I just picked up these directly from China for $100. Just took it out for a spin today. Decent id say, lightweight and great bang for the buck if you're just starting out in the 35-50mm.
Totally agree, Viltrox made a huge leap and they've pretty much caught up with other leading 3rd party manufacturers. Even with these more affordable lenses.
Hey, I was wondering, in video mode. Does the aperture clicks or smoothly transition? ----- I have a Sony 20mm G, it does not do that, whereas the Samyang 35mm prime does ----- My camera is on a constant 4k 60fps, 1/100 shutter and manual ISO, I usually let the aperture does it's thing to close and open to automatically adjust to +1.7EV for Slog 3 for run and gun set up. What I mean is that for the Samyang you can see the aperture clicks and the lighting keeps getting brighter and darker in "steps" ---- whereas the Sony 20mm G does it very smoothly
Just did a quick test in manual and auto mode and thought the exposure change looked smooth in auto mode. When changing it manually and jumping between various amounts of steps on the dial i could sometimes see a slightly more sudden change which makes sense I think when you rotate a clicked wheel... This was on my FX30
@@thomasfransson Thank you Thomas for testing it! Yes it does make sense to have a sudden change in exposure. with my 20mm G, at 1/100 and ISO12800 indoors with the a7siii and auto aperture --- when I point from the lights to somewhere dark, as the aperture opens up larger to compensate for the +1.7EV in light loss, it is so smooth. For the Samyang 35mm 2.8, you can see the incremental clicks as it does that, it's very jarring to watch on play back. Thank you again for testing it out!
I see. Definitely no incremental changes on this one as far as I could see when pointing the camera out the window and then to a dark area indoors. Or covering the lens with the hand. Not sure if it'll be as smooth as your G lens but from what I've gathered Definitely better than your Samyang.
Great post, but I just wanted to say, I love how you tested out the focus, especially around like 3:30 or so. I felt like when you play "peek a boo" with a baby. Just quaint and wonderful. I liked your post very much.
I got this and I found the focus compatibility with my Sony A7iii not so great. Slow, lots of breathing when I tried to use it in some scenarios. I tried all the methods to update the firmware but it didn't work. Returned it.
Good to know for a7iii users. It works perfect on my a7iv and FX30 which are a bit newer and I believe uses another AF system compared to the a7iii. The amount of focus breathing shouldn't change though...
@ correction, the worst breathing was on my a7ii, which I use as a webcam. Maybe they optimized it for the most recent af systems? I think putting a budget lense like this on an older body seems more realistic.
7:29 Was this shot on apsc or FF? That focusing at 30cm looks really good to me and if this was on FF, I might consider getting that. I am looking for a decent lens for scanning my 35mm analog negatives and mostly it is recommended to buy a vintage macro, but if this does the job, for 150 euros I would get a scanning lens + a nice nifty-fourty (lol). That would be huge!
If dslr scanning is the primary use I'd still recommend a 1:1 macro as you'll be losing a lot of resolution by cropping on a regular prime. Unless you're OK with that. I've used a 1:2 macro in the past and recently switched to a 1:1 for my scanning. It made a huge difference as I can fill the entire frame with the negative (plus a few pixels for straightening) vs cropping away 50% and not being able to make sure it’s in perfect focus even with focus magnification it was hard on the 1:2
@@thomasfransson Alright, thank you! May I ask what lens you are using for scanning? I don't want to spend hundreds on a macro lens. I try to get a vintage one but I have zero clue which ones will be fine...
I'm using my Fujifilm X-T4 for scanning (aps-c) and recently got the TTARTISAN 40mm 1:1 macro that works really well. It's about 60mm ff equivalent. If you have an aps-c camera or able to shot in crop mode, you can pick one up for $€/99 on their website I've seen a lot of people using vintage nikon macro lenses. Also, have you looked into macro extension tube's?
@@thomasfranssonYea extension tubes arent it sadly. I've seen bunch of videos that show that they aren't good for scanning. :/ But the 100$ tag sounds great for the TTArtisan! Would you mind sharing an example scan or so? Would be awesome! Tbh idk where but maybe you have uploaded one on instagram or so. If that lens is nice I will probably buy it! 100$ were also my price imagination for a vintage lens that would do the job but if I get a "new" one for the price i'll get that. I use an a6400 (apsc) with 24MP.
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Wow, for $168 it's a pretty stellar performer. Love your color grading too!
I just picked up these directly from China for $100. Just took it out for a spin today. Decent id say, lightweight and great bang for the buck if you're just starting out in the 35-50mm.
