85mm Lens for portraits: Hey Hoggers. I've been researching a lens for portraits and come upon a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherial lens new for $269. Anyone with experience using this lens?

Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA

Hey Hoggers. I've been researching a lens for portraits and come upon a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherial lens new for $269. Anyone with experience using this lens? Is it any good? The price seems to be really cheap compared to any others I've found. Plan to use it mainly for portraits. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Royce Moss wrote:

Hey Hoggers. I've been researching a lens for portraits and come upon a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherial lens new for $269. Anyone with experience using this lens? Is it any good? The price seems to be really cheap compared to any others I've found. Plan to use it mainly for portraits. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Sharp at F4, just ok wide open. Manual focus. Decent build quality. No aperture coupling. Good price.

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/483-samyang_85_14_5d

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Are you looking for a Canon EF mount? Look at a used copy of the EF 85 f/1.8. This lens is amazingly sharp with rich beautiful color.

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

85mm is a good choice for portraiture as "normal, ie: 50mm" will distort facial features such as making a nose seem larger than it really is. I have, in the past, used my 135mm Leica lens for casual portraits. I am not a professional, but a hobbyist.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I am not familiar with Samyang lenses. An f/1.4 85mm for $269 is a bargain price. I don't know the quality of the glass. Just a suggestion, if you're shooting a Nikon, you can get a two lens kit consisting of an 85mm and 35mm primes. Price is $497 for the two at B&H for $497. B&H part# NI2LK. The 85mm I think is f/3.5. Good luck on your choice.

CO

I'm not familiar with the Samyang. If you're going to be hand holding the camera a lot also check out the new Tamron 85mm f/1.8 SP VC lens. Tamron has been releasing a new SP series of prime lenses and they all have image stabilization. It also a a pro build quality with a metal lens barrel and is fully weather sealed including a weather seal at the lens mount. I bought the 45mm f/1.8 SP VC for my Nikon. Having image stabilization is great when you can't use a tripod.

Grand Loc: Lebanon, Pa

Royce Moss wrote:

Hey Hoggers. I've been researching a lens for portraits and come upon a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherial lens new for $269. Anyone with experience using this lens? Is it any good? The price seems to be really cheap compared to any others I've found. Plan to use it mainly for portraits. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

I have the 85-1.8-love it for protraits.

JPL

Royce Moss wrote:

Hey Hoggers. I've been researching a lens for portraits and come upon a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherial lens new for $269. Anyone with experience using this lens? Is it any good? The price seems to be really cheap compared to any others I've found. Plan to use it mainly for portraits. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

I have This lens. The difference in quality is much less than in price. I would say that most 85 mm lenses are better than this one but not by much. It is ok to buy this lens. It is worth the money spent on it.

Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA

Thanks Mas24. I checked this deal out last week and thought it looked real good. Probably go with it as I was going to get a 35mm anyway. Trying to rebuild my gear after all of it was stolen!! A new Nikon D7100, 50mm, 18-55mm, 70-300mm camera backpack and a bunch of accessories too. What a shame especially since the 7100 was a 70th birthday gift from my wife. So I am relegated to a D3200 for now.

Peekayoh Loc: UK

The Samyang is good value for money although it is no match for the AF-S 85/1.8G but I wonder about the wisdom of using a manual focus lens on the D3200, it's hard enough on a FF camera but almost impossible on a crop camera. Ok on a mirrorless of course.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

i am sorry your geat got ripped off. hope you have insurance to cover some of it. i do know the sentimental importance of gifts from spouse. all the best to you.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I am also sorry that you got ripped off.

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

I hate to be a nay sayer but f your not shooting at least medium format then your wasting your time with any 85mm lens in the 35mm range.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Carl D wrote:

I hate to be a nay sayer but f your not shooting at least medium format then your wasting your time with any 85mm lens in the 35mm range.

Please explain, you nay sayer you.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

My portrait lens is an old Nikon 105 f2.5 from the late 60's. It is single coated so flare is evident with lights in front of the lens. I have not replaced it and now I am using a Micro Nikkor 105 f4 instead.
If you are looking for an 85mm lens for portraits I would recommend that you buy a refurb or a used lens from your camera manufacturer if money is a consideration. I have no experience with the Samyag lens but I seriously question that its optical qualities are better than that of OEM.
By the way, I do not agree with the gentleman that stated that you should not worry about an 85mm lens and instead use medium format for portraits. The quality of the 85mm lens for portraits with film and digital cameras has been proven. It is true that you will find very good quality using a medium format but the 85mm lens will not let you down and professionals use it all the time.