Rokinon AF 85mm F1.4 Auto Focus Lens for Sony E Full Frame

The Rokinon AF 85mm F1.4 AF lens is one of the most impressive pieces of glass I have ever purchased. I am delighted by the IQ from this lens, it takes some of the best pictures I've seen. The Bokeh is smooth and pleasing to the eyes.I'm primarily a landscape photographer with 20 years experience but I do shoot Portrait from time to time when I see friends or family struggling or over paying for shots. Because of this I decided to step up to a 85 1.4 from a 50 1.4.The differnce is night and day. The lens is fast and AF works great, I have no complaints about it's speed but I do not shoot moving subjects with it much. The pictures I have taken of friends and family have had people gasping at how great they've turned out.I've watched friends facebook posts of my photos blow up with likes taken with this lens. This is not the first Rokinon Lens I have purchased. Over the years I have purchased 4-5 of their lenses and I have never been let down.Pros:A good chunk of glassFastGreat BokehHigh IQGreat price for what you get!Build Quality feels solid with smooth actionCons:None!I'd wager this 85 competes in IQ with any of the best 85 lenses for a fraction of the price. If you want a 85mm AF lens in this price range or 3-500 more, buy this. Save yourself some cash, you will not regret this purchase!

I have now owned this lens for 3 months and have shot numerous weddings and portrait shoots with it. During that time I have also been able to compare the lens to the Sony 85mm 1.4 GM. All of my testing was performed on the Sony A7iii camera bodies and please keep in mind that using another camera body could yield different performance. Also, my impressions are from the perspective of a wedding photographer.To start with, image quality from the Rokinon (also sold as Samyang) is very good. In back and forth testing (and testing in different conditions) I believe the Rokinon/Samyang is a hair sharper in the center with the Sony GM being sharper in the extreme corners. I want to add that the performance difference is minimal and requires pixel peeping. I would not choose one lens over the other in regards to sharpness.Both lenses differ in terms of color. The Sony 85mm GM has a neutral color balance, whereas the the Samyang/Rokinon often gives a slightly warmer and magenta color tone. This difference is subtle but noticeable when comparing them side by side. I shoot RAW files and always edit my images for color. The Samyang/Rokinon lens delivers great colors (Some prefer the colors over the Sony) and I have not found any issues with editing images and ensuring colors are accurate. This would only be a factor if you're shooting to JPEG.Autofocus performance is the real discussion. Let me start by saying that I have not run into a scenario where using the Rokinon prevented me from getting an in focus shot. There is too much to discuss in detail so I am forced to summarize. For still subjects or objects both lenses act identically and neither offers any autofocus advantage over the other. For moving subjects (Tracking in APS-C or Eye AF) the Sony offers around a 5% advantage. For example, if I'm tracking a bride walking towards me, the Sony 85mm GM will achieve around 85% in perfect focus and the Rokinon will achieve around 80% in perfect focus. For video autofocus, I would honestly recommend the Sony 85mm 1.8 over both of these lenses. My final thoughts are that the Rokinon isn't perfect in terms of Autofocus.....but neither is the Sony 85mm. Both lenses work equally well in low light scenarios.There are many other things to consider: Flare performance, the Sony GM has an additional button on the lens, build quality, firmware updates, etc. These are all minor points that you should only consider if they are important to you.The final consideration (and one of the most important) is the PRICE. This Rokinon lens is delivering fantastic image quality and autofocus performance for a fraction of the Price of the Sony. The Rokinon isn't perfect, but neither is the Sony lens. This lens is fantastic, well worth the price and creates amazing images. I highly recommend people to consider this lens. As for me, I'm going to keep it.

I bought this as a portrait lens for my A7R3--mostly for outdoors natural light--and it delivers big time. Autofocus is not blazing fast, but it is pretty quick and very accurate (high keeper rate in burst mode). The lens is more than acceptably sharp wide open, but it's not clinical sharpness, which is nice. The lens sharpens up when you stop down, even just down to 1.8. Contrast is good. Bokeh is good. It's a good lens. I know many will be deciding between this and the Sony 1.8, and it think it comes down to this: get the Sony if you want a more compact lens with faster autofocus and maybe if you're shooting video (which I don't do and didn't test). Get this lens for literally any other reason. And, if you're a stills shooter like me, unless you're shooting action/wildlife with this lens (and you're not), you really don't need faster autofocus.--*--There were some stability issues that I thought were battery-related, but they were all completely fixed by the Version 3 firmware update. In camera it shows up as "Ver. 03". After regularly using the lens since the update, I have determined that my prior comments relating to stability are no longer useful, and I have deleted them. With the V3 update, this lens is absolutely perfect.--*--

I own close to 100 lenses and I've never had any issues. I had put this 85mm aside while I have been using other lenses. I recently pulled it out to shoot with it again and the MF does not work. You have to twist and twist and twist and maybe it'll focus. This really speaks to the build of this thing. I baby all of my lenses. It's never been dropped or damaged. AF is fine and snappy and IQ is gorgeous. I really like this lens but the build is cheap. And since I have not used it in a while then it did not occur from overuse. This really makes me 2nd guess my Rokinon/SY purchases. I also have most of the tiny series lenses and they are tack sharp. I recommend this lens because of the IQ but I recommend with reservation. I will not stop buying Rokinon, but if there is a competitor that is just as good for a couple hundred more than I'd rather go with Tamron, Sony, or Sigma who have better build quality and longer warranties. SY/Rokinon only have a 1 yr warranty.