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02-18-2019, 12:05 PM   #16
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It seems to me like your picture is slightly out of focus. These lenses are not easy to get right. It takes patience and practice to get it right.

I can confirm that focus confirmation with this lens is not ideal. If you do use it, select the focus point manually. I just take the center part of the viewfinder. Rock the focus back and forth slowly until you are certain. Even so, live view is a lot better.

Or you can get yourself a mirrorless body with EVF, as well as a K mount adapter. This is not quite ideal either - the focus aids in the body will probably not work, as there is no electronic circuitry in the lens to talk to. I get by with my Samsung NX1, though.

02-18-2019, 02:58 PM   #17
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Focus of a fast lens manually is always a challenge, so test pictures can be misleading.

But this Samyang isn't a particularly sharp lens anyway … it's cheap … see its MTF:

Rokinon (Samyang) 85mm f/1.4 Lens MTF Average

Note that neither is the much-loved and very expensive Canon 85mm f1.2:

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens MTF Average
02-19-2019, 01:14 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by clackers Quote
Focus of a fast lens manually is always a challenge, so test pictures can be misleading.

But this Samyang isn't a particularly sharp lens anyway … it's cheap … see its MTF:

Rokinon (Samyang) 85mm f/1.4 Lens MTF Average

Note that neither is the much-loved and very expensive Canon 85mm f1.2:

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens MTF Average
Thank you all for the answers! What do you think about the alternatives? I really like the images from Mitakon creator 85mm f2: bokeh like leica, very good contrast and colors... There could be Pentax m 85mm f2 or K 85mm f1.8. 77mm limited will be the best choice but very, very expensive. I really love the bokeh from Samyang but in direct light f1.4 and 1.6 it's almost unusable... So, what's the point if you can use it only at 1.8 and above? Not to say that it's got sticky level aperture problem sometimes...
02-19-2019, 02:19 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by zburatoru Quote
Thank you all for the answers! What do you think about the alternatives? I really like the images from Mitakon creator 85mm f2: bokeh like leica, very good contrast and colors... There could be Pentax m 85mm f2 or K 85mm f1.8. 77mm limited will be the best choice but very, very expensive. I really love the bokeh from Samyang but in direct light f1.4 and 1.6 it's almost unusable... So, what's the point if you can use it only at 1.8 and above? Not to say that it's got sticky level aperture problem sometimes...
Can I ask, do you shoot with the hood fitted to the lens?

I don't recall ever having significant problems with shooting into direct light with my copy of this lens. In fact, I just tested mine to confirm. The below shot at f/1.4 has the sun directly in the frame, off to the left, streaming right through my dining room window. There's little adverse effect on the shot. All I've done in post-processing is to pull the shadows up, otherwise the artificial flowers would be silhouetted. No global or local contrast has been added here, and only default sharpening. I'm using darktable, but that's not really relevant...

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02-19-2019, 02:30 AM   #20
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I would not agree 100% with your statement that when shooting in direct sunlight it is unusable. Try to use the quality of the lens to your advantage. This lens can produce good results if you give yourself the chance to learn how to use it.

For example these two photos demonstrate my claims above. Portraits were shot with sun behind my mom's back. Shot at Pentax K-5II and Samyang 85mm f1.4 fully opened @ f1.4 being focused through OVF. Fine tuned focus settings to -10 and relied on focus indicator in the OVF.





And the last one was shot on Pentax K-1 @ f1.4. Fined tuned focus at -8 and used OVF indicator. I can consistently get focused photos this way even at f1.4. This is basically a jpeg from a camera. I just used it to show you how consistent results can be across the cameras. I like it more on K-1 as it is easier to focus through OVF plus you have focus peaking. When you used LV with focus peaking it easier and more precise of course, but you need to hold camera in awkward position, i.e. not at your face to stabilize it, but it does the job fine. Of course I would want EVF at my eye for any manual lens but that would mean going mirrorless at this moment. Hoping for Pentax hybrid OVF/EVF very soon.

02-19-2019, 03:00 AM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by zburatoru Quote
Thank you all for the answers! What do you think about the alternatives? I really like the images from Mitakon creator 85mm f2: bokeh like leica, very good contrast and colors... There could be Pentax m 85mm f2 or K 85mm f1.8. 77mm limited will be the best choice but very, very expensive. I really love the bokeh from Samyang but in direct light f1.4 and 1.6 it's almost unusable... So, what's the point if you can use it only at 1.8 and above? Not to say that it's got sticky level aperture problem sometimes...
Any 85mm (or similar) lens will have tiny depth of field at f/1.4 or f/2. Even at f/2.8, you don't have a huge margin for error in focusing. Plus, no fast lens will be pin sharp wide open or a third of a stop down, even when accurately focused. Most will be properly decent by f/2.8 and at their best between f/4 and f/5.6. The FA77 is known to be very usable wide open (at least in the centre of the frame), but it's still much sharper when stopped down...
02-19-2019, 03:10 AM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
Can I ask, do you shoot with the hood fitted to the lens?

