Favorite fast 35mm prime to use on A7 series?

trainerKEN said:

Arizona Sunset said:

trainerKEN said:

I've been loving the Samyang AF 35mm F1.4 (especially for the price of $550)





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My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken-cheng/

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Good shots - feels a bit narrow, are these cropped in a little? Coming from RX1R II the pop looks good.

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yes, I did crop them both a little...

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My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken-cheng/

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How's the focus noise, AF speed?

If you have used it in video, is it reliable?

Arizona Sunset said:

trainerKEN said:

Arizona Sunset said:

trainerKEN said:

I've been loving the Samyang AF 35mm F1.4 (especially for the price of $550)





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My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken-cheng/

Click to expand...

Good shots - feels a bit narrow, are these cropped in a little? Coming from RX1R II the pop looks good.

Click to expand...

yes, I did crop them both a little...

--
My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken-cheng/

Click to expand...

How's the focus noise, AF speed?

If you have used it in video, is it reliable?

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There's a subtle AF sound... I don't do video, but I would think if you used the body's mic, it may/would pick up the sound, but maybe with a shotgun mic, then it wouldn't. As for the AF speed, it's excellent

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My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken-cheng/

F/2.8 on a full frame Mark 3 body is absolutely not a problem. I shoot up to ISO 12800, looks fine with a little noise reduction.

Ive tried many of the options mentioned, all involve some trade off, but that’s photography.

Mine I didn’t see that strikes a great price / performance ratio is the Tamron 35/1.8. Size didn’t seem to bother you, and it’s not smaller than some of the 1.4’s wide open but it’s great wide open, close focusing, quiet focus, not super fast but good, just a bit beefy, but not unbalanced.

Otherwise if you don’t mind AF, it’s really, really hard to beat the 40/1.2 right now.

qb_dolo said:

I have an A7R3 which I am extremely happy with, but one thing I've been missing is a good fast 35mm prime for it. I tried the Samyang 35mm 1.4 but that had some front focusing issues, so I sent it back. I recently purchased the Sony 35mm 2.8 Zeiss, which I love for its size and quality, but 2.8 is pretty limited in low light. I was going to get the Sigma Art 35 FE mount but I see B&H pushed the release back to June. I was curious which fast 35mm lens is you guys' favorite to use on the A7 system.

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I might actually try another copy of the Samyang/Rokinon FE 1.4. I really liked the lens aside from the occasional front focusing. I'd love the 35mm 1.4 ZA but seeing the price and hearing all the copy variance I'm kind of hesitant.

MikeTakesPix said:

F/2.8 on a full frame Mark 3 body is absolutely not a problem. I shoot up to ISO 12800, looks fine with a little noise reduction.

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+1 on this (I'd probably even go higher ISO with the A7iii - at least to 24800 if conditions demand)





I have become very partial to my Sony/Zeiss 35/2.8. Not sure how the much cheaper Rokinon handles extreme contrast scenarios but if it does so noticeably different than the FE lens, I would definitely stick with the Sony I bought used.







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Canon EF 35/2 IS with Metabones is a good, though expensive proposition

There's also the Sigma 35 ART in EF mount.... I preferred it on the MB4 over MC-11 on my A7II. AF'd much faster. I have the Samyang now and thought it was front focusing but it turned out to be my test method. Still looking to swap it for a Sigma when they are released.

Digital Imaging Technician said:

qb_dolo said:

I have an A7R3 which I am extremely happy with, but one thing I've been missing is a good fast 35mm prime for it. I tried the Samyang 35mm 1.4 but that had some front focusing issues, so I sent it back. I recently purchased the Sony 35mm 2.8 Zeiss, which I love for its size and quality, but 2.8 is pretty limited in low light. I was going to get the Sigma Art 35 FE mount but I see B&H pushed the release back to June. I was curious which fast 35mm lens is you guys' favorite to use on the A7 system.

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There's still no 35mm f/2.0 or 1.8 for full frame mirrorless Alpha, which is really a shame. You can chose from super bulky f/1.4 lenses or tiny f/2.8 lenses. Coming from Canon (which has an excellent 35mm f/2.0), this is the biggest gap in the Sony lens line up for me.

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This is the single most frustrating thing for me about the E-Mount, and about how Sony still has not filled some gaps that many many people want options for. A 35/2 or 35/1.8 with good size and a reasonable price tag like the 85/1.8 would sell like crazy. For the life of me, I don't know why Sony has not released a lens like this yet.

