[Laurentiu Cristofor]

The samples look good to me, but not great. I find it odd that the f/2.8 shot seems sharper than the f/8 shot of the same subject. Thoughts?

These look indeed less sharp than the previous set of APS shots from samyang.pl. I'm wondering in some shots whether the lens was focused properly. But the nice thing is that there's very little CA - I see some bokeh fringing, but nothing very drastic.

[Pentaxor]

New samples have been posted on lenstip.com:

Samyang 35 mm f/1.4 AS UMC - sample shots - Lenstip.com

The samples are all taken with a Nikon D3x full-frame DSLR, so I'd expect better resolution across a Pentax APS-C camera.

The samples look good to me, but not great. I find it odd that the f/2.8 shot seems sharper than the f/8 shot of the same subject. Thoughts?

I think lenses perform better on a smaller sensor. probably this is one of it's weaknesses. for FF, it looks like this doesn't perform extraordinarily. I think this would get smoked by the FA31 on similar FF.

[nater]

I think lenses perform better on a smaller sensor. probably this is one of it's weaknesses. for FF, it looks like this doesn't perform extraordinarily. I think this would get smoked by the FA31 on similar FF.

I guarantee the Samyang will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4.

[jeffshaddix]

I guarantee the Samyang will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4.

hahaha thanks for that

I agree that the samples on lenstip look slightly misfocused...we'll see!

[Damian]

I guarantee the Samyang will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4.

LOL. I would hope so.


Regarding the new test shots seem to confirm what I observed in the previous set from Samyang. The lens is optimized for wide open performance. I bet diffraction is already setting in at f8 which is why f2.8 looks better. If this is a good or bad thing depends on how and what you are shooting and what you look for in a lens. There are times when it's great to have more depth of field, and if that is what you are after there are plenty of lenses available for that purpose. I think this lens is geared more toward wide open performance for subject isolation. The real question is, how does it's wide open performance compare to another lenses stopped down performance. The question is, If I want SHARP, can this deliver.
The other things I noticed, color looks pretty flat. Maybe it's the camera, I don't know, but it definitely does not look like it performs like a Pentax lens in that sense. Contrast also seems a little flat. Again, maybe it's the settings on the D3x. Looking at the images, it looks like it was an overcast day, so that might also contribute to the overall color and contrast. Bokeh looks really good in these new samples. Bokeh fringing seems to be very minimal compared to the last images from Samyang.

[Pentaxor]

I guarantee the Samyang will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4.

from the images at f1.4, it doesn't look like it is.

[RioRico]

I guarantee the Samyang will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4.

from the images at f1.4, it doesn't look like it is.

My Sears-Tomioka 55/1.4 will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4 also. The 31 is f/1.8, eh?

[Pentaxor]

My Sears-Tomioka 55/1.4 will smoke the FA31 at f/1.4 also. The 31 is f/1.8, eh?

yeah but your 1.4s' will get smoked by the 1.2.

[Damian]

yeah but your 1.4s' will get smoked by the 1.2.

LOL, good point.

[RioRico]

yeah but your 1.4s' will get smoked by the 1.2.

LOL, good point.

Yeah, well, I have a B&H Filmovara 15-25/1.2 that doesn't smoke anything. Maybe it's the 15mm image circle...

[Damian]

I was looking through sample images on Lenstip.com for the Sigma 28mmf1.8, and at similar apertures it looks like the Samyang 35mm if quite a bit sharper, especially towards the edges. Though the Sigma seems to have much better contrast and better color overall. Bokeh between the two seems comparable, with maybe a slight edge going to the Samyang as it seems just a little smoother.

[marcinski]

You need to remember that Lenstip (Optyczne.pl) always publish photos with the sharpness turned all the way down. You may want to sharpen the samples a little to get look you are used to from your photos.
Marcin

[Damian]

I don't typically frequented lenstip so I was unaware. Thanks for the info though.

[jeffshaddix]

Review posted:

Samyang 35 mm f/1.4 AS UMC review - Introduction - Lenstip.com

Looks like this will be my next purchase!

[yeatzee]

Review posted:

Samyang 35 mm f/1.4 AS UMC review - Introduction - Lenstip.com

Looks like this will be my next purchase!

looks fantastic, but holy crap is it huge!

Sharpness wideopen looks great (where I'd use it 80% of the time) but stopped down @ F/5.6 seems a bit softer than I'd like from the samples provided. I wish they had more showcasing the bokeh though