Rokinon 135mm f/2 on Sony A7RII

[Amin]

The 42MP sensor on the A7RII is going to expose some lenses for being less sharp than one would like. The Rokinon / Samyang 135mm f/2 is not one of those lenses.

This is wide open at f/2, and you can see the aliasing effects all the way down to the bottom of my son's shirt if you click through to the full res version:

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Perfect shirt that will do that. Polyester can cause havoc when going portrait work. Wool can also be bad.

 

[Vivek]

The 42MP sensor on the A7RII is going to expose some lenses for being less sharp than one would like. The Rokinon / Samyang 135mm f/2 is not one of those lenses.

Good to know.

Do you know of any lens that does not show moire? I ask because Erik says that even the 24-70 zoom shows moire.

I do see one positive- no need for sharpening resulting in ornage peels.

 

[Amin]

If anyone has an A7RII image from the 24-70 at f/4 showing aliasing effects near the bottom edge, I'd be interested to see it. I didn't think that lens was sharp enough to do that wide open.

 

[Vivek]

The more interesting question would be: Is the aliasing a problem when it comes to batch processing?

(I am not complaining lest Sony bring back their shot gun shutters- I do not see any moire with any lens on my A7r. )

 

[Amin]

I wish someone would do an AF version of this lens. Would buy that in an instant!

 

[Vivek]

If sony make a monochrome FF camera (I hope they do- that is the next Sony FF cam that I will buy- yes, it is definite!), I will buy this lens. It is good to know how good this lens is and on a camera that will have no color moire problems, it will sing.

 

[Amin]

I'm pretty sure I will buy this lens despite the lack of manual focus. It's very affordable and optically quite amazing. IBIS + focus magnifier makes it easy to manually focus on subjects that remain still for a few seconds.

 

[DigitalGreaseMonkey]

I'm pretty sure I will buy this lens despite the lack of manual focus. It's very affordable and optically quite amazing. IBIS + focus magnifier makes it easy to manually focus on subjects that remain still for a few seconds.

I bought this lens a few months ago and was stunned by how sharp it is. That was on the A7. My A7RII is coming Friday. I am very curious to see how much stabilization I get with only 3 axis operating on a non-native lens. On my A7, I get zero color fringing as well. Even with an extreme transition that causes all of my other lenses to fringe except for my 180 3.4 APO Leica. Very impressive. The color cast is more yellow than I like, but then again it is more similar to my old 85 1.2L FD. Perhaps a conscious decision to emulate Canon? Who knows.

Eventually there will be a Batis version, and that will be mine one day.

 

[MikeEvangelist]

I wish someone would do an AF version of this lens. Would buy that in an instant!

There is such a lens! - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/463924-REG/Sony_SAL135F18Z_SAL_135F18Z_135mm_f_1_8_Carl.html

 

[Amin]

There is such a lens!

Yes, but I want Rokinon pricing and no adapter .

But seriously though, if that lens is as sharp as this Rokinon, I will have to consider it!

 

[dmward]

Amin,
When clicking through I get a corrupted file.

I have the 85 1.2. Haven't tried it on the A7RII. This is an incentive to do some testing.

I've found that moire shows up on some images depending on processing and JPG compression for web posting. I presume these are out of camera JPGs. Have you fiddled with the JPG settings in the camera to see if that has an impact?

 

[MikeEvangelist]

Yes, but I want Rokinon pricing and no adapter

You and me both!

 

[Amin]

Amin,
When clicking through I get a corrupted file.

I have the 85 1.2. Haven't tried it on the A7RII. This is an incentive to do some testing.

I've found that moire shows up on some images depending on processing and JPG compression for web posting. I presume these are out of camera JPGs. Have you fiddled with the JPG settings in the camera to see if that has an impact?

I wasn't pointing out the aliasing as a problem but rather as an indicator of sharpness. This image was processed in C1. Haven't shot in an-cam JPEG in about 10 years now .

Clicking through should work. I've tested it from multiple computers/connections.

 

[dmward]

Not sure why I'm getting the corrupted file. That has happened to me a few time with Flicker. Probably something between them and Safari.

I shoot raw plus JPG at the moment. I got in the habit with Fuji X system. It is the only way to get high resolution review on the LCD. Not sure if that's the case with Sony. Never use the JPGs other than that.

The 85 version I have is quite sharp. Will be interesting to see how it performs compared to Batis.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

The Batis 85 will most definitely hit the nyquist level to cause moire wide open. I got it a few times already. I wish this Rokinion was really small. Seems like a big lens, maybe it's the stupid hood.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Physical
Filter Thread Front:77 mm
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 3.2 x 5.83" (8.13 x 14.81 cm)
Weight 29.63 oz (840 g)

 

[Vivek]

I'm pretty sure I will buy this lens despite the lack of manual focus.

How can you shoot with it without buying? :loco:

 

[Amin]

How can you shoot with it without buying? :loco:

I borrowed it for review.

 

[Amin]

Physical
Filter Thread Front:77 mm
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 3.2 x 5.83" (8.13 x 14.81 cm)
Weight 29.63 oz (840 g)

It's a big lens for sure. Similar to other 135/2 lenses I've used from Canon and Nikon.