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02-20-2015, 05:22 AM   #1
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Rokinon toughness

I do not own a Rokinon lens, but find the prices hard to ignore. I do not know anyone who owns a Rokinon lens, and have never seen a used example for sale at local camera shops. I am curious if the Rokinon MF lenses are well built.

It seems that every MF lens, built by traditional lens manufacturers, I have owned or used feels like something that will last 100 years if it is treated with due care. Are the Rokinon MF lenses of the same build quality?

02-20-2015, 05:49 AM   #2
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Rokinon is made by Samyang btw. Bower, Falcon, Walimex, ProOptic are all made by Samyang and are (As far as we know) optically identical, just different labels/distributors.
These lenses have A setting on aperture ring, so you can select aperture on the camera body and use Av, P mode. But they don't communicate the focal length to the camera and they don't have AF. You can get something similar to AF if you use Catch in focus (aka focus trapping). A wonderful Pentax function.
Hm, now on to your question. Samyang has had some problems with QC. Some lenses are reported as being decentered (especially UWA), some as having a very hard focusing ring (especially the 85mm). This is part of why the price is low. But! If you get a good copy, the lens is very solid. That being said, even the DA 35mm, which is made of plastic and very light, is quite durable and there are few reports of people breaking it (usually in circumstances that would damage any lens). But the Samyang definitely feels more solid, because it is heavier and uses metal as well. Since they are MF, there are fewer parts that can fail.
Oh, and there is a Samyang lens club thread on this forum, with photos taken with almost all modern Samyang primes. The lens review database has entries as well, in the Third party lenses, Samyang lenses section.
02-20-2015, 06:02 AM   #3
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It differs. I had some of them and still own the 35mm 1.4 and the 14mm 2.8. The 14mm is built like a tank and are definitely on par with all the other MF legacy glass I have.
The 35mm feels like a plastic cup in comparison. Focus has lots of slack, focuses beyond infinity, end stop feels soft (like plastic hitting plastic) mount screws go directly into plastic barrel.

I think the old ones with the golden ring (8mm, 14mm and 85mm) are rock solid. The new ones with the red ring - well, the ones I used (25mm and 28mm) - felt very cheap, but maybe that's not true for all of them.
02-20-2015, 06:18 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by tennjed Quote
I do not own a Rokinon lens, but find the prices hard to ignore. I do not know anyone who owns a Rokinon lens, and have never seen a used example for sale at local camera shops. I am curious if the Rokinon MF lenses are well built.

It seems that every MF lens, built by traditional lens manufacturers, I have owned or used feels like something that will last 100 years if it is treated with due care. Are the Rokinon MF lenses of the same build quality?
I've used the Rokinon/Samyang 10mm F2.8, 35mm F1.4, and 85mm F1.4, among others. Those three all had a good build quality, but I had to go through 2 copies of the 10mm before getting one without QC issues. So my advice would be to buy from an authorized retailer with a good return policy. You can't go wrong with the optical performance of any of these lenses if you get a good copy (statistically it's still unlikely that you'll get a bad copy but you never know!).


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02-20-2015, 08:11 AM - 1 Like   #5
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In terms of "toughness" the older gold ring lenses may be better, but I've felt that that red rings were better in terms of overall quality. My 85mm has a very stiff focusing ring, and the infinity focus was off on my 14mm, while all of my red rings have been fine, with smooth, well-damped focusing. I personally prefer the soft "thok" of the plastic focusing stops to a metallic "click". So it's very subjective.

In terms of Q/C, I can't back this up with numbers, but I've gotten the impression that reviewers and early adopters are more likely to get flawed copies. If you wait a year or so after a lens is released, you will probably get a good lens as Samyang irons out the Q/C issues in the new model. Unfortunately, by then, all the scathing reviews have been written.

Last edited by THoog; 02-21-2015 at 06:11 AM. Reason: Clarity
02-20-2015, 09:29 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by tennjed Quote
I do not own a Rokinon lens, but find the prices hard to ignore. I do not know anyone who owns a Rokinon lens, and have never seen a used example for sale at local camera shops. I am curious if the Rokinon MF lenses are well built.

It seems that every MF lens, built by traditional lens manufacturers, I have owned or used feels like something that will last 100 years if it is treated with due care. Are the Rokinon MF lenses of the same build quality?
I just picked up a vintage Rokinon 135mm 2.8 lens for a whopping $14.99...... It is solid , built like a tank......... Its also very smooth.....and....Tack Sharp !!! Even wide open. I still am in disbelief. Im SOLD.
02-20-2015, 09:47 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by tennjed Quote
I do not own a Rokinon lens, but find the prices hard to ignore. I do not know anyone who owns a Rokinon lens, and have never seen a used example for sale at local camera shops. I am curious if the Rokinon MF lenses are well built.

It seems that every MF lens, built by traditional lens manufacturers, I have owned or used feels like something that will last 100 years if it is treated with due care. Are the Rokinon MF lenses of the same build quality?

I own the Rokinon 35mm f1.4 UMC, optically this lens is exceptional, very sharp with excellent colors and contrast (colors are as pleasing as the pentax ones). The lens is heavy and solid and one of the main flaws that I've seen (and read about) is with its sticky aperture lever, which leaves the lens wide open.

02-20-2015, 01:19 PM   #8
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I have the Bower 14mm f/2.8 lens (also sold as Rokinon & Samyang) and I like it. I don't use it as much since getting the DA 15mm. I think the Bower takes slightly better photos, but the DA is much easier to carry around. I am thinking about getting a little longer focal length of the Bower for when shooting at night. It is easier to manually focus these lens than trying to manual focus autofocus lens.
Here is a link to two evaluations I made of this lens, it might help.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/238153-bower-14mm-f-2-8-a.html
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/237072-bowe...ngle-lens.html
02-20-2015, 04:14 PM   #9
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Thanks for the quick feedback. Of the lenses mentioned, I will probably go for the 85 1.4. B&H advertises-shows- the gold stripe version, while Adorama shows the red stripe. Neither have the lens in stock. Is the gold stripe version still in production?
02-20-2015, 04:20 PM   #10
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I have the 8mm fisheye, the 14mm/2.8 anid the 85/1.4

I find them quite nice to use, but can also advise that the 14 has significant barrel distortion, and the 8mm fisheye has a focusing scale that is inconsistent with actual focus distance, but with 8mm and almost infinite DOF IT is not an issue.

Note mine are branded vivitar and are cosmetically different, and sometimes priced slightly higher. But I have no issue with stiffness of focus or decentering.
02-20-2015, 04:25 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by tennjed Quote
Is the gold stripe version still in production?
No, the gold stripe was replaced by the red stripe a couple years ago. B&H is just using an old picture. IIRC, only the first three lenses (the 85mm, 14mm, and 8mm fisheye) came out before Samyang switched to red. They eventually went back and gave the first three a makeover (and a detachable hood, for the 8mm, since so many people were cutting off the fixed hood to make it a full-circle fisheye on FF bodies).
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