| Author: | | New Member Registered: November, 2021 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: October 13, 2022 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: N/A |
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I understand that Rokinon/Samyang are the same company, just branded for different markets or companies. I believe there are other names as well.
I can buy either brand name of the same lens on Amazon, so which one is intended for the US market? Does it matter? I just want to make sure I buy the one that will have the warranty designed for my market.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2019 Location: Paris Posts: 23 | | Review Date: August 27, 2022 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | outstanding sharpness lens | | Cons: | size and hood | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1 II
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This lens is outstanding. I've bought it for less than 400 € new on a belgium site.
It is smooth to (manual) focus and unbelieveble sharp.
It is bvery big but for th result you will forget it ! | | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2019 Posts: 3
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 27, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super sklo,ve všech aspektech,ostrý jak břitva. | | Cons: | Snad jen velikost a váha. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5IIs
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Skvělý objektiv. Použitelný i na clonu 1.4. Jsem naprosto spokojen. Můžete se podívat na první zkoušku.... https://www.zonerama.com/Jindras/Album/5569182 Velmi doporučuji !!!
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: June, 2011 Posts: 485
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 14, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $175.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | image quality, build quality, sharp, large aperture, versatile | | Cons: | heavy, large, hard to find used at a good price | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: Pentax K-1, Pentax K-3
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Bottom-line: I think this lens is excellent. So fun to use, great results, great focal length for environmental portraits, travel, landscape, night sky, etc. If you can find this lens at a good price, I would recommend it.
I was able to snag this at what I considered a good deal (sub $200), and since I have enjoyed my other lenses by this brand I thought it would be worth a try.
The image quality is very, very nice. Images are sharp and clear, good performance wide open on the edges even. It's surprisingly easy to manual focus through the view finder. This is my favorite focal length, and paired with the large aperture it makes this lens very versatile for all sorts of shooting situations and looks you are going for. I prefer it on full-frame to get the wider look, but it works well on APS-C as well.
The downsides are as others have mentioned. It is large and heavy. This is particularly important when you consider somewhat similar lenses at the 35mm focal length and f2 that are much, much more portable. With the shooting I have done I determined the image quality and larger aperture difference is significant enough to warrant the extra size and weight. That being said, some of the smaller 35mm f2 lenses are not a slouch, and especially if you don't need the larger aperture and are stopping down to 5.6 anyway would be very comparable.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2007 Location: Prevost, Quebec, Canada Posts: 508
5 users found this helpful
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: September, 2015 Location: Berlin Posts: 128
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 28, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $220.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, IQ, price, looks professional :) | | Cons: | a bit heavy, no autofocus | |
It is my overal favorite lens !
I still have the 16mm / 35mm / 85mm and the 135mm Samyang/walimex and I will not miss one of them.
The 35mm is my All-Time-Favorite Lens for most Scenes.
It is perfect for landscape, Architecture and for Portrait also.
Perfect lens for Landscape Panorama Pictures.
Yes, it misses autofocus and it would be nice to have it, but I never missed it when Shooting pics.
The sharpness is Incredible, also the bokeh.
You will find some cheap used lenses in the bay or Maybe here.
If not buy a new one.. You will love it !
It is a bit heavy, but cause of ist size and your Manual focussing you look very professional
Greetings,
Milka
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: August 28, 2018 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp with great bokeh, affordable for an f/1,4 lens | | Cons: | Very big, too heavy | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: A7
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Bought the lens but finally returned it because it was too big and very heavy. It is not much bigger than 85mm f/1,4 but beware, it is much heavier. Build quality seems better thought.
I like 35mm focal lengh a lot and I was looking for an everyday lens... Well, not the right pick.
I tested it, sharpness was great and bokeh excellent, very smooth, really loved the rendering. Buy it if you're looking for a 35mm bokeh lens and have enough muscles to handle it !
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: May, 2016 Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 29, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $330.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | 3D render, colors, IQ, bokeh, price, sharp | | Cons: | none (a tiny CA wide open in sunny day) | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K500
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I LOVE THIS LENS, well made, solid construction and focus ring smooth. The only thing quite annoying is when the aperture ring is not set to aperture mode it's quite uncomfortable.
The IQ is amazing, very sharp (even tack sharp at wide apertures), the coma and purple fringes (common with fast lenses) is absent, tiny chromatic aberration when used wide open in the sun (but I'm asking to much and the lens performs very well) but when stopped at 1.6 CA is not present anymore
The bokeh is wonderful, and the color reproduction too.
