Rokinon 35mm F 1 4 AS UMC Review | 54 Data compared

The Popular Photography review highlights the Rokinon 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC as an exceptionally high-performing, budget-friendly prime lens priced at $500 street. On the positive side, it stands out as the least expensive 35mm f/1.4 lens available, providing beautiful soft-focus backgrounds and excellent laboratory sharpness and contrast even at its widest setting. It features an attractive, rugged build with a nicely damped manual-focus ring that offers a long turning radius ideal for precision focusing and smooth video focus pulls. Additionally, its lack of an autofocus motor makes it highly suited for quiet video recording, it handles barrel distortion remarkably well, and it supports automatic exposure modes on compatible camera mounts. Conversely, the lens comes with several notable drawbacks, primarily stemming from its complete lack of automated shooting features. The biggest cons are the total absence of autofocus and an automatic diaphragm. Because the manual diaphragm does not automatically open wide for framing, the viewfinder dims significantly as the aperture is closed down to meter a shot. This requires photographers to first compose and focus at maximum aperture before manually shifting...

The Samyang/Rokinon 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC is an affordable, manual-focus prime lens designed for full-frame and APS-C sensors, offering exceptional sharpness, particularly in the center. It features a floating lens system and Ultra Multi Coating (UMC) for high contrast and minimal chromatic aberration, while the bright f/1.4 aperture delivers, soft, high-quality bokeh for various shooting styles. However, the lens lacks autofocus and a locking mechanism for the smallest aperture, and it is prone to lens flare when shooting into bright light. Additionally, the construction is noted as being relatively large and heavy with a plastic build, despite its overall solid feel.

This review evaluates the Rokinon 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical manual lens, praising its solid metal build quality, snappy aperture ring, and smooth focus ring throw that enables fine manual adjustment. Tested in Los Angeles for interior, portrait, lifestyle, and video shoots, the lens delivers superb real-world sharpness, crisp contrast, and excellent color rendition right out of the camera, rivaling much more expensive Canon L-series lenses. For interior photography, it excels with minimal barrel distortion, eliminating the need for post-processing alignment corrections. Videographers also find it valuable due to its large texture focus ring which easily accommodates follow-focus setups, and its exceptional performance in fast-paced, low-light environments. Despite these strengths, the reviewer notes several downsides, primarily due to the missing electronic integrations required to keep the lens priced at an affordable $479 to $499. It completely lacks autofocus and focus confirmation on all camera bodies except for Nikon mounts. The lack of communication with the camera also results in completely non-existent EXIF data. Additionally, the distance meter on the lens body appeared to be slightly inaccurate, forcing shooters to rely strictly on...

The Rokinon/Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC is a highly complex, manual-focus lens featuring 12 optical elements in 10 groups, a large 77mm front thread, and an internal focusing system that keeps the lens from extending during use. The reviewer heavily praises its structural build quality, comparing the sleek polycarbonate body favorably to the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L. Optically, the lens delivers exceptional sharpness and gorgeous micro-contrast that is clearly visible right through the viewfinder. Its massive front element efficiently minimizes vignetting when shot wide open at f/1.4, and the lens manages longitudinal chromatic aberrations remarkably well for such a fast, wide-angle design. However, the lens does present notable workflow challenges, primarily due to its lack of autofocus and electronic aperture communication with camera bodies. Nailing focus at f/1.4 is highly critical and tricky because of the razor-thin depth of field, rendering it less suitable for time-sensitive photography. While the Nikon AE version offers an integrated chip for focus confirmation, the reviewer warns that Nikon's native focus system has too wide a margin of error, making built-in AF confirmation largely unreliable...