Do you own either the Sony 85mm f/1.8 or Samyang 85mm f/1.4? Are you happy with your choice or has this test swayed your opinion? Let me know in the comments below 👇👇👇

Great review Tom! Thank you very much

great video Tom! could it be that the focusing performance on the Samyang has to do with the firmware version of the lens?

Over the time I tried different Samyang lenses (not the 85), out of six only one was okay-ish, only a bit decentered, the other five had severe problems. I'm happy with my FE 85 1.8, even if the Bokeh is not always perfect - I love its reliable fast AF.

Awesome video Tom. Pretty clear and real worldy review. I would have loved a ghosting/flare test. In backlight situations (like bride entering the church) some lenses loose all contrast and it's a pain. I think 95% of newer lenses are sufficiently sharp, so I care more about about backlighting and contrast than those test, because the variation is way bigger. Hope this feedback is of any help. Love your style of reviews. Fun, practical and straight to the point.

The video i needed... great job

Great content as always man! Credit to Amber also 🤟 Just wondering if you will do a mega/ultra/master of the universe side-by-side comparison to crown the ultimate 85mm ? 📸

I enjoy your videos Tom and I own the Rokinon 85, and then the Samyang 50 and 35 1.4 lenses. I have tried several copies of all 3 thinking there were focussing issues since I had so many out of focus. I have also done extensive testing with them against the Sony 1.8 lenses. I think I can shed some light on what's going on with them. The Samyang lenses have a more shallow depth of field then the Sony lenses, even when both are at 1.8 Everything Ive shot from statues, to plants, to cars and people, the Samyang lenses have a more shallow DOF. They are closer to an f/1.2 than an f/1.4 when wide open IMO, which obviously means you are dealing with a razor thin depth of field. So looking at your shot at 6:34 (Im assuming the others you show were shot like this too) you are not going to hit focus on an eye with such a thin DOF with that composition where your model's face is near the edge of the frame.. In my experience, only an expensive GM lens is going to nail shots like that at such wide apertures, lenses that cost 3-4 times what these Samyang lenses cost. You have to remember these are budget lenses here, even half the price of Sigma lenses. Of course they are going to have limitations. These Samyang lenses wide open work best when you put your model's face in the center at 1.4, nowhere close to the edges as they get soft quickly, not all that far off center. Once I realized the limitations of these lenses and started shooting in landscape orientation with my model in the center of the frame, bang, tack sharp photos 90% of the time. If you watch Dustin Abbott rave about these Samyang lenses, notice his sample portraits are nearly all shot in landscape orientation, and they are quite sharp indeed. Also, if you look at Julie Trotti's review of the 85 1.4 and how much she liked it,, notice her use of negative space and how she puts her model's face really close to the center of the frame. Thats what you have to do with these lenses to get the best results. When shooting in portrait orientation and putting your models face anywhere near the edges, you need to be stopped down to at least f/2 or even f/2.8 to be safe. Hope this helps.

Very informative vid! I'm really trying to decide between the sony 85 1.8 and the Sigma 85 1.4 DN as my next lens; It's a pretty tough choice 😅

Which one would you recommend especially for fashion and portrait?(mostly photography) thanks. I'm using a7iii.

Great video Tom. Like the beard

Nice comparision of the Sony and Samyang!!!! It"s just interesting to me, was Your Samyang lens on the last firmware and was it caibrated trough the lens station or not?

Hi I have samyang 85 1.4 for canon ef can I use it to sony body using mc11 adapter? So that I can use it in both body

Anyone know the name of song/artist at 1:43??

this has been fixed with the update if your running version 4 you need to update to version 6

Hi Tom nice video 👌

I have the Samyang and have the same weird AF issues. Sometimes it just won't lock focus no matter what I do. I have to remove the lens and restart the camera and hope for the best. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it just doesn't.