The flare is well controlled @ TA and even better when stopped @ 1.6.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2016 Location: Paris Posts: 124
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 23, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $350.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | built, price, optical quality | | Cons: | focus throw a bit short | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1
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This is my last acquisition for K-1 and it was not a lens i was looking for when bought it.
Already have the P FA 35/2, and Zeiss Distagon 35/2 and very satisfied with both. But wanted to test a larger aperture when i saw it for 300euros deal with 2 yrs warranty in a pro shop (last piece).
Was expecting to blow up the FA in sharpness but suprise, it surpasses the Distagon in terms of sharpness at F2 too. on the samyang, the focus throw is a bit short, but it's solid and precise.
I'm really satisfied with the lens, if you choose your background well, the bookeh is amazing and pictures have a lot of character.
The only thing i'm afraid, in time, is the glass quality of the front element. as i don't use uv filters. so i hope it has a good coating. but it can be a good lens on which to keep a permanent polarizer.
conclusion, if you find it, buy it. this lens is great.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: May, 2014 Location: Linz Posts: 3,098
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 6, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $450.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | fast, razor-sharp | | Cons: | bulky, hood somewhat loose | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-3, P30
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I own the WalimexPro branded version of this lens for 2 years now and I am very happy with it.
This lens helps to make quite an appearance, even an old P30 has a professional presence when it is attached to this device. 
In other words this is a big and heavy lens. However its size also helps with a stable positioning and because of the manual focus you have to use both hands anyway.
Despite having a plastic outer sleeve it doesn't have a cheap and fragile looking appearance. The only troublesome part is the lens hood. It is still fully functional but it doesn't lock in place as strong as in the beginning and when I put the lens with the hood in reverse position into my camera bag I usually pull them out separately by now.
As others have mentioned before the lens focuses slightly beyond infinity, but the well damped focus ring is a pleasure to use and allows accurate focusing.
Now lets engage with sharpness. If and I mean IF you manage to nail focus this beast is sharp (8.5 out of 10 points) right from f1.4 and it gets crazy sharp (10 from 10 points) after f2.0 up to f4.0 or f5.6.
After that it is still sharp but other lenses catch up. That beeing said I don't hesitate to use this lens at f22 if I need longer shutter speeds (unfortunately I don't have ND-filters for 77mm filter threads yet) or if I need more DOF.
This lens has a pleasing bokeh and I also like the color rendition of the Samyang.
For your information if you are into starburst this lens has 8 aperture blades.
If you are into lowlight- or astro- photography or if you like playing around with DOF I can recommend this lens.
For everyday use in good light you might consider a smaller lens maybe with AF additionally to this beast (in daytime I for instance prefer my Pentax-F 35-70mm lens - it's smaller, lighter, has AF and stopped down to f8.0 - f11 the pictures are not distinguishable from the results you get with the Samyang as long as you are not into photographing testcharts)
Last but not least some examples:
f22, ISO 100, 30sec, this picture was taken in portrait orientation but I liked it better this way. in the right upper area you can see what flare can look like.
 Tram by Patrick Bittermann, auf Flickr
f5.6, ISO 100, 10sec
 Unlit Bridge by Patrick Bittermann, auf Flickr
f2.0, ISO 800, 2sec, not the best conditions because this picture was actually taken during a fullmoon night
f2.0, ISO 1600, 8 sec, stacked from 10 pictures
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Maine Posts: 3,081
7 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 6, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great colors, sharp, nice bokeh, sharp | | Cons: | heavy, focuses past infinity, heavy, strange flaring at times | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-3
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EDIT: 4/30/15 Replacing my review after using the lens for a solid month in a Single In challenge.
I still have a shot to go yet, but I may as well sum up my experiences with the Bower 35mm now - I doubt an extra day will sway my opinion in any direction on it.
To start, I almost didn't buy the thing when I was lens shopping back in January. Theres very little information out there on the Samyang (I have the Bower rebrand) 35mm. Everybody seems to gush over the other lenses in Samyangs lineup instead, leaving the 35mm as kind of the redheaded stepchild of the group. I suspect this is more because Pentax has so many high quality options at 35mm (including TWO of their own in the plastic fantastic and the Limited).
So... why buy a manual focus lens from a (relative) newcomer to the scene?
You could argue the Samyang is cheap - but so is the plastic fantastic at half the Samyang's price. You could argue it has high IQ, but so does just about every other lens at this focal length. I suspect 35mm is one of those lengths like the 135 and 50mm were back in the old days - hard to screw up. I actually had the Pentax 35mm ltd in my digital checkout before I realized that the Samyangs were all on sale, so I ditched that for the Bower instead and tossed the extra savings into a better tripod than I'd picked out.
I'm really, really glad I did, because where the Samyang shines is at the wide apertures. I've always seen 'perfectly usable wide open' written about lenses before. I never, ever experienced it before. Sure, most of my lenses can be used wide open. A bit of sharpening and size reducing and the mush can get hidden quite well. The Samyang? I can go 100% crop with it, and the thing and still have an amazing shot. Start stopping it down and forget it - f/2 through f/4 are ridiculously sharp. Its not until after that that most of my other lenses start playing catch-up.
I can basically use this lens where every other one (save for possibly my fast 50's and maybe the Sigma 10-20) would fail me. I haven't played with my 85mm (the lens I bought originally with the 35mm as an afterthought!) yet to judge, but I already know the 85mm can be mush wide open.
The other area it seems to shine is for astrophotography. I've only had a handfuil of nights where the skies haven't been cloudy/blown out with moonlight but on the few chances I've had since picking the lens up in February to play with it, its done amazing provided I can nail focus. More on that below...
Of course there are a few annoyances with the 35mm. First is the size. I knew it was a big lens going in, but this thing is enormous for a prime. It also has one of the most craptastic hoods I've ever seen shipped with a lens. The petal hood tends to fall off if not just perfect, and of course filters won't work with it because of how its made. You have to use the filters minus the hood, and just hope flare doesn't catch you. Speaking of flare, the 35mm seems fairly resistant, but when it does all I can say is YIKES. That enormous front element (77mm filters!) will catch the light and give you some of the most amazingly strange flare you'll ever see, Luckily, you really have to work at it to catch the flaring once you realize the situations its likely to appear in.
One other 'flaw' (and this is more user error than anything) is that Samyang seems to have very poor QC going on as far as 'where to set the lens to stop', My copy (and by reviews I've read, just about any Samyang lens does this) will happily go a few notches past infinity, meaning I can't just crank it and forget it - I have to fiddle with it to bring infinity shots back to optimal sharpness. Not so bad in the daytime since I'd probably be shooting stopped down, negating the need to backpedal a hair but at night my star shots tend to mush out unless I get things juuuuuust right. You'll blast past infinity sharpness at wide apertures before you even know it. Its annoying, its a pain, but I guess its the price you pay if you're trying to shoot stars at night wide open with this beast.
Would I recommend the 35mm? In a heartbeat. Are there lenses that are cheaper/smaller/sharper? Yes, yes and I highly doubt it, at least wide open. If you don't mind a lack of autofocus this lens is absolutely amazing, especially for the price. I've seen shots from the Sigma 35 f/1.4 and I honestly can't tell the difference. I just know I paid about $500 less for my Samyang. If I ever have the spare cash at hand, I may grab a Pentax 35mm at some point, just because I've grown (rapidly) to love 35mm and a smaller, lighter lens with that focal length would be handy. (Seriously, the Samyang is that freakin' huge. Its like having a rock strapped to the front of the camera. A gorgeous, bokehtastic stupidly sharp rock)
Some of my favorite examples from this month (and prior)
This was a stupidly hard shot to get. The aforementioned 'blasting past infinity' came into play, big time. Prior to this shot I'd actually suspected doing this was impossible. But when I DID get it... holy cow.
 Hint of an Aurora by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
The bokeh wide open.
 April 1, 2015 - Rose Hip by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
Impromptu wide open shot
 April 5, 2015 - Cars by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
And of course the shot that hit explore for me with it - this was actually mushed a bit in post process as I was trying to get the colors to behave,
 April 22, 2015 - Front Street Fog; Waterville, Maine by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
And as we start stopping down, the bokeh (at least for close shots) just hangs in there...
f/2.8
 April 14, 2015 - Dried by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
f/6.3
 April 18, 2015 - Fresh Batch by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
And of course once stopped down for non-bokeh shots, it just gets silly with the sharpness.
