Was easy to decide in favour of the 45mm. Not only the Samyang is cheaper, but is also closer to 40mm which is my standard focal length. After using that lens for almost one year, I can say that is the best one of my collection.
Dustin Abbott chooses the Samyang over the Sony because of the special look of the pictures coming out of the Samyang. By the way, I think that at 6:20 you put the cropped pictures in the wrong place, because the picture marked as 67.5mm crops a lot more than the picture marked as 82.5mm.
I used to have the Zeiss for a while and now I got the Samyang, also because of the price. It does not feel as valuable as the Zeiss, but I find the imaging performance very nice and I prefer the 45mm to the 55mm, which were me from the feeling always a little too narrow.
Very accurate review. I got the samyang because I prefer the focal length & on the a7r4 I get so much detail and because I can crop I can get a field of view from 45+ easily due to the huge sensor resolution & for interiors - design etc I find the 45fl very useful. There is also something about the quality of its rendering - the way it renders the color blurs. Its a lens which has the best of the modern & vintage for me and it just works even more with the small form factor of the sony line. Also i work a lot with prime lenses and it combines really with the sony 90mm macro.
This and the samyang vs sony 50mm 1.8 video told me exactly what I needed to know and helped me pick out a lens. I'd love to own the Zeiss, but the Samyang does everything I need it to and lets me buy another lens on top of it. edit: I ended up getting both the Samyang 45mm (used) AND the Tamron 28-75 (on sale) for the price of the 55mm Zeiss. Score!
if I have only the Samyang, I would use it. If I could choose one of them, I would choose the Zeiss. It is one of the sharpest 50mm lens. My only lens ! Merry Christmas folks !
I enjoy using both these lenses Stefan , but I think when Tamron releases the 45mm f1.4 i will trade in both if it has good iq and i will wait for your video on this ! keep up the good work .
Great video. I own the zeiss 55 1.8 but actually not sure whether to sell and get the samyang 45. For travel photography I use the 24-105 f4 during the day 90% of the time when lighting is good. I then switch on the 55 in the evening for better low light performance and to be more discreet when taking to restaurants etc. But with 55mm if you are sitting at a restaurant and you want to take a photo of your partner then you need to move your seat back a good few feet in order to get a decently composed shot, which doesn't really help with being inconspicuous. What I need to test out is if the 45mm would be wide enough that you dont need to move chairs back etc or if I get a back up 35mm for those instances. But preferably I wouldn't want to be swapping lenses when im out. But the 55 is so damn sharp though. Dustin Abbot actually prefers the rendition of photos that the samyang 45 gives you over the 55 which is interesting.
I have the 55mm ( love it!) but am considering the Samyang as a good travel prime to supplement a Tamron 28-200 zoom lens along with the Tamron 17-28 f2.8.. Looking for a nice, light weight trio to cover most situations without too many lens swaps. Yes, I am dreaming about travelling again, ha, ha!
In Australia I found the Zeiss lens on sale for 798 AUD which is about 462 USD at the moment. Insane price. Do you reckon I should just go for the Zeiss?
I use to have the samyang 35 and 18mm 1.8, somehow I sold them eventually, IQ is good but below average build quality, I also got the 55mm, it is the sharpest lens I ever got, excellent build quality, for 600USD price for a standard prime lens, it’s a little bit expensive but it is very sharp even at 1.8, and metal built, total worth it.
I don't own any of these two but honestly, I would pick the Samyang. Even if I had a ton of money. There is more to a lens than sharpness and build. The Samyang doesn't look sterile. It has flaws that make it better. A character. A soul. I find after looking at hundreds of samples from the Zeiss that it is simply not interesting. The Samyang has a tiny bit of the Canon 50mm 1.2 in it. Some kind of magic I can't put my finger on. It's just likeable.
