Review on Compact Full Frame Wide Angle Lens for Sony E Mount: Rokinon 35mm F1.8 Auto Focus, Black (IO3518-E) by Gavin Dunne

In over 30 years as a well known professional I have never wanted to use any lens other than Nikon, Canon or Sony. Until now. New third-party lens designs are beginning to match, and sometimes even surpass, established names. Of the dozen or more Sony FE mount lenses I own, my first non-Sony lenses were the Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 and Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro. Both have clear advantages over their Sony-branded counterparts. As a handy outdoor lens, I'm very happy with my Sony 35mm f1.8. So why did I just buy this Rokinon? Read more: When I made the decision to switch to a mirrorless camera, the main factor was weight savings to reduce the load on my camera bag. At almost all focal lengths, Sony's lens options and aperture outperform the excellent Canon and Nikon lenses I've used throughout my career. The Sony 35mm f1.8 is excellent, but this Rokinon has clear advantages. You probably already know that the Rokinon and Samyang are identical lenses, expertly made in Korea. With both twin brothers you can buy without hesitation at the price. It's an incredibly good buy for less than $400 - just over half the price of Sony. Let's go through the details to help you make the right decision: WEIGHT AND BUILD QUALITY COMPARISON: ROKINON VS. SONY For me, shooting comfort and light weight are my top priorities when choosing the right lens for the job. Although the Sony weighs 9.9 ounces, the Rokinon only weighs 7.2 ounces. I don't even notice it when it's in my camera bag. Are you sacrificing build quality for lighter weight? Very little. Both are weatherproof and built to last. I have nothing against plastic as long as it matches the quality of the latest branded lenses. Both Rokinon and Sony are shockproof, look great and feel good in the hand. The Sony's focus ring is slightly smoother in normal mode and quieter in autofocus. The Rokinon ring is also smooth, but there's a very faint autofocus noise until full focus is achieved. It doesn't matter unless you use autofocus when shooting movies. THE MOST IMPORTANT: IS ROKINON AS SHARP AS SONY? I use a 61 megapixel Sony A7R4 camera, which really brings out the finer points of focus. I haven't had a single complaint about my Sony 35mm f1.8 when comparing it head-on - the Rokinon is even sharper, especially in the corners. With any lens with a small maximum aperture of f/1.8, I recommend using creamy-blurred backgrounds with shallow depth of field, especially for selective focus portraits and nature shots. I'm not one of those pixel-gazing bokeh boys, but there's nothing wrong with comparing background transitions when shopping for a lens. Remember that soft bokeh is never more important than content. The key is to create stunning images. Judging from many of the world's leading competitions, I can tell you that at no time in the jury's discussion did bokeh or "shaky background transitions" be mentioned when selecting a winner. If you're an intrepid pixel watcher, the Rokinon can be a bit smoother in those out-of-focus areas, but any difference is almost imperceptible in my opinion. Honestly, nobody who looks at your photos will notice that anyway. To clarify: sharpness is the main characteristic of a lens. I have no hesitation in saying that the Rokinon gives the Sony an edge in every situation except for the closest possible focus. OTHER PURCHASING COMPARISONS: ROKINON VS. SONY VS. Another advantage of the SIGMA Rokinon is the great ability to convert the ring on the lens to change the aperture. I love that my Sony GM lenses have a special aperture ring - changing the aperture on the lens is the most natural way to shoot. Sony can't do that unless you're shelling out nearly $1,000 more for triple the weight, but the absolutely superb Sony 35mm f1.4 GM does. However, the new Sigma 35mm f2 also has an aperture ring and is another great option to consider. But it costs $300 more than the Rokinon, and at a maximum f2 aperture, there's 33% less light. In order for Rokinon to adjust aperture on the lens, you'll also need to get the useful Rokinon Lens Station for just over $50. In what areas is Sony f1.8 better than Rokinon? Frequent use only for extreme close-up or specialized video work. Sony can shoot at a maximum magnification of 0.24x, while Rokinon can shoot up to 0.17x. In real composition it is still quite stiff. It focuses at about a foot away while the Sony focuses at 9 inches. If you mainly shoot video and do a lot of transitions from foreground to background, the Sony f1.8 has almost no focus breathing, outperforming the Rokinon and even the Sony f1.4. I don't need it, but if you want a clean cine lens, consider the Sony f1.8 first. While both lenses achieve an impressively bright f1.8 aperture, a side-by-side comparison of the files shows that the Sony is slightly weaker. brighter. This is called the lens transmittance and denotes the true maximum aperture of the lens. The difference is almost imperceptible, maybe 1/6th of a stop, and nothing to worry about. When each lens is set to f1.8, the shutter speeds chosen by the camera are identical. CONCLUSION: Is this a brilliant review? It would anyway. For me, Rokinon has a few tradeoffs and a few upsides. I'm seriously considering selling my Sony 35mm f1.8 in favor of this light and sharp gem. I hope this overly long review has been of some help. ENJOY SHOOTING!