 April 20, 2015 - LaVerdiere's Rexall Drugs Warehouse No 1 by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
 April 26, 2015 - A Break in the Weather; Waterville, Maine by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
On a scale of 1 to 10, this lens is easily a 10, even with the annoying 'focus past infinity' nonsense it has. Its probably the best lens in my kit at the moment. Granted, my kit isn't very impressive (save for size), but I don't see it getting knocked off its perch even with some of the (much) more expensive options out there.
| | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2013 Posts: 4
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 26, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Fast, sharp at 1.4, great operation and handling | | Cons: | Infinity focus not calibrated, somewhat big | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K5-ii
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This is just an awesome lens. It's sharp as can be from f1.4, anywhere on the (Crop) frame, which makes it pretty great for night/low light pictures. The bokeh feels good to me too, but I wouldn't comment on the technical quality of it. I took it out 2 days and no pictures felt like they had a background that was too busy. The focus ring is large, smooth and has an appropriate travel distance. I mainly use it manually but focus trapping seemed to work well enough when I tried it.
On cons, this is a BIG lens. It makes it nice to handle but heavy to lug around. I have some issues with the included hood and cap, but it may be that I'm just stupid. The infinity focus is also not properly calibrated. I have an habit of putting a mark on my lenses for it but for "quick" hyperfocals this is too bad. I read somewhere that you can actually whip out a screwdriver and change the calibration yourself.
All in all, for the price, this is by far the best lens I ever handled. My eyes bleed when post processing pictures of it. I also love the 35mm focal length but that's subjective
f1.8 1/640 ISO 80
f1.4 1/320 ISO 80 (Kinda missed focus but I like the pic
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Marseille Provence Posts: 150
8 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 21, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $333.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Full-Frame, EXIF-Ok, Focus-Ok ( Nikon-F, Pentax-K ), Fast, Sharp, No CA, Bokeh, Price, Built to Last... | | Cons: | somewhat big and heavy | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Nikon D600
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shot Hand-Held at f/2.0 - iso-50 - from JPEG Basic Quality : LV = 15 Ev ( Exif inside )
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shot Hand-Held at f/2.8 - iso-200 1/25 sec. - JPEG Basic - left-lamp right-crop 100% - No NR !
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DxoMark is fine to help you decide which lens is better for you :
https://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/
3 affordable 35mm Full-Frame Prime-Lenses summarized
+ Worst Astigmatism values compared
+ Worst Center/Border slope values compared :
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Confirmation Sigma 35/1.4 -vs- Samyang 35/1.4 Astigmatism at f/2.8 :
Sigma 35/1.4 link :
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=829&Camera=453
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Samyang 35/1.4 link :
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=771&Camera=453
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Same Advantage to the Samyang at f/1.4, f/2.0, use both links to compare them...
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Conclusion :
- if you need Fast operations and Center Sharpness at F1.4... buy the Sigma.
- you rather shoot Architecture, Landscapes, Samyang 35/1.4 is Sharp from Corner to Corner...
... from F2 to F16 with far less Astigmatism than both 2 others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astigmatism
- Nikon 35/2 for DX crop, or F5.6+.
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PS : Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC Specifications :
Diameter x Length : 83 x 109 mm.
Weight : 660g. | | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2013 Location: Goodyear, AZ Posts: 145 | | Review Date: June 27, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $315.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Design, Speed, A mode | | Cons: | Size, MF only | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
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Beautiful piece of kit. Comes with hood. Sharpness and detail is impeccable corner to corner. If MF and size are not an issue, this is lens is a must have. I have seen nothing at this price that can provide the results this lens is capable of.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2013 Posts: 2
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 24, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $420.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | f1.4 usable, sharp, nice Bokeh, | | Cons: | may be a little bit big and heavy | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 9
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This lens is a winner. If youu do not need AF and enjoy to use a MF-lens this should be in your bag. It is not as small and light as a Pentax 35mm f2.8 Limited or as cheap as a Pentax 35mm f2.4, but it is worth eyery Cent/Penny/yen or whatever you have to pay for. This lens is so sharp, has such an nice handling and with f1.4 (full usable!) you can make pictures without flash while others have to use flash (and so they have to destroy available lightning).
Note: This lens has an A-setting so you can choose your aperture on your body and can focus wide open.
I love it and hope it will be in finde condition for many, many, many years!
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