Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens for Canon EOS 40D 50D Rebel

The Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Manual Focus Lens is an ultra-bright lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.4. Although you can only use this lens in manual focus mode, it is fully compatible with the automated features available with digital SLR cameras. It is compact and lightweight, and offers the ideal focal length and bright aperture for use as a portrait lens.

Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens for Canon EOS 40D 50D Rebel T1i XT XTi XS XSi Digital SLR Cameras

Features

• 85mm f/1.4 Manual Focus Lens is an ultra-bright lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.4.
• It is compact and lightweight,

User Reviews

First of all, there is no point to compare this manual lens that has really fast F/1.4 aperture with autofocus lens or Canon F/1.8 lens. Depth of field is so narrow at F/1.4 that focusing is almost impossible without Live View and tripod. Another very simple and cheap solution is to glue a focus-confirm chip to the lens to get a reliable focus confirmation (light and beep). It's a shame that Rokinon didn't do that from the start. Taking into account the only use of this lens as a portrait lens, manual focus is not an issue due to steep price of Canon 85/1.2 and lack of 85 F/1.4 Canon lens. Nikon do have such 85 F/1.4 beauty at price 5 times that much. I was waiting for Sigma 85 F/1.4 but there still no reviews and you have to wait 6 months more to be able to buy it at a real, not introductory price.

I based my choice on professional reviews and Flickr sample photos of all comparable lenses. I was convinced when checked the bokeh quality of Rokinon comparing to Canon 85 F/1.8 and read favorable review of Ken Rockwell who generally doesn't even touch third-party lens. Don't have much personal experience with other 85mm lens (besides venerable and considered good Minolta MD Rokkor 85mm F/1.7 lens that is priced slightly above Rokinon. Please note that Rokkor requires some skills(and money) to be permanently converted to EOS).

Other brands of the same glass (afaik): Vivitar, Bower and more!

Focus: it's easy to achieve by using Live View with magnification and tripod or focus-confirm chip. You could stop a lens down to 2.0 to achieve more DOF to ease the task.

Metering: Camera should be in Av to auto-meter. My Rebel XTi do not meter correctly with any manual lens when stopped down to more than 5.6. Not an issue as I need f/1.4 - f/4.0 only. My Elan-7 do not meter correctly at all. Later film models AFAIK are free from this fault.

Build/Feel: not up to the level of manual-focus lenses of good old times, more like entry-mid-level Canon glass (just my opinion)

Sharpness: Little soft to my taste when wide open (and comparable to Rokkor at F/1.7), VERY sharp stopped down starting from F/2.0. Common phrase but that is it. You could sharpen final image shot at F/1.4 in Photoshop, but I like DxO output more.

Aperture: the aperture ring is marked in full stops from F/1.4. Have half-stop clicks between f/2 and f/16, but no half-stop between F/1.4 and F/2.0. It stops down to F/32. Is it just me, but ring is located inconveniently. No way I can adjust it by feel. I understood that maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 of entry-level SLR is limiting when I bought this lens ;-)

Color: Worm, creamy at f/1.4, normal when stopped down. Strange dependency on aperture but colors are good anyway, they are better than cold cast of Minolta Rokkor 85 mm/1.7.

Filter Threads: Plastic. Hood is cheaply made, but I do not use it anyway.

Summary: Definitely not a lens for actions. I use my 70-200 2.8 for that. Wide open could be used only in controlled environment. 85mm (135 mm on a cropped sensor) just has some magic for portraits. They seem almost 3D. Actually I've made my best photos ever with this lens. It is worth every cent.
-- My first manual focus lens after 20 years break

The Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens is awesome. The quality of the lens is heavy duty. It feels good and solid. Apart from the lens, the cap really feels cheap, and replacing it is a must, I worried that the lens cap can wiggle itself loose and scratch the glass part of the lens. The hood is another thing that is crap, you can't put it on unless the cap is taken off, and it only goes in one way and it is not reversible.

This lens is basically manual focus + aperture, there is no electrical contact with the camera. It does not know what aperture it is in, which makes it difficult for the camera's light metering. Somehow it falls between -2 stops or ev to -0EV. I usually start with -1EV. Its fun messing with the aperture, and watching the blades close and open up.

A bad thing about using any manual focus, is that you have to manually focus yourself. Trying to focus with f/1.4 is a lot harder than I thought. I'm usually .25 to .5 of an inch off where I need to focus, and that enough to ruin the picture. I'm getting the focus screen ee-s hopefully it can help. I uploaded some pictures shot with canon 5d. enjoy!

Update: 6/18/10
I got an Ee-S focus screen and highly recommend it. Focus ability has possible, it will take me 2-3 seconds to find a good focus on the subject. Even shooting at 1.4, focusing is no longer an issue. In fact, focusing becomes even easier than smaller aparture(a number higher than 2.8) because more light allow you to find a good focus and look at the details and sharp edges.

Update: 7/26/10
I installed a AF-confirm chip and gotten results close to electronic focus. This thing now rocks. Good thing I didn't get the 1.8.

Don't be afraid of Manual focus, in low light situation, you're gonna have to switch to manual focus anyway. Ee-s is a must with manual focus. Its $35 but you'll be glad that you have it.

BTW with this lens, it encourage the photographer to shoot more in manual mode over AV mode, because with manual you can achieve more consistent results rather than relying on the meter to do the job for you. I'd say let the meter start you off, and then go from there.

This lens also make walk-around a fun learning experience. Initially I thought about returning it for the canon 85mm 1.8 because without the Ee-S focus screen, this lens is close to impossible to work with. But after getting the Ee-S screen, I had so much fun with it that I decided to keep it instead. Definitely worth the money. The pictures are absolutely stunning.

-- Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 (Canon)

This lens really is a gem! It is remarkably sharp wide open as long as you focus accurately. The focus ring is a little stiff, but works very smoothly with no play at all. Lens build is pretty solid, only the lens cap and hood feel kind of cheap. Bokeh with this lens is gorgeous, even stopped down. Be aware that this lens has manual aperture, and is not chipped, so there is no communication between it and the camera. That means you get no focus confirm and no f stop setting will appear in camera or in the EXIF data. I'm not sure why, but in my case on my 5D it shows as 50mm focal length in the EXIF. I've seen programmable focus confirm chips adverstised for this lens on E-Bay, but have no idea how well they work.

Mark -- Rokinon 85mm f/1.4

very good product. Focusing is so-so as the turn is a long one (very damp not like canon).

Sharpness is very high! -- Sharp as the best of them

This lens far exceeds my expectations. Although the lens is manual, there is the ability for metering the exposure. To obtain critical focus, use the features on your Canon, and the image will be sharp.
***Look at the photos I've posted using this lens. For the price, you can't go wrong.*** -- Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens