The older Rokinon 85mm F/1.4 lenses are still a great value and produce great quality, but here's an unboxing of the latest Rokinon 85mm T/1.5 Cine Lens in the new Black w/ Red Accent design which not only looks better, but offers a bit more quirky features for budget video shooters. (BTW I made a mistake, and I don't need the M43 adapter for the version of the Black Magic Cinema Camera currently, just the Nikon to EF shim).
At just $350 dollars (found here), I feel it's not very much to ask for a solid 85mm video lens with a wide aperture, smooth manual focus, de-clicked aperture, and built in lens gears. Keep in mind that on cameras like the GH3 the focal distance will be hard to manage with hand held shooting. There is no image stabilization on this lens. For tripod mounted shots, it will produce that beautiful portrait style look and provide smooth focusing between subjects. The Rokinon 85mm T/1.5 Cine Lens is available now via B&H or Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony E & A mounts (click here).
Rokinon 85mm T/1.5 Cine Lens
Rob
Emm - you keep saying how huge the original 1.4 version is but they're basically the exact same size. You even quoted the dimensions yourself! See them side by side here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQdFOwO1-4
Emm
Post author@chris - The main difference is the sheer size of the 85mm F/1.4. It's massive compared to the new 85mm Cine Lens body. The new 85mm T/1.5 also has the De-clicked aperture, and lens gears built in. Quality wise they might be close or the same. I have not compared the two, but the sharpness on the 85mm Cine is so good, I don't see why one should use the older, larger, and heavier version (unless you already had it).
chris
hi emm, what's the diff between the rokina 85mm f1.4 and the rokina 85mm t1.5 in terms of aperture? does this mean that the f1.4 is faster than t1.5? thanks
Terry Thomas / Atlanta
I just shot a scene the other day with my Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens wide open. Very cool looking.
BTW, there was NO depth of field so the actor really had to his his mark. He did. He is 10 years old!
Terry Thomas
DP
Atlanta
MN
@Bump:
I'm with you man. It's not hard at all to shoot manual focus. I prefer it. Especially when you got an LCD that zooms into 10x for finding sharpness, what's the problem?
apostolos
Hey Emm:
This is an interesting lens. I have a couple of Canon FD 85mm 1.8 to use with my m4/3 cameras and I was eyeing the older Nikon 85mm 1.4 as an upgrade. Those run $450 and up used on Ebay. The Rokinon, in its photo version (i.e. 1.4 not de-clicked, but I'm assuming the glass is the same) can be found around $225-250 on Ebay in its various incarnations (under Vivitar, Rokinon, Bower, etc). You wouldn't happen to have an 85 1.4 Nikon to do a little side by side with this lens?
Emm
Post author@Steven - Yes there is a Nikon to Canon EF shim (adapter), and I suggest just purchasing one for every Nikon lens you have and leave it on there. It's a hassle to swap and a pain in the a$$ if you someday forget to bring it. It's just easier to have one on every lens and never have to worry. Here's the link: Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter, Nikon Lens to Canon EOS Camera
Emm
Post author@Jerry - Just shot some test samples with Oliviatech, will be posting soon.
Jerry
Emm- thanks, I love how the canon 50mm f/1.2 looks and the boken it provide...I would assume the canon 85mm f/1.2 does the same from a few feet back say even at f4. How will is the boken on that Rokinon 85 1.5?
Steven
@Emm- Is there one that is for the nikon rokinon to a canon mount? I have a cheap $15~ fotodiox adapter that is a pain to get off of my nikkor 50mm 1.8. Not that I want to take it off, but you never know.
bumpintheroad
Doh! I have the 85 f/1.4 waiting for me at home, fresh from B&H. Good news is I got it on sale for $239. I have yet to see how huge it is in person, but I'm less concerned about the weight than the image quality. This is not a walking-around lens.
As for using these lenses for stills, I don't see what the problem is. I was shooting portraits, weddings, action sports, etc on all-manual Nikon F1's and Hassleblads back in the day. Call me a dinosaur, but I still typically shoot my stills on full manual, or at most aperture-priority. All it takes is choosing the right aperture and practice, practice, practice. Auto-focus is just a tool, not a crutch.
Emm
Post author@Kevin - I don't know of any current tests comparing the two, but depending on your preference, the new 85mm comes with a lens gear, is much smaller, and de-clicked aperture. I'll try to get some examples up today.
Kevin
Emm,
I just bought the normal 85 f/1.4 version for my Nikon for the Video purpose $250 (New with a discount), I've yet to try it but how much different is it? Is it worth a $100 different?
Emm
Post author@Steven - Here's the one i'm using for GH3 to the Nikon version of the 85mm T/1.5: https://goo.gl/lzLoV
Emm
Post author@kai - I have a GH3 in the video in which you can probably gauge about the size. This is still a heavy little lens. Here's the specs from the BH product page.
Dimensions of 85mm T/1.5 Cine Lens = 7.8 x 7.22 cm
Dimensions of 85mm F/1.4 = 69.85 x 82.55 mm
Emm
Post author@Jerry - For photos, the Canon 85mm F/1.2 wins hands down, but for video use, the Canon 85mm has a very short focus throw. When focusing from point A to point B it's very little movement in the Canon EF lens. For the Rokinon 85mm lens it's a very smooth gradual longer focus throw.
Emm
Post author@krys - More incremental exposure values as opposed to the lenses that jump from one aperture value to the next.
Emm
Post author@Kamil - I don't suggest using this for a portrait lens without the Auto Focus. This is targeted specifically for video use.
Kamil
@Emm, I have SmallHD DP4, so video is not a problem with my 5D, but sometimes I also make pictures. With wide open lens it is almost impossible to get something in focus. Especially faces etc. Focus confirmation would be awesome. I guess I have to keep saving money for a good canon lens.
BTW. Do you think Rokinon has better quality for video than Canon lenses. I could buy a set of Rokinon lenses for $2K, but only 1 lens from Canon.
I don't see any comparisons with that lenses. THX
krys
what are benefits of declicked aperture besides smooth change during a shoot ?
Jerry
Emm- I'm looking at getting the canon 85mm F/1.2 ver2, how does that lens compare?
kai
Can we get a size comparison between the non-cine rokinon 85mm f/1.4 and this cine housing?
I have the non-cine 85mm and it's pretty large on my gh2. i'd like to know how much smaller this new housing is please 🙂
Steven
Could you put a link for the adapter? I hope to see test footage soon.
Emm
Post author@Kamil - No unfortunately it doesn't. You might want to use a camera, LCD, or EVF with focus peaking if you need the assistance to see if you are in focus. The BMCC focus peaking is quite amazing BTW.
Kamil
does this lens has a focus confirmation?