Samyang/Rokinon cine lenses

vicharris

@artiswar I really haven't noticed any bad flare problems but I've never intentionally tried to flare my Rokinons like I do my SLR 12mm. Not saying their is non, just haven't noticed it like on the SLR. I'd say you can't go wrong with the 85mm. I used it along with the SLR 12mm 1.6 for a hotel promo shoot in the keys I'll post in a couple days. Great colors in my opinion. The 35 is great to but as I'm sure you know, the breathing sucks. It actually looks like some sort of Hitchcock effect or something. The 24 is great but the Cine version is a pretty penny. Luckily I bought mine from a vendor on Ebay that made a mistake and mispriced it by $200. I don't know what type of shooting you'll be doing with the 35 but if you plan to rack focus, then you'll have to deal with the breathing problem. It didn't bother me at first but since I'm becoming more aware of tech and style aspects, it's getting to me.

I actually just picked up the SLR 35 T1.4 Cine lens to see if it can replace the Rokinon. I haven't had time, or just a bit lazy to compare them yet. One thing I noticed right out of the box, the breathing is much better than the Rokinon but I think this lens is unusable below 2.0 or 2.8, not sure yet. And mine has that backfocus problem like other people have talked about so when you go back and forth three times, your focus points are f@#*ed!

On a side note, I returned my 14mm T1.5 lens. I already have the Tokina 11-16 and I believe the Tokina is more usable wide open than the Rokinon 14mm. The Rokinon was nice and the focus throw was amazing but for right now, I'll stick with the Tokina. Also seems like the color on the Rokinon 14mm was a little more magenta than my other 3 Rokinons. If I have to CC lenses in post, I might as well have one that is 11-16 instead of just 14, right? :)

One last thing, I also shot a PSA with Rokinon Cine lenses, 14mm, 24mm 35mm and the 85mm as well as the SLR 12mm for my car mount stuff. I'll post that as soon as I get my last VO track laid down and synced.

vicharris

So here's a screen grab of the SLR Magic 35mm 1.4 Vs Rokinon 35mm 1.4. Both were shot at f4 with and ISO of 320. AWB More to come at f 5.6 and breathing comparison

vicharris

Both again at f5.6

GravitateMediaGroup

@artiswar these lenses are worth every penny. for the quality of the build and quality they produce, I don't think you will find a better lens as far as cost to quality ratio. I've seen MULTIPLE people say they are dumping zeiss for rokinon lol and they weren't being sarcastic either.

matt_gh2

Thinking about getting the Rokinon lenses for a project. Other than declicked aperature, and gear threads for follow focus, are there other differences between cine and regular versions? Any opinions on which mount to get it for (Canon, Nikon, etc.). Also any preferences/differences on Rokinon vs Samyang vs Vivitar etc.?

The footage I've seen of Rokinons looks very clean and at same time very cinematic.

@vicharris Shots looks good of 35mm both Rokinon and SLR Magic, but I like how the background window area looks better with the Rokinon. It's a more subtle feel in terms of what's happening with those highlights. More cinematic. These Rokinons are pretty cool.

vicharris

@matt_gh2 The optics are exactly the same but the Cine version is well worth it. I was a critic of the price difference at first but not having to screw with gear rings and being able to pull T stop changes on the fly is more than worth it. Though the 24mm Cine is pretty damn expensive. The only reason I bought it was because the Ebay seller in NJ messed up with the listing and I only paid $539 for it!

As for mount, I have all Nikon mount. The reason for this is that I can use some Nikon AIS glass, my Tokina 11-16 and 12-24 which needs to be Nikon to work on these cameras properly, and Tokina 28-70mm 2.6-2.8 without changing adapters. I had a few different mounts before but now it's just Nikon and MFT. Makes life easier.

Also, all brands are the same. Don't worry about that. Just rebranded for different areas of the world.

