm 1.4, so I bought it and sold the Rokinon. I could not tell much of a difference in the image quality between the Zeiss and Rokinon and if I had to pay $1000 for the Zeiss, I would still have the Rokinon. If you really want to go down the Zeiss road look for older Zeiss Planar T lenses with the Contax mount made in W Germany. You can usually find them on Ebay for around $650, but even at $650 I don't see a $400 difference over the Rokinon.

As for a $50 vintage 85mm lens...I have never experienced a price like that. I have occasionally found a Nikon 85mm 2.0 for $200, but even at that price point, for $50 you can get a faster Rokinon. I just checked over at KEH and you can find a Nikon 85mm 1.8 in Ugly condition for about $100, that is if you are willing to settle for a lens in that condition.
 
I have the Rokinon (Samyang) 85 1.4. Surprisingly well built and great optical quality.
 
kostas said:
The Bower costs $250 not $400, and I am not aware of another 85mm f1.4 manual lens at this price range that is equally sharp @ f=1.4.
Could you please indicate me a $50 vintage 85mm prime? I'd really like to buy that ;)
Click to expand...

Seconded. It's amazing that with the deflation on most manual focus lenses, the 85's really kept their value. It was a bit of sticker shock seeing 30 year old 85mm lenses going for about the same price as their modern counterparts. Still I wouldn't mind snagging an old Takumar or Helios 85mm for the right price.
 
Vintage 85mm's tend to be expensive, the cheapest I've seen were in fact $40- back when Russian glass was just starting to be noticed. I picked up a couple of J9's (85/2) for $40- each, but nothing like that since. Everything else is much more like $150- on up.
 
Mark Von Lanken said:
I have owned both a Rokinon 85mm 1.4 (as Chris W mentioned, also branded as Bower and Samyang) and Zeiss Planar T 85mm 1.4. If you are also shooting stills, I think your best choice is the Canon for only about $100 more than the Rokinon.
Click to expand...

The Zeiss 85mm Planar is a beautiful lens. If I could find a deal on one I'd get it, but I shot a job with the Zeiss 85mm planar 1.4 and the Canon 50mm 1.8 side by side and the $100 lens image also looked great.
I also have a Bower 500mm I bought years ago for $100 only because it was so cheap, what the heck. It's a good lens for a hundred bucks, but I wouldn't invest a lot of money in a lens that is sold with so many different names on it. I've seen that same 500mm lens in about 3 or 4 other brands.
I would suggest the Canon 85mm 1.8 as a solid choice new with auto focus. I've been itching to get it myself when I have a little loose cash around (which doesn't seem to be so often these days).
 
First, all Sigma lenses are not crap. I am not a fan of their zoom lenses, but the primes I have used, the 30mm and 50mm, have been stellar. I think the 30mm F1.4 Sigma is THE BEST lens for the 7D, hands down, for the price and quality.

Now, all that said, I've not been able to get my hands on an 85mm F1.4 Sigma yet. I wanted to try one and check the color/resolving power to get something that matches more to my Sigma 30mm and 50mm F1.4. I can also say that I tried both a Nikon 50 and a Canon 50 1.8 that ran around $200 each and the Sigma blew both of them away. The Canon had so much CA wide open we stopped using it altogether (which was why I tried the Sigma in the first place).

I would say, AF aside, the Bower/Rokinson/Samyang is the best bet for the money. I own the Bower 85mm F1.4. After using it for 6 months, this is what I can say:

1) The focus pull is awesome. VERY SMOOTH.
2) It's manual focus, this only matters to me because I have an AF100 and am awaiting the Birger mount so I can use remote focus on lenses when on my crane. For all other work, it hasn't been a problem.
3) No IS. I say this because the 7D does get jello easily with the 85mm handheld. I use a blackbird stabilizer which really helps, but moreso, I try and lock down my 85mm shots or use a REALLY GOOD fluid head with the 7D.
4) Image quality is very nice.

Here is a video that mixes a lot of Sigma 30mm, 50mm and Bower 85mm. All super wide shots are either the Tokina 11-16 or the Canon 10-22. Specifically, the shot of the robot behind walks into frame as they hear a noise is the 85mm and the focus pull of the robot under the tarp later on. As you can see, the bower mixed in well with all the other lenses.

(There are some 300mm shots here and there, they are the nosiest ones).


(Parts I and II do not use the Bower as i did not have it yet)
 
No AF or anything... just an old "dumb" lens, but my favorite lens (of all the ones I own) is my Nikon 85mm F1.8

I picked mine up on ebay a few years ago for about $100. Something about it is just so pretty... even compared to my much-loved Nikon 50mm F1.4
 
Hi dannyg.

If you are aiming shooting video, you can buy the Samyang branded lens with confident (there is a click free smooth aperture edition too).
You are welcome to watch/download those test videos I did over a year ago with that lens+7d and decide if you like its quality.



Thanks.

Johnnie
 
Owen said:
No AF or anything... just an old "dumb" lens, but my favorite lens (of all the ones I own) is my Nikon 85mm F1.8

I picked mine up on ebay a few years ago for about $100. Something about it is just so pretty... even compared to my much-loved Nikon 50mm F1.4
Click to expand...

Agreed completely!! The Nikon 85 1.8 was the first manual lens I ever bought; about 2 years ago. Today, I have 8 lenses and only one has AF (the rest is a nikon prime set)

I am actually selling my 85 1.8 because I got an 85 2 with the lens set.
 
OPHERBA said:
Hi dannyg.

If you are aiming shooting video, you can buy the Samyang branded lens with confident (there is a click free smooth aperture edition too).
You are welcome to watch/download those test videos I did over a year ago with that lens+7d and decide if you like its quality.

Johnnie
Click to expand...

Beautiful shots.
Is the 2nd video shot wide open?
 
Snapper123 said:
P.S. I just looked on the-digital-picture and the Zeiss is a load of crap for how much it costs,
Click to expand...

That's because you have to get the Zeiss ZF Nikon versions. On photozone.de they test the ZE version (Canon mount) and the ZF Nikon version + aperture ring. Same lens supposedly, but the Nikon version had a far better IQ. They probably had to re-engineer it without the Aperture ring and it just changed the lens
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top