I am considering buying the following two lenses:

http://www.ukdigital.co.uk/samyang-85mm-t15-as-if-umc-lens-sony-e-mount-vdslr-cine.html

http://www.ukdigital.co.uk/samyang-24mm-t15-ed-as-if-umc-lens-sony-e-mount-vdslr-cine.html

I know a few of you already own these and wondered if I could ask you a couple of questions about how they work with the sony system. Can you control the iris on the camera, or just the lens or both? Also, can you use the digital zoom facility on the camera with these lenses?

Many thanks.

James,

I dont have the cine lenses, but the DSLR versions, and they are both fully manual.

James, I got the 85mm f1.4 and the 14mm F2.8 Samyang lenses.

They're completely manual. So you have to manually focus and set the aperture yourself.

But they are very high quality, sharp glass! You can not go wrong with them.

The ones you have linked too allow you to attach a focus system so you can do focus pulls etc with ease. I went for the slightly cheaper (not by much) ones without the grooves, I believe they're the DSLR versions.

Hi James

Useful to know that the EA-50 allows full auto operation with any manual lens! I use all my Nikon still camera lenses combined with a Novoflex adapter (Nikon lenses have no iris ring) You simply do manual focus and manual iris and the 50 will automatically adjust shutter and ISO for you. During Realty shoots indoors this is far more practical for me than running in manual as I'm filming a wall in a house where the cam is happy at F2.8 and 1/120 shutter but when I get to a bright window I just let the camera up the shutter speed for me to compensate otherwise it would be a painfully slow process.

If only Samyang made a nice range of fast zooms for e-mount!! My two favourite at the moment are a Tokina 11-16 F2.8 constant and a Tamron 17-50 also F2.8 constant and they both work very well but I do need the adapter to control iris now and again as F2.8 is a little crazy outdoors in bright sunshine!!

Chris

Thanks for the responses, but can we use the digital zoom rocker on the camera, I find this useful for my other prime lenses for a trace of movement from time to time. I never go all the way in but it is a nice function to have when using a prime.

yes you can, see below video where I did a short test at the end with the 85mm, I did this test when I just got the camera to see how much image quality loss there was when the digital zoom was used compared to the optical one.

https://vimeo.com/62254180

Thanks Noa.

F2.8 is a little crazy outdoors in bright sunshine!!

That depends, I shoot at around f2.0 a lot outside, that's the main purpose of a large sensor camera, you choose the f-stop based on what you shoot and how much shallow dof you want. If possible you never should change the f-stop during a continuous shot and in that case having the camera change the iso automatically can be good, as long you don't run into strong backlights.

Hi Noa

Yep that is the beauty of big sensors...If I'm shooting indoors and I know it's wildly bright outside then I will stop down using the Novoflex so my shutter doesn't bottom out. I've briefly had shots at F2.8 with a 1/10000 shutter on the camera and they looked pretty good!!

Love this camera ..your options are endless!! However I haven't bothered to use digital zoom as yet. I must try it but I always have a zoom on the camera so it's just as easy to twist the ring as it is to press the rocker.

Chris

James, I got the 85mm f1.4 and the 14mm F2.8 Samyang lenses.

They're completely manual. So you have to manually focus and set the aperture yourself.

But they are very high quality, sharp glass! You can not go wrong with them.

The ones you have linked too allow you to attach a focus system so you can do focus pulls etc with ease. I went for the slightly cheaper (not by much) ones without the grooves, I believe they're the DSLR versions.

James what fit is your 14mm? I have metabones canon adapter for EF lenses so the canon fit would suit - is this lens for full frame or APS-C? I've been using the Sony pancake f2.8 lens and wide adapter but am finding it a little soft - this would make an ideal replacement as I've read that Samyang lenses are nice and sharp!

I'm using a Nikon fit Samyang 14mm and I love it. I use a great quality Novoflex adapter on the EA50. Shooting wide open gives lovely shallow depth of field and focusing manually is easy with peaking turned on. At f/8 virtually everything seems in focus.

Nikon fit means I can use it for video and stills on my new D800.

I wonder if the Samyang 14mm is a lot sharper than the Tokina 11-16 F2.8? Mine is Nikon mount too so I use it for Realty photo work and also with my Novoflex's on the EA-50's (Best ever adapters!!!)

Funny with the Tokina at 11mm thru to 16mm I find that the DOF even at F2.8 is HUGE ...if you are more than say 3' away so to get shallow DOF you have to be VERY close!! If you use the DOF calculator and are 10' from your subject at 14mm and at F2.8 ..you have an incredible 54' of DOF (5.5' to 59') However get in close at say 2' and you can reduce the DOF to as little as around 8" which is cool. I use the lens a lot shooting Real estate indoors and preset the focus to 3' and bam ..I'm in focus from 2' right to infinity so I can use the camera as a "point and shoot" ..Love WA lenses!!!

Chris

James what fit is your 14mm? I have metabones canon adapter for EF lenses so the canon fit would suit - is this lens for full frame or APS-C? I've been using the Sony pancake f2.8 lens and wide adapter but am finding it a little soft - this would make an ideal replacement as I've read that Samyang lenses are nice and sharp!

Canon mount.

I had a cheap £20 EOS adapter but it wasn't a tight fit (not the bit that connects to the E mount, the canon side that connects to the lens). There was a lot of movement, you could literally move the lens up and down while it was attached to the mount.

I will be investing in a metabones one very soon.

I own the Rokinon (same as Samyang) 35mm T1.5 & 85mm T1.5 cine lenses and I am very pleased with the images they capture, for the price they can't be beat.