I recently shot a wedding with just one lens, a Rokinon 35mm t/1.5 on a Sony A7sII body. This was completely unplanned and wasn’t done to prove any point. I also carried multiple lenses and bodies in my bag that cover all the focal lengths I normally use: 24-70mm f/2.8, 55mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8, 70-200 f/2.8. Between these lenses, I’m covered for all the distances and lighting conditions I encounter while shooting weddings. I just didn’t have to use any of them on this occasion.
Samyang adds XEEN 20mm T1.9 to their line of cinema lenses
Samyang Optics (aka Rokinon) has announced XEEN 20mm T1.9 – the latest addition to their line of prime cinema lenses. Just like the rest of the series, XEEN 20mm is designed for the ultra-high definition video, and it features great performance for 4K+.
Samyang drops two new 20mm lenses for photography and video
Following on from the 135mm T2.2 Xeen, 50mm f/1.4AF and 35mm f/1.2 APS-C, Samyang have announced their third new lens in as many weeks. This time it’s actually a pair of lenses. The 28mm f/1.8 ED AS UMC for photography, and the 20mm T1.9 ED AS UMC cine lens.
Internally, both lenses have the same makup of 13 elements in 12 groups with 2 aspherical elements. Their differences are primarily on the exterior. This affects both their appearance as well as their weight, glightly.
9 Lenses with very special bokeh
I have played with photography a little bit since I was a boy, first with an old Olympus 35mm film point-and-shoot, then with a GameBoy camera and later a pretty terrible mobile phone. At age 18 I got my first DSLR and instantly fell in love with out-of-focus backgrounds, and now almost 10 years later I still have a passion for bokeh.
Most new lenses aim to have bokeh that is very smooth. Some people really like this, and in most lens comparisons and reviews, the smoother bokeh is considered the winner. And while I do like the smoother bokeh from some lenses, sometimes I find it can be a bit boring to me. An example of this is the Sigma Art 35mm f1.4, a lens that is very highly regarded, and I have absolutely nothing against it, it’s just not to my taste.
Samyang’s new lens doesn’t have autofocus – It’s a 135mm T2.2 cinema lens
Samyang recently put out a teaser to build up some hype for five new lenses it was about to release. There was much speculation abound about what these lenses were. Particularly, was Samyang finally dipping its toes into the world of autofocus?
It turns out that the answer is an emphatic no, not quite yet. They have now officially announced the first of those five new lenses, though, the Samyang 135mm T/2.2 Xeen Cinema Lens.
Samyang muscle their way into the autofocus market with two new 50mm f/1.4 and 14mm f/2.8 lenses
In a press release today, Samyang Optics (also sold under the names Rokinon and Bower) have announced two new lenses designed for Sony full frame mirrorless cameras, marking their debut into the autofocus lens market.
Having thus far limited themselves to manual focus lenses, today brings us the Samyang 50mm f/1.4 AS IF UMCAF and Samyang 14mm f/2.8 UMCAF autofocus lenses, offering both “standard” and very wide angle views.
A DIY Guide For Fixing The Rokinon/Samyang MFT Fisheye Focus Issue
The internet has quite a bit of reports that the Rokinon/Samyang/Walimex MFT Fisheye has some issues with its focus scale. The reports range from the annoying”Infinity is at the 0.5ft mark” all the way up to “not focusing to infinity at all“. My lens had the latter issue. That’s why I started to look around the net for a solution. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a real tip on how to fix it. The only hint I got was from the rear lens element becoming loose on some lenses.
In fact, the rear lens element was also the issue of my not focusing to infinity problem. I was able to fix it by unscrewing it a bit. Here is a DIY guide on how to fix your lens in case you have focus issues as well. (of course, this is all very informational, if you end up bricking your lens by following this guide, we are not taking any blame for it)
Rokinon Adds a 50mm f/1.2 and a 21mm f/1.4 Lenses (for all but Nikon)
And so Rokinon’s Quest to dominate the prime market continues. The company released 2 news lenses today: a 50mm f/1.2 and 21mm f/1.4.
This is not a surprise as rumors about the 50mm f/1.2 have been roaming the blogosphere for a while now, but the release date has been pulled in a few days (and no, they did not kill it). Rumors or not,the pace in which Rokinon (AKA Samyang, AKA Bower, AKA Walimex) releases lenses is quite impressive.
Interestingly, the lenses are not released for Nikon mounts. Hit the jump for more specs.
Rokinon Announces Xeen – An Affordable set of Cine Primes
Rokinon, just announced a new set of Cine Primes: 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm, all T/1.5. (or Samyang if you live outside of the US, or Bower or Walimex depending on your location).
This is an interesting move on Rokinon’s part. up until now they were known for their very good dollar-to-value sub $500 lenses (in either their stills or cine versions, and now they are stepping their prices up to the $2,495.00 a piece level. Quite a jump.
Yet To Be Announced Rokinon 100mm Macro f/2.8 Appeared on B&H
The listing, which has since been removed, revealed a few details a day before the expected announcement. (Other territories should probably expect the Samyang branding of this lens)
As we reported earlier, the lens will be a 100mm f/2.8 macro and turns out it will also be available in Fuji X, Samsung NX, MFT and Sony E-mount versions.
While the price is significantly lower than rumored, and the lens seems to be nicely built, it does not feature the “unparalleled” features we had hoped for.
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