Yeah that “character” is garbage build quality behind a company known for its terrible build quality. They look similar so I guess the Samyang is sterile too. The Zeiss beats the Samyang in every category. If you’re on a budget buy budget lenses (I would rather save up for a quality product though) if you can afford a quality product that will last a lifetime then buys Zeiss or Leica. Optics are basically the same these days for most lenses as most glass comes from a similar place. The build quality is where it matters today. Fast and metal! If you held the Zeiss I can guarantee you you would buy it over the Samyang. Samyang makes garbage quality lenses out of plastic (including the mounts 🤢). I own one and it’ll be my last. At least get a sigma over the Samyang they’re just not worth the $300-$600 when for a couple hundred more you can get quality used (or new) lenses that will last and will perform much much better. You are right that there is more to a lens than sharpness. Zeiss has much more than sharpness. And really? You’re going to claim that a quality built lens isn’t important? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Lens quality is important just like lens character, ca, lens flare, bokeh, color rendition, and detail. I put some Zeiss classics in front of my Sony a6300 and there’s a ton of color information coming through. Much more than my Sony lenses. Even my file sizes for my photos went up by about 3-4 MB/photo. All I have to do sometimes is add contrast and adjust exposure and the colors are amazing. Plus the Zeiss “pop” is real. You won’t see it on the internet and I thought it was fairy dust, fake statements to make Zeiss seem worth it. Until I used the Zeiss side by side with my other lenses. Zeiss renders the image very great and has amazing light transmission and just they way it exposes the image between the highlights and shadows is beautiful. Trust it seems like lies but it’s there once you use one. Trust me Zeiss usually tends to beat most lenses out there. I’ll admit this particular lens doesn’t have as much character as their classic ze/zf2 lineup but it still has got quite a bit. It almost looks like a cinema lens. The Samyang is clearly trying to be the Zeiss here and is probably what the lens is based off. I wouldn’t waste my time or money with a Samyang ever again unless it was a crash cam lol.
I love lenses with character, but I wouldn't say the Samyang is one of them. I own it, and it's nice (not incredible, but much better than Micah Ross makes it sound lol), but I'd say it's more for people who want something better than the Sony 50mm f/1.8, but can't afford/justify Sony's more expensive offerings (of which there are plenty). If you want something with character, grab some vintage manual focus lenses.
While I agree that bokeh is to a degree a matter of taste, in this case I think the Samyang is objetively the winner. Judging by the shots you presented the Sony's bokeh is a lot more busy and it suffers from the same issue the Sony 50mm 1.8 does, a quite hard transition into the blur. In fact it surprises me how similar the 55mm and the 50mm are in regard to bokeh.
I hear some people complain about noise (aperture changing) in the Sony. Have you experienced this? Mine is arriving next week and I just heard about this.
Great video.. you said the sony 55mm isnt the absolute fastest when auto-focusing.. what lens do you think is faster when autofocusing? Im keen on the 55mm.. but im interested and considering faster auto-focusing options.
I own this Zeiss and it’s just as fast as all my sony lenses. Zeiss and Sony are in business with each other. It’s probably Zeiss optics and build with Sony’s autofocusing.
i owned the samyang, the sharpness was not that impressing, focusing not impressing, but shooting straight against the lights in stage in concerts was a horror, totally useless,,, and for manual focusing the focus was not easy enough,,, now i got the zeiss , its wonderful,, very sharp allready at 1.8, build quality is fantastic,,, and focusing precise and fast enough for the most
i values bokeh with character and personality very high, often using vintage lenses because of their very different bokeh results,,,, so i will descripe both samyang and zeiss bokeh uninteresting, actually boring,,, the both deliver fine result, but without anything interesting and extra ordinary,,, but i still love my zeiss,,its almost glued to my camera
Performance or Budget? Which is more important for you?
Performance!
Performance, but when you have budget problems, you can only ........ dream.
Both
Performance. If you’re on a budget, wait and save up. Sell some old gear.
Was easy to decide in favour of the 45mm. Not only the Samyang is cheaper, but is also closer to 40mm which is my standard focal length. After using that lens for almost one year, I can say that is the best one of my collection.
Dustin Abbott chooses the Samyang over the Sony because of the special look of the pictures coming out of the Samyang. By the way, I think that at 6:20 you put the cropped pictures in the wrong place, because the picture marked as 67.5mm crops a lot more than the picture marked as 82.5mm.
I used to have the Zeiss for a while and now I got the Samyang, also because of the price. It does not feel as valuable as the Zeiss, but I find the imaging performance very nice and I prefer the 45mm to the 55mm, which were me from the feeling always a little too narrow.
Very accurate review. I got the samyang because I prefer the focal length & on the a7r4 I get so much detail and because I can crop I can get a field of view from 45+ easily due to the huge sensor resolution & for interiors - design etc I find the 45fl very useful. There is also something about the quality of its rendering - the way it renders the color blurs. Its a lens which has the best of the modern & vintage for me and it just works even more with the small form factor of the sony line. Also i work a lot with prime lenses and it combines really with the sony 90mm macro.
How is the image quality with the a7r iv?
