Other: Samyang/Rokinon Primes any good?

Nirv

Nirv

Carbonite Member
I sold on all my Nikkor AIS primes because I wasn't using them on my FS100 and at the time there was no indication Sony were going to release the FS7, so...

I was looking at buying some good examples of Nikons fast primes again then thought I should take a moment and look at what else is out there. I see a lot of people in other parts of the forum mentioning Samyang/Rokinon primes so I wondered what the consensus is about their quality. I'm looking at 16, 24, 35, 50, 85 in the their "cine" VDSLR guise in F Mount.

They're all quite fast but are they built well? Are they cheap crap that should be steered clear of? Does anyone have any other suggestions like get the Nikkor Primes again?

I should mention that video work forms only a small part of what I/we do and don't do enough to warrant investing in serious Cine Primes of any description so I'm looking at some reasonable DSLR glass primes for the FS7.

TIA for any info.
 
If you are changing an entire system, is Nikon mount the best choice? Just wondering if the shorter EF might be better since you can then adapt out to Nikon for a specialty lens like a tilt/shift. There may not be a wrong answer to this, but something to think about before purchase.
 
I have the Samyang 24 and 35mm lenses and have been quite happy with them. They are really, really good for the price.

The Samyang 24mm isn't really usable any wider then f2.8 so I often use a NEX to EF Speed Booster + Samyang 35mm together if I need a 24mm field of view with a fast f-stop.

EF system is very popular so I would also maybe suggest you look into that instead of Nikkor. I use a collection of Canon FD and Samyang lenses for narrative work and they cut together very well and have about the same quality to my eye.

For quick turnaround and doc work I also have a 24-105 f4 Canon IS that's really handy working quick and with a speedbooster it becomes a f2.8. You see this combo used a lot with the E mount Sony cams.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I should've also said, I kept my Nikkor Zooms which is why I wanted to stay with F Mount if possible.
 
Don't do that (if you can avoid it). Those adapters are a nightmare to get off, and make iris changes a lot more awkward than you'd like.
 
Some of the Sam/Rok lenses are better than others.
Some are really good - others you'd pass on.
The 16mm is well reviewed as one of the better primes in that focal length.
The 50mm gets a lot of people saying it's 'average'.
 
Last edited:
I think for the price they are decent, but you definitely get what you pay for compared to say... Zeiss ZFs (Nikon Mount).

I had the Rokinon 35mm f1.4 and the thing I disliked about it the most is that it has a mild, but noticeable, yellow cast over the image. I ended up selling the Rokinon and got a set of Zeiss ZFs which cost way more.

Mechanically, Rokinon are decent / OK but nothing even close to Zeiss ZFs, which also have a nicer color rendition IMO (but I really like the Zeiss look so I'm biased).

So yeah, for the money they are pretty decent, but if you can afford the good stuff, I would go that route.

Pros against the Zeiss ZFs is that the Rokinon rotate the correct way while the ZFs rotate the Nikon way. For me, that's not a huge deal as I can quickly adjust my brain but for others they don't like that.
 
BTW - I shoot all Nikkor Ai-s and manual lenses and it has taken a lot for any of the Sam/Roks to convince me.
But I do absolutely like the look of the 16mm and the 85mm.
 
Had some a while back before getting Canon zoom.. in a nut shell..and I think you,ll find the common opinion is.. for the price the optics are amazing.. and the build is "good enough".. at 1.3/4 they will be softer than more exp lenses but at 2.8 they will be the same.. sounds ideal for your needs.. and all manual .. light weight..
 
DPStewart said:
... They have an entirely new CINE line coming out in a week - we don't know specifics yet, but don't buy anything until these hit first.

http://bmcuser.com/showthread.php?1...the-day-when-things-change-in-cine-lens-world
Click to expand...
These seem on a different price/performance level entirely.

FWIW, I've long thought that the Cine lens market has been incredibly overpriced compared to the high end photo/stills market. These look to be striving for the Zeiss level quality for half the price. From the business perspective, this has been the MO for the Koreans companies from Samsung to LG to Hyundai - enter on the low end and slowly keep working your way up in quality and pricing.
 
DLD said:
These seem on a different price/performance level entirely.

FWIW, I've long thought that the Cine lens market has been incredibly overpriced compared to the high end photo/stills market. These look to be striving for the Zeiss level quality for half the price. From the business perspective, this has been the MO for the Koreans companies from Samsung to LG to Hyundai - enter on the low end and slowly keep working your way up in quality and pricing.
Click to expand...

Yeah - nevermind. These lenses are going to be $2,500 each.
 
Last edited:
Greg_E said:
But will they drive the price of the cine DS lenses down?
Click to expand...
Unlikely, as this is positioned well above the DS series.

PS. It's too bad Tokina is the only affordable cine zoom manufacturer. Hypothetically speaking, a lens is a lens is a lens and, if it can be rehoused by a third party mod, it can be done by the OEM as well.
 
Greg_E said:
If you are changing an entire system, is Nikon mount the best choice? Just wondering if the shorter EF might be better since you can then adapt out to Nikon for a specialty lens like a tilt/shift. There may not be a wrong answer to this, but something to think about before purchase.
Click to expand...

You have this back to front? You can adapt Nikon to Canon but not the other way round. Thus basing on Canon rather than Nikon can be a mistake, as you're limiting the maximum range you can adapt your lenses to in the future.
 
Also,but not so relevant to the OP: Rokinon is releasing 24/50/85 in PL Mount, but at a planned RRP of two and a half grand, I feel Sony's PL lenses make more sense, or even waiting on SLR Magic to start to fill out their PL range.
 
IronFilm said:
You have this back to front? You can adapt Nikon to Canon but not the other way round. Thus basing on Canon rather than Nikon can be a mistake, as you're limiting the maximum range you can adapt your lenses to in the future.
Click to expand...

No, you got it reversed or probably it's a misunderstanding. He is talking about the mount (on the camera, NEX to EF adapter like metabones or other). If you have the Canon mount you can use Nikon primes with Canon adapters on it because the FFD (flange focal distance) of Canon EF is shorter than Nikon F, you could of course also use Canon EF lenses on it. You would not be able to do it other way around if the Nikon mount on the camera was your base (you'd be able to use Nikon lenses only or lenses whose FFD is longer than Nikon F).
 
He is referring to what lenses to buy, thus I assume a reference to "Nikon mount" is on the lens Mount side not the camera mount.

And I'd in general advise against buying Canon lenses and to instead base it around Nikon.
 
Nirv
I think SamRok lenses are OK, you will be amzes at how plastic and light they are!

Particularly interesting are designs that have come to play since the golden era of manual glass.. ie those that only cover S35 eg the 16.

Be aware they focus the other way from your nikons.

Personally Id get 35/50/80 in nikon and consider a 16 and 28(?) from SamRok,

18 20 24 nikkors are a bit precey now.

More usual in the sub 18mm end is the Tonka 11-16

Im doing OK with my 10-24 Tonka

Of course it is worth considering the speed boosted options which basically make a 24 'wide enough'

S
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top