I’ve been very excited since the announcement of a new high end line from Korean lens maker Samyang (Rokinon).  Samyang/Rokinon has developed a brand built upon delivering very good optical performance in an inexpensive package.  They (like Zeiss) have primarily produced manual focus only lenses, and this lens along with the newly announced 14mm f/2.4 lens are no exception.  What has changed, however, is that this new SP (Special Performance) line features exceptionally large apertures for the focal lengths (f/1.2, and f/2.4 at 14mm is very wide) and much, much higher grade of build quality.  The new Rokinon SP 85mm f/1.2 has a build quality matched only by the Zeiss Otus and Milvus lines, which is to say exceptional.  Also new is that the aperture diaphragm is electromagnetically controlled, meaning that you now can control the aperture setting from within the body and have a focus confirm chip…all just like Zeiss.  This is shaping up to be an impressive lens, and I’ll be thoroughly covering it over the next few weeks.  You can have a sneak peek at my first look video below along with seeing images of the lens and those captured on an ongoing basis in my review process.  Enjoy!

Images of the Rokinon (Samyang) SP 85mm f/1.2:

Images Taken with the Rokinon (Samyang) SP 85mm f/1.2:

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