I know you are looking for native AF, however, and in line with a few others earlier in this thread, if you end up dabbling in a MF, try the Voigtlander 35mm 1.7 Ultron. Something about the rendering of that lens makes me want to keep it on my backup cam all the time. Philip Reeve did an extensive review on that lens, in case you are interested to see some specifics.

Try the Rokinon I know it the Samyang but I have a Rokinon a.d its fantastic better than my Zeiss 35 1.4 which I now returned.

Mathieu18 said:

Mine I didn’t see that strikes a great price / performance ratio is the Tamron 35/1.8. Size didn’t seem to bother you, and it’s not smaller than some of the 1.4’s wide open but it’s great wide open, close focusing, quiet focus, not super fast but good, just a bit beefy, but not unbalanced.

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I guess for me at that size I would take a 35mm f/1.4, and at $600 retail its often just easier to find a used 35mm Art for no more than $50 more. (Which I already have)

The Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM is a lot more appealing because of its considerably smaller size. Not as sharp and there's a lot more vignetting, but it would be a nice compromise between the Sony 35mm f/2.8 and a 35mm f/1.4.

Right now I'm holding off though, hoping for a native AF 35mm or 40mm f/1.8 or f/2.0

twomonger said:

I guess for me at that size I would take a 35mm f/1.4, and at $600 retail its often just easier to find a used 35mm Art for no more than $50 more. (Which I already have)

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Yea but apples to apples, the Tammy is probably $450 used so it’s $200 more. They’re less common, but not hard to find on eBay. The Tammy also had pretty good bokeh to my eye anyway, I know the Sigma is controversial.

twomonger said:

The Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM is a lot more appealing because of its considerably smaller size. Not as sharp and there's a lot more vignetting, but it would be a nice compromise between the Sony 35mm f/2.8 and a 35mm f/1.4.

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OP didn’t sound concerned about size. Considered the Canon but decided it was less appealing. No close focus, not as good output. Size is it’s only upside, which is valid.

twomonger said:

Right now I'm holding off though, hoping for a native AF 35mm or 40mm f/1.8 or f/2.0

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Aren’t we all! Maybe someday...

twomonger said:

The Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM is a lot more appealing because of its considerably smaller size. Not as sharp and there's a lot more vignetting, but it would be a nice compromise between the Sony 35mm f/2.8 and a 35mm f/1.4.

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I had the 35/2 IS and have the Samyang 35 1.4. Size wise, the only meaningful difference is length. The Canon + adapter combo is about 1" shorter. They have the same front element size and the Canon is actually 2mm bigger in diameter. The Canon + adapter combo is about 200g lighter, but it's front heavy, so I don't think handling would be very different.

The Canon is a great lens, but part of why I sold it was the sizeerformance ratio. I actually had the old 35/2 at the same time, and felt performance was not super different between the two aside from wide open in the corners. The old one made more sense to me, but didn't work with my adapter at the time (Metabones). But if you can live with the old VCR micro motor I feel like that old 35/2 + Metabones is a decent combo. Otherwise, Samkinon, Sigma, or if you have the scratch and appetite to do your own QC, Sony 1.4....

There's also the dark horse Yongnuo 35 1.8, but its up to you to determine if its IQ is good enough. Doesn't seem bad here but these aren't full size images:

Absolutely amazing for the price. Money being no object I would have the Sony.

I am curious how much the mount conversion will be...........I also don't know that I want to be the guinea pig when Sigma offers this.....

golfhov said:

Absolutely amazing for the price. Money being no object I would have the Sony.

I am curious how much the mount conversion will be...........I also don't know that I want to be the guinea pig when Sigma offers this.....

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I'll read up on that one. Thanks.

The Davinator said:

golfhov said:

Absolutely amazing for the price. Money being no object I would have the Sony.

I am curious how much the mount conversion will be...........I also don't know that I want to be the guinea pig when Sigma offers this.....

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I'll read up on that one. Thanks.

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Reading up may not help much for a little while yet.

I've seen some prices mentioned (which seemed unduly high) but I'm not sure they are official yet.

But that aside, you may need to wait until a few people have gone through the process and are able to report their before and after (and in between) experiences, before you'll know for sure whether it's worth whatever price they're asking...