Originally posted by ScooterMaxi Jim A lot of Pentax bias in this thread. The majority of my manual focus lenses are Pentax, but most of the Samyang (Rokinon, Bower, Vivitar, etc.) lenses are superior to the their older Pentax counterparts. The 85 and 14 are especially fine FF lenses, as is the 8mm as a crop format lens.
I have another viewpoint regarding Samyang.
They just trade off some aspects for others.
Very cheap for what they offer of course.
14mm - ok; no complaints optically if copy is good (ok.. perhaps the very large distortion). Use wise, buldging element makes filters systems an expensive and cumbersome affair and can't protect it with a clear filter in front.
85mm - Often enough, when its used beyond just shallow DOF stuff, it does not sharpen up to the standards of most fast 85mm. So yes, good for isolation shots for my daughter in the park, but when I also spot the park gazebo in good light and want an f8-f11 landscape type shot, not as good.
Bokeh tends towards smooth but bland too (YMMV) and lack of pop.
135/2 - Lots of samples that are close focus subjects which almost all 135mm will give nice bokeh. Pull it at a longer working distance from subject like a full body shot, and I've seen samples that the bokeh isn't all that great.
To be fair, all lenses will have bokeh that are not so good depending on focus distance and bkgnd type/distance.
Again.... not saying that they are bad.
Just that like with all lenses pros and cons.