ROKINON IO85AF-E 85mm F1.4 Auto Focus Weather Sealed Lens for Sony E-Mount

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I bought this as a portrait lens for my A7R3--mostly for outdoors natural light--and it delivers big time. Autofocus is not blazing fast, but it is pretty quick and very accurate (high keeper rate in burst mode). The lens is more than acceptably sharp wide open, but its not clinical sharpness, which is nice. The lens sharpens up when you stop down, even just down to 1.8. Contrast is good. Bokeh is good. Its a good lens. I know many will be deciding between this and the Sony 1.8, and it think it comes down to this: get the Sony if you want a more compact lens with faster autofocus and maybe if youre shooting video (which I dont do and didnt test). Get this lens for literally any other reason. And, if youre a stills shooter like me, unless youre shooting action/wildlife with this lens (and youre not), you really dont need faster autofocus. --*--There were some stability issues that I thought were battery-related, but they were all completely fixed by the Version 3 firmware update. In camera it shows up as "Ver. 03". After regularly using the lens since the update, I have determined that my prior comments relating to stability are no longer useful, and I have deleted them. With the V3 update, this lens is absolutely perfect.--*--

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I really wanted to love this lens. The rendering, sharpness, and bokeh are just amazing for the price. However, I used it during a proposal shoot and the lens was incredibly unreliable and would focus hunt like crazy even using center point in broad daylight. Sometimes it wouldn’t even find focus. I’m using an A7iii with the latest firmware. Not sure if there’s a firmware update for the lens, but unfortunately it’s unusable for me. I’m going to have to return it. Might try another copy and I will update my review according.

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This lens is Amazing!!! Wide open this thing is SHARP! Is it Sigma Art lens sharp? No... Ive owned and love that lens as well, but this Samyang/Rokinon lens is REALLY close to it wide open. At 2.8 it MATCHES the 85 art lens. Im TOO happy with the my purchase! I bought this to replace my Sony 85 1.8, (that sadly replaced my Sigma during my move to Sony) because I just did not like the rendering!! Or color of the lens for that matter. This lens delivers great color! Excellent sharpness and a overall more pleasing look than the Sony 85... Buy It!!

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I have now owned this lens for 3 months and have shot numerous weddings and portrait shoots with it. During that time I have also been able to compare the lens to the Sony 85mm 1.4 GM. All of my testing was performed on the Sony A7iii camera bodies and please keep in mind that using another camera body could yield different performance. Also, my impressions are from the perspective of a wedding photographer. To start with, image quality from the Rokinon (also sold as Samyang) is very good. In back and forth testing (and testing in different conditions) I believe the Rokinon/Samyang is a hair sharper in the center with the Sony GM being sharper in the extreme corners. I want to add that the performance difference is minimal and requires pixel peeping. I would not choose one lens over the other in regards to sharpness. Both lenses differ in terms of color. The Sony 85mm GM has a neutral color balance, whereas the the Samyang/Rokinon often gives a slightly warmer and magenta color tone. This difference is subtle but noticeable when comparing them side by side. I shoot RAW files and always edit my images for color. The Samyang/Rokinon lens delivers great colors (Some prefer the colors over the Sony) and I have not found any issues with editing images and ensuring colors are accurate. This would only be a factor if youre shooting to JPEG. Autofocus performance is the real discussion. Let me start by saying that I have not run into a scenario where using the Rokinon prevented me from getting an in focus shot. There is too much to discuss in detail so I am forced to summarize. For still subjects or objects both lenses act identically and neither offers any autofocus advantage over the other. For moving subjects (Tracking in APS-C or Eye AF) the Sony offers around a 5% advantage. For example, if Im tracking a bride walking towards me, the Sony 85mm GM will achieve around 85% in perfect focus and the Rokinon will achieve around 80% in perfect focus. For video autofocus, I would honestly recommend the Sony 85mm 1.8 over both of these lenses. My final thoughts are that the Rokinon isnt perfect in terms of Autofocus.....but neither is the Sony 85mm. Both lenses work equally well in low light scenarios. There are many other things to consider: Flare performance, the Sony GM has an additional button on the lens, build quality, firmware updates, etc. These are all minor points that you should only consider if they are important to you. The final consideration (and one of the most important) is the PRICE. This Rokinon lens is delivering fantastic image quality and autofocus performance for a fraction of the Price of the Sony. The Rokinon isnt perfect, but neither is the Sony lens. This lens is fantastic, well worth the price and creates amazing images. I highly recommend people to consider this lens. As for me, Im going to keep it.

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I’ve been abusing this lens ever since it came out! The graduation photos I’ve taken with this are buttery crispy flake! Lolol

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I absolutely adore this lens. Its incredibly sharp, and does a great job with contrast and Image Stabilization. I was hesitant about switching from my Canon 6D to my Sony A7iii after my first two lens purchases (The Zeiss Batis 25mm f2.0 and the Tamron 28-75 f2.8) but now Im quite happy. My only complaints are that the lens is pretty girthy so it can ALMOST get in the way of the grip if you have fat fingers... and it does that "breathing" thing with the autofocus so using it for video is challenging. Otherwise I adore it and cant recommend it enough!

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This is one of the best lenses Rokinon ever made for Sony cameras. The best AF lens that is. I love this lens so much and the price is awesome as well.

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Samyang/Rokinon was a late entry into the AF prime lens game but they have been slowly but surely making their mark on Sony E mount, particularly for their full frame mirrorless cameras. As someone who has used all their AF lenses to date (starting with their 50mm f1.4 which is optically great but their first attempt at AF and was early in their learning process) the 85mm f1.4 was their long awaited next fast prime lens and so far I think it has been definitely worth the wait. Compared to its rivals the Sony 85mm 1.4 GM and Sigma 85mm 1.4 Art prime lenses it has great IQ, little distortion and a sharpness shot wide open that comes close to its much more expensive competitiors, also being smaller and lighter than the other two. AF is also quite good and their best AF performance for the brand to date. Compared to the very fast AF Sony 85mm f 1.8 FE, the Rokinon is not quite as fast, but more than good enough for tracking shots and burst photography. AF motor noise is minimal and likely good enough for most video shooters but not being a videographer myself I will not confirm or deny this, although many video reviewers have said the video AF performance is quite good. At $699 this is over $1000 cheaper than the Sony GM, which is definitely not $1000 better than the Samyang Rokinon. Highly recommended for all E mount shooters.

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