Just picked up the 55 for 800 new. You can find deals on it. It's been out long enough that I know it's going to last.
This and the samyang vs sony 50mm 1.8 video told me exactly what I needed to know and helped me pick out a lens. I'd love to own the Zeiss, but the Samyang does everything I need it to and lets me buy another lens on top of it.
edit: I ended up getting both the Samyang 45mm (used) AND the Tamron 28-75 (on sale) for the price of the 55mm Zeiss. Score!
if I have only the Samyang, I would use it. If I could choose one of them, I would choose the Zeiss. It is one of the sharpest 50mm lens. My only lens ! Merry Christmas folks !
I enjoy using both these lenses Stefan , but I think when Tamron releases the 45mm f1.4 i will trade in both if it has good iq and i will wait for your video on this ! keep up the good work .
I love the 55mm zeiss I got mine used for $450. I could tell the difference as soon as I mount it on the camera. Its sharp
Both good options. Thanks for this
just got the 55mm f1.8 for 450£ really good condition
Hi, if you look at 6.25 I think you'll find you have got the 67.4mm and the 82.5mm photos the wrong way around.
Great video. I own the zeiss 55 1.8 but actually not sure whether to sell and get the samyang 45.
For travel photography I use the 24-105 f4 during the day 90% of the time when lighting is good. I then switch on the 55 in the evening for better low light performance and to be more discreet when taking to restaurants etc. But with 55mm if you are sitting at a restaurant and you want to take a photo of your partner then you need to move your seat back a good few feet in order to get a decently composed shot, which doesn't really help with being inconspicuous.
What I need to test out is if the 45mm would be wide enough that you dont need to move chairs back etc or if I get a back up 35mm for those instances. But preferably I wouldn't want to be swapping lenses when im out.
But the 55 is so damn sharp though. Dustin Abbot actually prefers the rendition of photos that the samyang 45 gives you over the 55 which is interesting.
get the 35mm is the best for go around lens.
I have the 55mm ( love it!) but am considering the Samyang as a good travel prime to supplement a Tamron 28-200 zoom lens along with the Tamron 17-28 f2.8.. Looking for a nice, light weight trio to cover most situations without too many lens swaps. Yes, I am dreaming about travelling again, ha, ha!
Zeiss 55f1.8 all way !! :)
If you find it at 600/700$ don't hesitate...They are not getting obsolete with the time
In Australia I found the Zeiss lens on sale for 798 AUD which is about 462 USD at the moment. Insane price. Do you reckon I should just go for the Zeiss?
Hell ya! Grab me one too!
I own the samyang 45mm love it.. its better than the viltrox brand.. i tried it in low light, still good!
I use to have the samyang 35 and 18mm 1.8, somehow I sold them eventually, IQ is good but below average build quality, I also got the 55mm, it is the sharpest lens I ever got, excellent build quality, for 600USD price for a standard prime lens, it’s a little bit expensive but it is very sharp even at 1.8, and metal built, total worth it.
do you not recommend the samyang 35 and 18mm 2.8? I have been wanting to buy them
Did the build affect images or handling in a negative way?
I don't own any of these two but honestly, I would pick the Samyang. Even if I had a ton of money. There is more to a lens than sharpness and build. The Samyang doesn't look sterile. It has flaws that make it better. A character. A soul. I find after looking at hundreds of samples from the Zeiss that it is simply not interesting. The Samyang has a tiny bit of the Canon 50mm 1.2 in it. Some kind of magic I can't put my finger on. It's just likeable.
Yeah that “character” is garbage build quality behind a company known for its terrible build quality. They look similar so I guess the Samyang is sterile too. The Zeiss beats the Samyang in every category. If you’re on a budget buy budget lenses (I would rather save up for a quality product though) if you can afford a quality product that will last a lifetime then buys Zeiss or Leica. Optics are basically the same these days for most lenses as most glass comes from a similar place. The build quality is where it matters today. Fast and metal! If you held the Zeiss I can guarantee you you would buy it over the Samyang. Samyang makes garbage quality lenses out of plastic (including the mounts 🤢). I own one and it’ll be my last. At least get a sigma over the Samyang they’re just not worth the $300-$600 when for a couple hundred more you can get quality used (or new) lenses that will last and will perform much much better. You are right that there is more to a lens than sharpness. Zeiss has much more than sharpness. And really? You’re going to claim that a quality built lens isn’t important? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Lens quality is important just like lens character, ca, lens flare, bokeh, color rendition, and detail. I put some Zeiss classics in front of my Sony a6300 and there’s a ton of color information coming through. Much more than my Sony lenses. Even my file sizes for my photos went up by about 3-4 MB/photo. All I have to do sometimes is add contrast and adjust exposure and the colors are amazing. Plus the Zeiss “pop” is real. You won’t see it on the internet and I thought it was fairy dust, fake statements to make Zeiss seem worth it. Until I used the Zeiss side by side with my other lenses. Zeiss renders the image very great and has amazing light transmission and just they way it exposes the image between the highlights and shadows is beautiful. Trust it seems like lies but it’s there once you use one. Trust me Zeiss usually tends to beat most lenses out there. I’ll admit this particular lens doesn’t have as much character as their classic ze/zf2 lineup but it still has got quite a bit. It almost looks like a cinema lens. The Samyang is clearly trying to be the Zeiss here and is probably what the lens is based off. I wouldn’t waste my time or money with a Samyang ever again unless it was a crash cam lol.
