Good day! I am currently have the 35mm 1.8 and am looking to buy the 85mm 1.4 made by Samyang/Rokinon/Bower. Is this a good lens for portraiture? Would this be a redundant lens for my camera bag if I have already the 35mm? Thanks in advance! :)
Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 & Samyang 85mm f/1.4 for portraiture
(14 posts) (9 voices)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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I'm a Newbee, but it depends. On a full frame perhaps, on a D5000 I would think not.
Posted 1 year ago # -
This range of lenses (all from the same maker by the way) are outstanding bargains. Way cheaper than the big name brands, and offer some very sharp pictures. I know of someone who gets really stunning landscape results with the 8mm f3.5 made by them, so if you don't mind the lack of automation with them - you have to turn the rings on the lens yourself - then these can be good deals.
Posted 1 year ago # -
As phxflyer noted, you don't say which body you have. On DX a 50-60mm might be a better focal length. The Samyang is not a bad lens and represents pretty good value for money.
Posted 1 year ago # -
The Samyang is a great lens, but without a split screen it's not very usable, especially on a dx viewfinder.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I actually have the D5000 for my body. Hmmm, seems like getting one for myself isn't a bad idea. :) They say that the Samyang is very hard to focus when set at f/1.4, is that true?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Gabbb said:
The Samyang is a great lens, but without a split screen it's not very usable, especially on a dx viewfinder.Manual focusing at 1.4 or even 2.8 without a split screen replaced into your finder is haphazard. You do not have much room for error. If I'm not mistaken metering is all manual on the 3xxx and 5xxx series. I'm not sure if the 7xxx manual metering. The D300 meters through the lens.
If you are very patient, have really good eye site, are fine with missing focus quite a bit and like the "look", MF can be used. If your primary goal is trying to save money, you may be very disappointed.
Katzeye optics sells focus screens for MF.
Posted 1 year ago # -
d7000 meters with AI lenses just fine. It's not just about good eyesight, these bright viewfinders just don't snap into focus, look always sharpish even not that close to being in focus. In live view you can easily get it into perfect focus on a d5000, if live view works with manual lenses on the d5000, that I don't know.
Posted 1 year ago # -
porsche_earl said:
Good day! I am currently have the 35mm 1.8 and am looking to buy the 85mm 1.4 made by Samyang/Rokinon/Bower. Is this a good lens for portraiture? Would this be a redundant lens for my camera bag if I have already the 35mm? Thanks in advance! :)Just talking from a focal length point of view: On DX (which I suspect you probably have), the 35mm is a 'normal' length lens and the 85mm a short telephoto so there is significant difference in that 85mm is pretty much the ideal focal length for portraits and the 35mm is too wide for close up portraits.
If portraits are your thing and you are on DX, get that 85mm and make it a 'D' Nikkor!
HTH.
Posted 1 year ago # -
>>If portraits are your thing and you are on DX, get that 85mm and make it a 'D' Nikkor! <<
On a D5000 better make it a AF-S nikkor, the "D" won't be any better than an AI(s) cause the d5000 does not have a focussing motor build into it...
The new nikkor AF-S 85mm F1.8 G does all that the samyang does on a D5000, gives you AF is not much more xpensive, and keeps its value a lot better and if you want to you can also manually focus with it.....
CA's & Loca's are much better controlled on the new nikkor i think.The Samyang 1.4 gives you 2/3 of a stop more, but fully open it's hard to focus precisely because of the razorthin DOF.
For adaptability the samyang wins because it has an aperture ring, and the Nikkor does not.For sharpness and bokeh you will not see a lot of difference betwene them..
So it mostly depends on oyur needs i guess..
Posted 1 year ago # -
I happen to be debating the same choices..
Right now I have a D5000 with a the Nikkor 35mm 1.8 AF-S lens..
My goal is a Nikon D400 with Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens (works out to 75mm on a DX sensor)
Of course the D400 is a paper camera at best, The Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D won't auto focus on my D5000.. so right now, I'm buying nothing...
But I have to say, I had someone take portraits of me and my kids with a D300 and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens and I was very impressed with the results.. of course technique had a lot to do with it.. but having the right equipment for the job helps..
Posted 1 year ago # -
Posted 1 year ago #
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phxflyer said:
I happen to be debating the same choices..Right now I have a D5000 with a the Nikkor 35mm 1.8 AF-S lens..
My goal is a Nikon D400 with Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens (works out to 75mm on a DX sensor)
Of course the D400 is a paper camera at best, The Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D won't auto focus on my D5000.. so right now, I'm buying nothing...
But I have to say, I had someone take portraits of me and my kids with a D300 and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens and I was very impressed with the results.. of course technique had a lot to do with it.. but having the right equipment for the job helps..
The 50 1.4d is not bad at all, but the 50 1.4g is better and the 50 1.8g even better than that and the later two would AF on your current non paper camera :D
It's all technique and post processing however and the 1.4d doesn't have anything special (or anything at all) over the other two.Posted 1 year ago # -
@porsche_earl, I don't think it's redundant. The 35mm makes for an excellent single focal length general purpose/walk-around lens. The 85mm would make for an excellent portrait lens with a decent length for some telephoto shots. The only thing I would suggest is to consider adding a little extra money to the budget and getting the new Nikon 85mm 1.8 G. Reportedly a pretty awesome lens, and it's at a good price.
I've read that the Samyang/Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 is actually underrated ( it's sharp at 1.4, creamy bokeh, good color rendition). If you get it be sure to get the one with the Nikon focus chip inside. I currently own the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens with the Nikon focus chip. I think I have practiced with that lens more than any other to learn where to acquire the best focus with regard to what the focus indicator is flashing in the viewfinder. It's either ">" meaning turn to the right, "<" which means turn to the left or "o" which means focused. BUT, I've learned the "best focus" is acquired with MY lens is when turning toward the left and the "<" is just flickering over to "o". If I wait til the "o" is solid then I've likely gone too far. A PIA for some, but I tested it against the $1,999 alternative and the Rokinon won me over (with less flaring to boot).
Anyway, if you get the Rokinon/Samyang (with focus chip) just work with it to learn it. Or just get the Nikon 85mm 1.8 G and have fun.
Posted 1 year ago #
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