Originally posted by Skullsroad I'm sure the price will change very soon, guys. If you look at the other stuff on that site, they're all waaaaaay overpriced. Like a DA40 for over $500. Im sure once Amazon, B&H and Adorama get a hold of em we will see something more acceptable.
Agreed.
Originally posted by Laurentiu Cristofor What? The 14mm is amazingly sharp. It has distortion issues, but sharpness is not a problem. It's sharper than the 15mm limited.
BTW, Samyang also had the 8mm fisheye. The 35mm is their 4th lens now.
Their lineup is fine. We'll just have to wait for the reviews of this 35mm. If it is as sharp as the 14mm but avoids the distortion issues, it might turn out to be a great lens. Check the price of the Zeiss 35mm. And the photozone review of the Sigma 30mm is not glowing - looks like it lacks sharpness off-center and CA are a bit of a problem too. If the Samyang is sharper across the frame and has less CA, it would be worth the money.
Re: AF vs. MF:
As far as Samyang is concerned, they don't build AF because it would make their lenses costlier (more than $50) and they know very well they're not a recognized brand yet so they try to offer IQ at the lowest price possible - that means eliminating the extra features like AF/IS that only make the lens build more complex and expensive to produce and service - just read the interview on lenstip where the question of AF is asked.
As far as I am concerned, I'm glad to see MF lenses in production. I don't like AF, because focusing rings are crappier and you get one more failure point. Check lensrentals.com - the majority of lens failures is due to failure of AF, IS, or zooming mechanism. Best lens to have to last you a lifetime? A MF prime!
Hay, I'm not knocking their current lens line up, at least not the new lenses. But as I said, historically they have produced, well, crap. To be fair they produced good crap, but crap none the less. For that I submit all those slow 500mm mirror lenses and the long 500mm telephoto f8 presets that, although relatively sharp, were awkward and useless to most. Their current lens lineup is a huge step forward for Samyang. I'm very happy to see they are taking these steps. It's good to know there are other more affordable options available out there for photographers wanting quality optics at a reasonable price. The 14mm, although relatively sharp, depending on the copy you get, also has bad distortion and many have issues with focusing past infinity. The 85mm 1.4 is a great lens. I don't have one personally, but from what I have seen it's only real issue is resolution at the low aperture end and peak resolution is not huge. Still, from what I've seen it capable of stunning results. I honestly know almost nothing about the fish-eye as I have no interest in fish-eye lenses. The 35mm has a very impressive optical design and the published mtf graph is amazing. Again, that's the one published by Samyang so me being the suspicious type will be waiting for neutral test results to make up my mind on it.
I completely get why Samyang choses not to do auto-focus or any other gizmo's in their lenses. It all ads to the cost and in the end is not the most important thing in the world. I personally love MF. Most of my lenses are MF and I find that some of my AF lenses don't have a very good MF ring. Some do though. Both my Sigma's have decent MF rings and so does my 55-300. It doesn't feel as tight as a true MF lens, but they can be used in MF with some practice. If in choosing a lens I had a score chart I used with a total score of 10, autofocus would only be one point on that score chart. It's really not the most important thing in the world to me. But, when there are other lens offerings out there, especially genuine Pentax lenses, that are capable of excellent resolution (not to mention everything else you can expect from a Pentax lens) it kinda puts the Samyang at a disadvantage. Keep in mind that the Samyang 35mm is competing with the FA35mm f2. Sure it's half a stop slower, but it has outstanding resolution. I honestly don't usually shoot below f2 anyway so that's not a huge deal. It's also competing with the Pentax DA35mm which is no slouch ether, but a whole stop slower, but also $300 LESS! Also keep in mind the DA35 is the same optical design as the FA35, just designed for APS-C. Then there is the Sigma 30mm, which I know is also APS-C and has boarder issues, but is still a very good lens. Don't forget the DA40 limited. Excellent resolution from wide open to f11. It's 2.8, but it's a great lens regardless, and quite a bit smaller. Just to throw another in the mix, there is the Pentax 31mm limited. Ya it's $450 more, but if you are willing to pay $525 for the samyang, why not wait and save up for the 31mm limited. Remember, the 31mm Limited comes with Pixi Dust!
The whole point to that rant is that there are lots of really good options available in the same price range or lots less that come equiped with AF. If I am going to purchase the Samyang, it will either have to test to be an outstanding lens, capable of way better results then the Pentax offerings, or it will have to come down in price.