Thoughts on Samyang / Vivitar / Bower / Rokinon 35mm 1.4?

[mweintraub]

I know it's no Zeiss, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them?

I saw in some spec pages that the Bower version had 8 aperture blades when the others have only 6. Can anyone confirm?

 

[zk-cessnaguy]

I have the Samyang version. It has an 8 bladed aperture.

It's a nice lens, gives good results, has reasonable build quality and is good value. Only downside is it's a bit on the large size - about the same size as a Nikon 135 f/2.0 (although it's a lot lighter).

 

[mweintraub]

Thanks for the reply. That's weird that it has 8 blades when I've only see it reported as 6. Even their website says 6. (Dead Link Removed) Strange. Yeah, I think I'll rent it and see if I want to sell my 35mm lenses and go for it.

 

[mweintraub]

I've got a Rokinon on "order" from the rental place. Will be here next Monday for a week rental.