Rokinon Tilt-Shift 24mm F3.5

Construction and Handling

This section will give you a complete tour of the lens, from every angle. The operation of the tilt and shift systems, as well as the lens rotation, will be presented in detail in the following section.

Front Element

The front of the lens is devoid of any markings or inscription. The glass element is strongly curved but does not protude beyond the lens body. The size of the glass itself is small compared to the external diameter of the lens.

The lens uses the 82mm filter thread size. This diameter is among the largest you will find for SLR lenses. As such, filters will be less common than smaller-sized equivalents, and more expensive.

Lens Body and External Focus

The body of the lens is mostly made of metal. The finish is smooth, lightly textured, and matches the texture of modern DSLRs like the K-3 or K-1.

It feels like a quality product. The lens cap is the regular pinch-type and attaches well. The aperture ring appears to be made of plastic, while the focus ring is covered with textured rubber. The buttons and knobs used to adjust the tilt and shift are made of plastic, and are the weakest link of the assembly. They get the job done but appear cheaper than the rest of the lens body.

There are numerous markings on the lens. Those are printed instead of engraved. Only time will show if this becomes a problem.

The bottom part of the lens is a square with rounded corners. The "front" face bears the lens name, focal length and maximum aperture. There are markings for the shift distance on both sides, as well as the knobs used to unlock the shift and move the mechanism, on opposed faces. Finally, one finds a repeat of the lens specs, as well as the "Tilt/shift" moniker on the back. There is also a small lever releasing the rotation of the whole lens relative to the mount. Another similar lever is placed higher on the body and is used to rotate the tilt mechanism independantly from the shift.

The tilting knobs are higher still on the body, next to a curved scale for the tilt angle. There are no numbers, just the scale itself.

Above the tilt-shift system, the Rokinon ressembles a regular lens, with a cylindrical barrel, aperture and focus rings. The first is the aperture ring. Since there is no communication at all between the lens and the camera, closing down the aperture has an immediate impact, visible in the viewfinder. The camera's aperture lever does not control the aperture of the lens. However, since the aperture does not remain wide open prior to taking the picture, the camera can operate in P mode, something not possible with K or M Pentax lenses. Indeed, closing the aperture has an immediate effect and the camera will adapt its exposure accordingly.

The aperture ring movement is smooth, maybe too much so. It is easy to change the aperture by accident. There are clicks at each stop and half-stop.

The main part of the lens shaft is made up by the focus ring, just above a red ring giving a touch of elegance (and a distinctively "Canon" look). The focus ring has a focus scale, both in feet and in meters. It is textured with a soft rubber. The movement of the focus ring is pleasant. The dampening gives a good feedback, with a comfortable amount of friction. The ring rotates just over 90° from infinity to 0.2m.

A depth of field scale is also present. While not a necessity with modern lenses, a distance scale has several usages: seeing the direction of close or infinity focus at a glance and achieving a rough estimate of the focus distance, for instance. In this case, the scale is purely cosmetic. First, it is very small, like it's an afterthought. Second, it will only be visible when the lens is straight. third, in the lens' natural position (with the knobs on each side, to allow vertical movement of the tilt and shift), the distance scale is not facing up but left, making it mostly invisible.

The lens extends only slightly when focusing towards closer distances, extending by less than 5mm. The following animation illustrates all the movements possible with the lens.

The focus ring comes to hard stops at both ends of the range.

The 24mm tilt-shift is a large lens, especially for a prime. It is heavy but not overly so. On a K-1, it feels well balanced. The large focus ring means that it falls easily under the hand. 

Aperture

The 24mm tilt-shift uses 6 straight aperture blades.

Lens Mount

The lens mount is metal, and it lacks any mechanical or electronic features. Even the aperture lever is missing. When mounting the lens, the camera will request the focal length value to be manually entered. Note that SR might not work properly when the lens is shifted or tilted. Using a tripod is recommended.

One of the reasons why the lens is so large (especially compared to a DA 21mm Limited of FA 28mm) is because the optical elements are deeply recessed inside the body.

This is necessary to allow the lens's tilting and shifting, of course. The diagram below illustrates which portion of the lens will move.

Lens Hood

The lens does not feature a lens hood. The only way to attach one, if desired, is to find a third-party screw-in lens hood with a 82mm thread diameter.

Compared to Other Lenses

Here is the Rokinon 24mm tilt-shift next to the Pentax HD 16-85mm lens.

Attached to Pentax Cameras

The images below show how the Rokinon 24mm tilt-shift looks when mounted on a Pentax camera.

Verdict

The Rokinon 24mm tilt-shift is built with a good level of quality. The body is mostly made of metal, with a solid feel. When locked in place, the moving parts are tight and show no movement. The focus ring is pleasantly smooth and accurate. The aperture ring is easier to move than we like.

While not a luxury item, the Rokinon can hold its own well next to solid, film-era manual lenses. It should perform well for many years to come.