Rokinon or Pentax?

[smoke665]

I've been eying the Rokinon f/1.4 85mm as an addition to the bag, but recently the option has come up to by a good used Pentax f/2.4 70 mm limited, for the same money. Any comments other then auto focus?

 

[tirediron]

I would lean toward the Pentax unless (1) You need f1.4; or (2) you need 85mm. Rokinon lenses are surprisingly decent for what they are, BUT... like most of the uber-cheap third-party gear, their are a LOT of QC issues, and two lenses that came off the same assembly line on the same day an have wildly different performance characteristics. Penxtax, on the other hand has always produced really good glass with excellent build and optical quality overall.

 

[smoke665]

@tirediron at over $200 price difference, I'd probably lean more toward the Rokinon, but at dollar for dollar, plus the added convenience of the A/F it's hard to not go Pentax.

 

[pez]

Deal with a manual focus, kind of touchy Rokinon, instead of the far lighter and way more compact all-metal 70mm Ltd goodness for just another $200?? Never!
(well, I admittedly do own a Rokinon 8mm fisheye and it has surely been great fun, but I really would rather have the Pentax 10-17 or the Sigma 10-20...)

 

[Gary A.]

When I was shooting for money, the 85mm was possibly the most used lens I had. While you can get by easily using manual focus for formal portraits, (presuming that is what you are planning). The 85mm is wonderful for environmental portraits where AF will most certainly increase one's keep rate.

 

[Derrel]

On aps-c, the 70mm would be totally sweet, plus a too grade build item. Rokinon has many QC issues, but good optics.

 

[Gary A.]

I have the Rokinon 8mm fish, it is wonderfully sharp and seems to be well built with all metal construction. But I fully understand QC questions and that my experience is anecdotal.

 

[smoke665]

Well I snoozed and lost on the Pentax 70, so I'm back to square one, looking for another lens. Still comparing the Pentax to Rokinon and the Samyang, I noticed that the Pentax 70 is only compatible with the Pentax Digital (APS-C), while on the Rokinon & Samyang they are compatible with 35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor & DSLR (APS-C Sensor). So now I'm thinking I might want to lean back toward the Rokinon or Samyang because the K1 body is really starting to whisper (buy me!)

 

[pez]

Well I snoozed and lost on the Pentax 70, so I'm back to square one, looking for another lens. Still comparing the Pentax to Rokinon and the Samyang, I noticed that the Pentax 70 is only compatible with the Pentax Digital (APS-C), while on the Rokinon & Samyang they are compatible with 35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor & DSLR (APS-C Sensor). So now I'm thinking I might want to lean back toward the Rokinon or Samyang because the K1 body is really starting to whisper (buy me!)

DA70 Ltd works on K-1

 

[smoke665]

After all the back and forth, finally found a DA 70 mm ltd. that was in my budget, on order now should be here Wed. Anxious to get my hands on it!