I love lenses with character, but I wouldn't say the Samyang is one of them. I own it, and it's nice (not incredible, but much better than Micah Ross makes it sound lol), but I'd say it's more for people who want something better than the Sony 50mm f/1.8, but can't afford/justify Sony's more expensive offerings (of which there are plenty). If you want something with character, grab some vintage manual focus lenses.
While I agree that bokeh is to a degree a matter of taste, in this case I think the Samyang is objetively the winner. Judging by the shots you presented the Sony's bokeh is a lot more busy and it suffers from the same issue the Sony 50mm 1.8 does, a quite hard transition into the blur. In fact it surprises me how similar the 55mm and the 50mm are in regard to bokeh.
6:18 Mistake: 82.5 and 67.5 are inverted
It happens 😀
Thanks for this. I can recommend you to do batis 40 and sony 35 1.8?, kind of similar lenses but there are no comparition of these two , thanks
Another good comparison thank you
bought a brand new 55mm with 470 USD last month, raelly good price atm
I think samyang is a great lens, but not have weather shield
which one is sharper ... zeiss 55 f1.8 or Sony fe 35mm f1.8 ... please answer ... thank you
The 55mm in my experience.
Bara, check out Christopher Frosts review of the 35 1.8. I believe he wasnt as impressed with the 35's performance compared to the 55.
DXOMARK is the best place to check the performance of the lenses also as Christopher Frosts channel ;)
@@MrsCap2 Christopher Frost is amazing!
Awesome! It is a thought decision for me at least.
Thanks a lot bro, really appreciate this.
Why wasn't the Samyang 50mm 1.4 used for this comparison?
I hear some people complain about noise (aperture changing) in the Sony. Have you experienced this? Mine is arriving next week and I just heard about this.
Great video.. you said the sony 55mm isnt the absolute fastest when auto-focusing.. what lens do you think is faster when autofocusing? Im keen on the 55mm.. but im interested and considering faster auto-focusing options.
55 is a beast. No contest between the two 😉
I own this Zeiss and it’s just as fast as all my sony lenses. Zeiss and Sony are in business with each other. It’s probably Zeiss optics and build with Sony’s autofocusing.
Different semples( is's hard to compare image and focusing
great comparison! thanks
good vid thanks! Rokinon 18mm f2.8 vs zeiss batis 18mm?
Budget!
6:17
You got the bottom two pics the wrong way round.
It happens.. 😜
How does it compare with Sony 50 1.8 ?
Check out my comparison on that.
Samyang is damn close to being as good for a 3rd of the price
you own a very nice dog, My coment 555
Sehr guter Test, Thank YOU :)
i owned the samyang, the sharpness was not that impressing, focusing not impressing, but shooting straight against the lights in stage in concerts was a horror, totally useless,,, and for manual focusing the focus was not easy enough,,, now i got the zeiss , its wonderful,, very sharp allready at 1.8, build quality is fantastic,,, and focusing precise and fast enough for the most
i values bokeh with character and personality very high, often using vintage lenses because of their very different bokeh results,,,, so i will descripe both samyang and zeiss bokeh uninteresting, actually boring,,, the both deliver fine result, but without anything interesting and extra ordinary,,, but i still love my zeiss,,its almost glued to my camera
Min 6:10, the so call 3D pop is really there.
Samyang: Minus one point for ugly hoods.
18mm 24mm and 45mm
And tiny!
6:21 APS-C pics are inverted
Sony look sharper
I got the 55 Zeiss. I regret nothing
Good call
Zeiss is Zeiss.