F3: Rokinon 16mm

S

Shoots56

Carbonite Member
I didn't know they made this wide of a prime. Has anyone tried it? I used a 35mm Rok the other day on the F3 and was very surprised. In fact I'd put it up against a CP any day while saving HUGE money. I know the build quality isn't the same but I could buy a whole set of these things for less than one CP.

Back on topic, does anyone happen to know how this 16mm holds up as far as distortion goes? 16mm can be really useful but not if it's fish-eye looking.
This is only $500 btw. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rokinon-16m...29087059?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item43c2af7353
 
Shoots56 said:
I didn't know they made this wide of a prime. Has anyone tried it? I used a 35mm Rok the other day on the F3 and was very surprised. In fact I'd put it up against a CP any day while saving HUGE money. I know the build quality isn't the same but I could buy a whole set of these things for less than one CP.

Back on topic, does anyone happen to know how this 16mm holds up as far as distortion goes? 16mm can be really useful but not if it's fish-eye looking.
This is only $500 btw. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rokinon-16m...29087059?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item43c2af7353
Click to expand...

They also make a 14mm cine and an 8mm cine fisheye in a couple of verions. The 14mm has a lot of distortion. The 16mm came later and is faster and has less distortion. It seems along the same lines as my Tokina 11-16 at 16mm, but faster.

The latest version of the 8mm fisheye is sharper than the first one but its slow at f3.8. Its good for skater movies and landscapes but really is a specialty lens. But when you need it, it creates some really interesting shots.
 
There are quite a few people on the major video camera forums that are chomping at the bit to get these Rokinon cine prime lenses. I suspect you will see user reports as people get these lenses in their hands. Most of the lenses that have been released thus far have a high resolving factor but some suffer from a noticable amount of chromatic abberation but what you would expect for an inexpensive lens.

I have noticed an alarming trend with companies that seem to be rushing into the sudden increase in size for the lens market (both photographic and cinematic) that these superspeed style lenses although they open up to f/stops like 1.4. They often are soft at 1.4. So what is the point?

The Tokina 11-16 2.8 should not be ignored. It is the echelon of one of the top lens designs for fast zoom lenses that are also considered rectalinear... which is quite a feat for an 11 to 16 zoom lens. Tokina recently issued a MK II of their hallowed lens.
 
Hi,

i own Rokinon/Samyang 85,35,24,and as a christmas present now the 16mm in vdslr.
there is some distortion, but the lens is sharp and fits the others in color reproduction...
i was using a Sigma 10-20 3.5 - which i like for extreme wide angles - but will be using the
16mm for convenience of lens gears and focus throw most of the times now...

i like the Rokinons because you can't get more "manual" lens for the money anywhere else -
especially the VDSLR versions with gears.
(bought some vintage nikon zooms as well on ebay and will give them a try soon,
but they surely will not be as sharp)

the only other tempting lens for me at the moment would be a GL Optics rehoused
Sigma 18-35 1.8... Checked this one out at IBC and rehousing is very very well done

I also checked the Schneider FF Series there, beautiful (though they had them mounted
on a Canon 7d which was akward) , but as my Jobs are mostly Run'n'Gun
one man operating the cam a focus throw of 300 degrees is quite a lot...

so, get the 16mm - can't go wrong with that one...
 
AFAIK the 16 only covers S35 unlike the 14 which covers full frame

The 16 is therefore a less challenging design - I would therefor guess that if would offer good performance for the price..
 
Thanks I am going to buy one. 16mm for me is much more practical than 14mm IN GENERAL.

What's the point of a 1.5 lens that isnt perfect wide open? Aren't most cheaper or medium price lenses crap wide open? So what, close it down to a 2 o 2.8 and you are good. You have the speed if needed in a pinch, maybe not for a detailed wide or landscape but a medium or close shot that's a little soft is fine with me as I often like to filter those anyway.

But here is something else to consider. I used the Rok 35mm wide open for several shots to purposely flare out a very bright backlit scene. I had to open up to get enough exposure on faces but i noticed when doing this that the flaring and softness actually looked really good for this particular shot! What is great is that out of many shots that were thrown away for the commercial edit, almost all of the wide open, soft, flared shots were used because they had texture and weren't boring. I now keep that in mind as another tool to use. Crank up the ND, open up and let it flare. I'd post some grabs but it was all NDA stuff.

I'd love a tonika 11-16 but it has to be all manual and those are not cheap. I am very aware of them.

Yes that GOptics wide zoom is my dream lens right now! $3500 isnt bad but I cant do that right now. It looks amazing and is based on a proven piece of glass. If I had that thing I'd just buy a Rok 50 (when made) and 85 and call it quits and rent what might be needed beyond that.
 
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Haha,

that's exactly what we decided on our Garmin commercials...
the rokinons have a very distinctive flare, much more organic than some modern lenses
to my taste..

i can't also wait for a 50mm version!

wonder if sigma brings out some standard zoom lens like the 18-35, maybe a 40-85ish, then i'd probably
get them both from GlOptics...
 