It's really hard to pick on of these lens from the above pics. Both pretty good but I'll have the breathing test up in a little. I think that's what everyone wants to see. Also the focus ring doesn't feel that smooth at all. I didn't whip it back and forth like some people have suggested, as you'll see from the video but you can fell metal rubbing together for sure. Kinda worries me a little but the reason I bought the SLR was to use on a slider to lighten the load on slow, motorized movements.

vicharris

Here's the last part I've seen people ask about. Breathing test for the SLR 35 1.4 and the Rokinon 35 1.4

BEWARE: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO WATCH IS VERY BORING!!!!

Password: boring

matt_gh2

Anybody know if a 50mm is available or coming soon in Vivitar/Rokinon/Samyang brand? I'd be interested in either regular or Cine. Seems like a gap in an otherwise great set of lenses.

GravitateMediaGroup

@matt_gh2 check the rokinon website i MIGHT have seen something about it. too many lenses come out for me to keep up with

vicharris

They are working on it right now but finishing up another lens first. I suspect by fall or winter of 2013 we'll see one.

stoney

Samyang 50mm in this summer, I guess. http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5922/50mm-t1.5-samyang-rokinon-bower-cine-lens-topic/p1 That's just announcement. Actual release date... who knows. Prolly @vicharris got the ballpark figure.

vicharris

Yeah, I follow them on facebook and from what I've seen with their announcements and actual to market date, I'm going to say fall or maybe a early Xmas gift :) They are pretty good though with what they say and what actually happens. I don't know who's running that part of the business but they have it down.

Aria

I still can't believe the fact that Samyang went ahead and made Cine lenses for the low budget crowd of film makers. It's just awesome to be supported like that. The Same thing with SLR Magic and Voightlander. It's not like these are huge markets. This is a niche market, but i'm so glad that there is so much attention from manufacturers.

The quality level for these new lenses is extremely high. I just can't believe how good these lenses are. Happy days indeed.

matt_gh2

@vicharris @stonebat Thanks. That may be perfect - it's for a future project. My current one I'm using my Lomos. For that project (a thriller), I'm thinking of combining Samyang lenses with Moon hack setting for a look that shows much detail but in a hollywood cinematic way. Maybe I'll rent the 35 to test imaging concepts and style.

Mirrorkisser

Which mount of the rokinons works best with the gh2 (and any adapter suggestions?) thanks!

rockroadpix

@vicharris Thanks for that boring video! :) Actually, it was pretty enlightening. The breathing seems to happen more towards the long end of the FD. That's good to know.

vicharris

Use the search bar. You'll find TONS of opinions in 30 seconds.

stoney

@Mirrorkisser All mounts would work fine since Samyang lenses have both aperture/focus mechanical rings. But I'd get EF version. It seems versatile. Of course they can be used on Canon dslr bodies. Also EF-M43 electronic adapters are available to use those lenses with electronic aperture control and image stabilization, and I expect more cheaper ones will be released.

vicharris

The canon ones are all manual. Aperture control and IS don't matter. Please just search the threads for all the correct info.

Mirrorkisser

thanks for the information!

svart

Still unsold on these. One of the greatest things about cine glass is the lack of breathing. Gear rings and clickless apertures are just frosting on the cake. I want the cake first, frosting second.

vicharris

Pretty simple then. Don't buy one! Pay 4 times as much for what you want. Done.

svart

My point is, why buy new Samyang "cine" lenses that actually misses the point of the best features of cine lenses? It seems more like a marketing tactic rather than offering a product that is not on the market. I bought a set of Nikon AIS and added gear rings for a lot less per lens than these. I want to like these but I also want Samyang to know that the breathing is unacceptable for cine use.

vicharris

Yes, and you have traded something off. Sharpness. These Rokinons are sharper than old AIS lenses. I have two AIS lenses and while they are great lenses for video and have a wonderful feel to them, they are not a sharp. So people need to decide what is important to them and how they plan to use these lenses.

RatLabProductions

Like the old production triangle of Fast/Good/Cheap

With cine lenses its Fast/Breathing/Cheap Pick two.

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