I don't recall ever having significant problems with shooting into direct light with my copy of this lens. In fact, I just tested mine to confirm. The below shot at f/1.4 has the sun directly in the frame, off to the left, streaming right through my dining room window. There's little adverse effect on the shot. All I've done in post-processing is to pull the shadows up, otherwise the artificial flowers would be silhouetted. No global or local contrast has been added here, and only default sharpening. I'm using darktable, but that's not really relevant...
I surely can't do this with my copy! It will look crazy glowy and CA will ruin the shot. I think that your shot it's with ff sensor... So CA won't be so strong... My mind says: lemon, lemon, i've got a lemon!

---------- Post added 02-19-2019 at 03:13 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by 5r82 Quote
I would not agree 100% with your statement that when shooting in direct sunlight it is unusable. Try to use the quality of the lens to your advantage. This lens can produce good results if you give yourself the chance to learn how to use it.

For example these two photos demonstrate my claims above. Portraits were shot with sun behind my mom's back. Shot at Pentax K-5II and Samyang 85mm f1.4 fully opened @ f1.4 being focused through OVF. Fine tuned focus settings to -10 and relied on focus indicator in the OVF.





And the last one was shot on Pentax K-1 @ f1.4. Fined tuned focus at -8 and used OVF indicator. I can consistently get focused photos this way even at f1.4. This is basically a jpeg from a camera. I just used it to show you how consistent results can be across the cameras. I like it more on K-1 as it is easier to focus through OVF plus you have focus peaking. When you used LV with focus peaking it easier and more precise of course, but you need to hold camera in awkward position, i.e. not at your face to stabilize it, but it does the job fine. Of course I would want EVF at my eye for any manual lens but that would mean going mirrorless at this moment. Hoping for Pentax hybrid OVF/EVF very soon.
Interesting, mine needs -10, too and as I can see not very sharp pics, as mine...

02-19-2019, 03:15 AM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by zburatoru Quote
I surely can't do this with my copy! It will look crazy glowy and CA will ruin the shot. I think that your shot it's with ff sensor... So CA won't be so strong... My mind says: lemon, lemon, i've got a lemon!

---------- Post added 02-19-2019 at 03:13 AM ----------


Interesting, mine needs -10, too and as I can see not very sharp pics, as mine does...
One last thought... Do you have a UV or any other filter fitted to the lens? If so, I'd remove it to see if that improves things.

Otherwise, it may indeed be that you have a lemon
02-19-2019, 04:03 AM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
One last thought... Do you have a UV or any other filter fitted to the lens? If so, I'd remove it to see if that improves things.

Otherwise, it may indeed be that you have a lemon
I don't think the Samyang has filter ring... No, I don't use uv filter...
02-19-2019, 04:34 AM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by zburatoru Quote
I don't think the Samyang has filter ring... No, I don't use uv filter...
Yes, it's a 72mm diameter.

If you've absolutely ruled out focusing problems by careful use of live view, and following my earlier suggestion of shooting a wall at 45 degrees so you can ensure at least part of it is in focus, then it's possible there's something wrong with the lens optically. Maybe there's haze or fungus somewhere inside, or perhaps it was dropped at some point. But as a couple of us have shown, you should be able to get good results - not pin sharp, but decent - wide open.
02-19-2019, 05:05 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
Yes, it's a 72mm diameter.

If you've absolutely ruled out focusing problems by careful use of live view, and following my earlier suggestion of shooting a wall at 45 degrees so you can ensure at least part of it is in focus, then it's possible there's something wrong with the lens optically. Maybe there's haze or fungus somewhere inside, or perhaps it was dropped at some point. But as a couple of us have shown, you should be able to get good results - not pin sharp, but decent - wide open.
The lens it's new, bought a year ago, no haze, no fungus but I will recheck... The problem is that it's very glowy around f1.4, f1.6 even at 1.8 and I can't figure it out... I have a shot with a macro ring, well, let's say, everyone with a 85mm f2.8 soft focus will envy me!
02-19-2019, 05:09 AM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by zburatoru Quote
The lens it's new, bought a year ago, no haze, no fungus but I will recheck... The problem is that it's very glowy around f1.4, f1.6 even at 1.8 and I can't figure it out... I have a shot with a macro ring, well, let's say, everyone with a 85mm f2.8 soft focus will envy me!
Did you shoot a wall at a 45 degree angle, yet? Just so you can be sure that at least part of the image is in perfect focus?
02-19-2019, 06:17 AM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
Did you shoot a wall at a 45 degree angle, yet? Just so you can be sure that at least part of the image is in perfect focus?
I will try today...
02-19-2019, 08:27 AM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by zburatoru Quote
I will try today...
Ok! Some samples. First shot - a wall at let say 45 degrees, second shot - crop from first, third shot - best atempt, fourth shot - a crop from a leaf, fifth shot - a crop from some grass....
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02-19-2019, 12:56 PM   #30
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Third shot is what you should be getting. It seems you didn't focus right in other shots. As everyone told you already, it's not easy to get perfect focus at f1.4.
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