Still no 50mm Rokinon? What's the hold up?

shoots56 - for "around" the same money you can get a Tokina 11-16mm instead of the fixed Rokinon 16mm. The Tokina 11-16mm is one of the best ultra wide zooms out there. (*Sorry didn't read your posts a couple posts back - you're right, the Tokina is not all around manual but that's speaking only about the iris which by default would be wide open to 2.8 on that lens. I've used both the MTF and Prolock adapter and it can stop down the lens no problem unlike Canon EOS lenses which are purely and 100% electronic. The Nikons as I'm sure you know can still have the iris manually controlled even on the newer DX lenses)
 
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krost-audiovisual said:
i can't also wait for a 50mm version!

wonder if sigma brings out some standard zoom lens like the 18-35, maybe a 40-85ish, then i'd probably
get them both from GlOptics...
Click to expand...

That's the biggest problem with the Rokinons. The 85 and 35 are good to great, the 24 is good, but there is no 50mm and they've been putting it off for years while releasing these less steller lenses like the 14mm and 8mm.

Sigma was rumored to be coming out with an 18-50 which would be great. One of the rehousing guys in Asia said he'd build them if Sigma does come out with it. Maybe after CES.
 
Did I hear it right that Sigma is one of the hold-out Japanese companies who refused to let manufacturing go to China? If so that's another reason I want their stuff. The stills guys have proven their quality for many years of course.

I have heard that the Sigma zoom is pretty sharp even at 1.8-2. True?

If I find a deal on a Duclos'ed Tokina I'll do it. I absolutely hate dealing with adapters and outside iris solutions... I get shivers even thinking about it! Eeeyyyick! :D
 
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I have the Rokinon series 24,35 and 85. I'm thinking of getting the 16mm too even though I have the tokina 11-16mm. There's two things to be aware of about these Rokinons.

1. They all tend to be very warm in coloration.
2. The barrel and gear rings are all plastic. Only the mount is metal. The geared rings aren't even a hard plastic.

But they are super cheap in comparison to other cinema primes. You get what you pay for, but at least this cheap set will allow you to be more flexible on pricing to clients and may last a few years of use.
 
Doctor Wu said:
2. The barrel and gear rings are all plastic. Only the mount is metal. The geared rings aren't even a hard plastic.
Click to expand...

A slight disagreement there. There is an external plastic sleeve over the metal interior, and even duclos gear rings (and many others) are plastic.
 
Shoots56 said:
If I find a deal on a Duclos'ed Tokina I'll do it. I absolutely hate dealing with adapters and outside iris solutions... I get shivers even thinking about it! Eeeyyyick! :D
Click to expand...

What kind of deal are you really going to find on a Duclos'ed Tokina that still isn't 7-8 times the price of a used plain old 11-16 like this one just listed for sale: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...116-11-16-mm-F-2-0-8-0-DX-AF-Lens-Nikon-mount ($400 OBO - I would seriously snag that)

That's a lot of extra money just for the sanity to have iris on a ring.
 
Well it doesn't have iris control of any kind so you are saying I should buy a lens that I have buy another odd, probably low quality, adapter for that only works on this lens out of my kit? Maybe I am missing something but what adapter and price are you talking about? When Im on a paid shoot I dont have time to f--- with junk and workarounds. If something cost me more than the time it takes to swap a stock F3 battery, it's not worth it most times.

The duclos may be $2900 used (deals that I have seen) but it is modified in other ways including geared rings, an alum housing, PL mount and reworking and tweaking the internals... that is worth something to me too.
 
Shoots56 said:
Well it doesn't have iris control of any kind so you are saying I should buy a lens that I have buy another odd, probably low quality, adapter for that only works on this lens out of my kit? Maybe I am missing something but what adapter and price are you talking about? When Im on a paid shoot I dont have time to f--- with junk and workarounds. If something cost me more than the time it takes to swap a stock F3 battery, it's not worth it most times.

The duclos may be $2900 used (deals that I have seen) but it is modified in other ways including geared rings, an alum housing, PL mount and reworking and tweaking the internals... that is worth something to me too.
Click to expand...

I should have been more clear but thought what I was saying was obvious.

Once you add a lens mount adapter you will have an iris control on the lens adapter itself. The MTF adapter is the cheapest ($350) reasonably built Nikon to FZ mount I am aware of which controls iris using the blue ring collar on the adapter. It doesn't have f-stop markings or click, but apparently most people de-click old lenses and light using a waveform monitor anyway. After that it's the Optitek Prolock ($900) which has iris control and also adds f-stop markings.

I own both adapters and have no regrets. I know some guys who have bought an adapter for each lens they own so they get the benefits of working with the locking of the native FZ mount on the camera.

In the end if you plan to build up a zoom lens kit entirely of Duclos lenses and have the money to do it then by all means go for it. I'm only pointing out is its the same glass at the end of the day and there are many people using adapters on "paid shoots" the same as you.
 
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NPLFZ(Nikon ProLock for Sny FZ) by OptiTek

NPLFZ(Nikon ProLock for Sny FZ) by OptiTek

yes we do :)
 

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