Totally agree, Viltrox made a huge leap and they've pretty much caught up with other leading 3rd party manufacturers. Even with these more affordable lenses.
Might be the one i bring for my upcoming Japan trip with my FX3. Nice video!
That would probably be a great pick
Hey, I was wondering, in video mode. Does the aperture clicks or smoothly transition? ----- I have a Sony 20mm G, it does not do that, whereas the Samyang 35mm prime does ----- My camera is on a constant 4k 60fps, 1/100 shutter and manual ISO, I usually let the aperture does it's thing to close and open to automatically adjust to +1.7EV for Slog 3 for run and gun set up.
What I mean is that for the Samyang you can see the aperture clicks and the lighting keeps getting brighter and darker in "steps" ---- whereas the Sony 20mm G does it very smoothly
Just did a quick test in manual and auto mode and thought the exposure change looked smooth in auto mode. When changing it manually and jumping between various amounts of steps on the dial i could sometimes see a slightly more sudden change which makes sense I think when you rotate a clicked wheel...
This was on my FX30
@@thomasfransson Thank you Thomas for testing it! Yes it does make sense to have a sudden change in exposure.
with my 20mm G, at 1/100 and ISO12800 indoors with the a7siii and auto aperture --- when I point from the lights to somewhere dark, as the aperture opens up larger to compensate for the +1.7EV in light loss, it is so smooth.
For the Samyang 35mm 2.8, you can see the incremental clicks as it does that, it's very jarring to watch on play back.
Thank you again for testing it out!
I see. Definitely no incremental changes on this one as far as I could see when pointing the camera out the window and then to a dark area indoors. Or covering the lens with the hand. Not sure if it'll be as smooth as your G lens but from what I've gathered Definitely better than your Samyang.
@@thomasfransson Okay! Thank you so much for your help!
Happy to help
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Great post, but I just wanted to say, I love how you tested out the focus, especially around like 3:30 or so. I felt like when you play "peek a boo" with a baby. Just quaint and wonderful. I liked your post very much.
Thank you Chris
I got this and I found the focus compatibility with my Sony A7iii not so great. Slow, lots of breathing when I tried to use it in some scenarios. I tried all the methods to update the firmware but it didn't work. Returned it.
Good to know for a7iii users. It works perfect on my a7iv and FX30 which are a bit newer and I believe uses another AF system compared to the a7iii. The amount of focus breathing shouldn't change though...
@ correction, the worst breathing was on my a7ii, which I use as a webcam. Maybe they optimized it for the most recent af systems? I think putting a budget lense like this on an older body seems more realistic.
7:29 Was this shot on apsc or FF? That focusing at 30cm looks really good to me and if this was on FF, I might consider getting that.
I am looking for a decent lens for scanning my 35mm analog negatives and mostly it is recommended to buy a vintage macro, but if this does the job, for 150 euros I would get a scanning lens + a nice nifty-fourty (lol). That would be huge!
If dslr scanning is the primary use I'd still recommend a 1:1 macro as you'll be losing a lot of resolution by cropping on a regular prime. Unless you're OK with that. I've used a 1:2 macro in the past and recently switched to a 1:1 for my scanning. It made a huge difference as I can fill the entire frame with the negative (plus a few pixels for straightening) vs cropping away 50% and not being able to make sure it’s in perfect focus even with focus magnification it was hard on the 1:2
@@thomasfransson Alright, thank you! May I ask what lens you are using for scanning? I don't want to spend hundreds on a macro lens. I try to get a vintage one but I have zero clue which ones will be fine...
I'm using my Fujifilm X-T4 for scanning (aps-c) and recently got the TTARTISAN 40mm 1:1 macro that works really well.
It's about 60mm ff equivalent.
If you have an aps-c camera or able to shot in crop mode, you can pick one up for $€/99 on their website
I've seen a lot of people using vintage nikon macro lenses. Also, have you looked into macro extension tube's?
@@thomasfranssonYea extension tubes arent it sadly. I've seen bunch of videos that show that they aren't good for scanning. :/
But the 100$ tag sounds great for the TTArtisan! Would you mind sharing an example scan or so? Would be awesome! Tbh idk where but maybe you have uploaded one on instagram or so.
If that lens is nice I will probably buy it! 100$ were also my price imagination for a vintage lens that would do the job but if I get a "new" one for the price i'll get that.
I use an a6400 (apsc) with 24MP.
OMG, first comment, thank you for all your helpful videos! 😃
Congratulations!
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