Hi, happened to me also! Totally new samyang 85 paired with a7iii, updated firmware, but still this stupid focus issues. I was really sad about it, but luckily friend of mine offered me the new Sigma 85 dg dn and jesus thats really different level! It's strange because in many reviews people really highlight the autofocus and eye af ability of this lens. No more Samyang for me in terms of 85mm lenses!

Thanks!

Does the Samyang have latest firmware?

Nice video :) that beard fits you so well :p

Rokinon seems to have more quality control even though its the same lens, mine has no focusing issues whatsoever and the same goes for their 35mm f/1.4

I think i might be lucky. I have the samyang 85mm F1.4 and focus works really good. At F1.4 the lens is not razor sharp but the latest sony A7 iii firmware seemed to improve the focus accuracy and thus also sharpness wide open. I also have the Samyang 35mm F1.4 and the 18mm F2.8 and auto focus is fine.

tom, you have the best tests.... i just got sony, switching from canon and.. eveything i'm interested in comparing - you have it :))))) T H A N K YOU.. i subscribed faster than you can say sony

Will go with sony native... Thanks man.. In a commercial shoot outdoor i can't risk the focus... With my α7iii the 85mm sony is the bang for buck... The out of focus image can give me a bad reputation infront of clients and models

Yeap, I have the Samyang and yes, it missfocuses a lot. I really want to try the nre Sigma 85 1.4 to see if it behaves better. But so far, nothing matches the Sony's performance which I sold in order to get the Samyang. Big mistake...

im thinking of getting the samyang and this is the first time im looking at such clear AF issues. i think the samyang creates more creamier bokeh and also has its own swirly bokeh.

Thank you very much Tom. f/1.4 is so attractive but that AF issues aren't acceptable

Samyang 85/1.4 (on A7III) owner here. In my hands this lens in not perfect when it comes to AF precision, but not as bad as shown in your video. I would say rather like 10-20% pics slightly OOF (like the wrong eye, or focus on eyelashes instead of pupils), and very very few completely missed. I usually shoot outdoors, @ f/1.4, with reasonable amount of light. I confirm that AF tracking for fast moving subjects is not impressive. Or rather useless :P Not shooting videos, so can't comment on this part.

I think I'm going to try buying 3 of these, and returning the 2 that suck. Modern problems require modern solutions.

bought and sold two times the 1.8, did not get much love... Now the samyang will be with me at least untill I can afford the sigma.

Yeah, that's my only complaint with Samyang -- their poor performance up close.

my copy had crap AF too. Sold it. Rented one once, no issues. I suspect it's lack of QualityControl. I now have the Sony, but I don't like it...

I have the samyang..and it does beautiful portraits

You need the Dock for the Rokinon / Samyang.

I own a Sony 85mm f1.8 & the only issue i have with it is the Pink distortion

still happy with the 85/1.8...

My guess is that samyang lense needed to be calibrated for the camera.

I supposed to buy Samyang tomorrow after using Sony but after watching that video, I'm not sure if my a6400 can be still good at AF :(

I have the Samyang f1.4 85 mm and Tamron f2.8 28-57. In my case, I feel that i have more keepers with Samyang. I find this odd as a lot of people say that the Tamron focus is very good. Sorry about the bad English.

All that CA on the Sony and the IQ was a tie? Also no comparisons at same f-stops? At least at f/1.8, f/4 and f/8 would have been beneficial. Not to mention doing AF test (video or photo) stopped down to f/1.8 since that's where the Sony was. I have to say I haven't had issues with AF on the Samyang. It does miss a frame here and there when shooting 15fps but quite a few non-GM lenses do. Might have to test it out on a7Riv to see if the weaker AF system results in more out of focus shots.

Samyang - It's out of focus... But look at the size of the Bokeh balls.

Everything was fine untill the out of focus issue. That's just unforgivable. Not matter what's the price range. I'd rather get a manual vintage lens than the samyang

Sony is too clinic and dull. Samyang has very arty cinematic rendering.