Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 ED Aspherical Lens for Canon EF

Needed a lens for the sole purpose of astrophotography and was recommended this lens. Did some research and heard a lot of good about this lens and Rokinon as a whole. The main complaint I found was that the infinity focus was not accurate (refer to pic 5) . Someone recommended shooting in the day to find the so called sweet spot. Once you find it and mark it the rest of the rest of your photos should turn out good. The lens is rather large and heavy compared to my other lenses. But it feels very good in your hands when shooting on the move. On a an average tripod it tends to sag a little. Might be worth looking into a tripod mount ring. This was my first manual lens and after using it I have a greater appreciation for my AF lenses. It was difficult at first to dial in the focus but with practice it becomes second nature. The bokeh this lens produces is very nice and so are the natural colors. I did notice some darkening of the edges but not horrible, easily removable in post. One thing that helped me during the day to find the sweet spot was the focus magnifier on my A7RII. Now that I have the lens somewhat figured out I plan on using it for its original purpose, astrophotography. Overall I love the feel of the lens, in no way does it feel cheaply made. Even the hood and lens cap feel sturdy. The quality is good so far, not the best (personal experience) but you get what you pay for. The only minor downside I found so far is that the camera will not pic up which f stop its your using. So you will have to go into details and add it in yourself. I will add an update for the night and low light performance once completed. Also in the description and box it shows F stop but on the lens it shows T stop. Anyone care to answer which one it actually is?Update: Got around to using it at night in the city and it performed better than I expected. There is a little bit of distortion going on but not enough that its unusable (last picture). Next update will be the critical stars test

OK, so it's not a Nikon 14-24 f2.8, we all know that. But for the price, I think it's the highest image quality at the lowest price point you're going to find. The build quality is at least what you'd expect from a lens of this price, if not a bit more. I like the wide focus ring. I'd say the image quality suffers a bit at 1.4, but from 2.0 on the results are fantastic. The lens is very sharp across the field and very easy to focus given its large focus ring sweep. It does communicate with my Nikon D610 and displays the focus confirmation dot in the viewfinder.Interesting note: If I focus past my subject and pull focus to my subject until the focus indicator lights up, my pictures are not perfectly crisp. However, if I focus nearer than my subject then focus out to it until the focus indicator lights up, my photos are perfectly sharp. Something to try if you get or own this lens.

I own the Rokinon 85mm, 35mm as well as the Tokina 11-16. This is the 4th lens I've purchased for DSLR Videography projects and I bought it because of the wider angle and extra shallow depth of field/bokeh it can give at 1.4 on my crop sensor 550D.Pros:1.Lens is fast and equivalent to a full frame on a crop sensor.2.Wide F1.4 Great Bokeh. Excellent Low Light Capabilities...Did I mention bokeh..yea bokeh. yum3.Thick Focus Ring like all Rokinons. For easy follow focus additions4.Cheaper than any 1.4 Canon with comparible optics. This is a steal. Clients won't know thedifference and they would have to be a camera lens enthuisiast to tell.Cons:1.This IS a manual lens but for Videography you can't Auto Focusanyway which is alright with me. When doing photography I use a magnetic viewfinderfor precision at f1.42. F1.4 is Extremely soft tho. In comparison to the Rokinon 85mm at 1.4 which is very sharp, this lensfails. Its seems a tad bit dreamy but when stopped down to f4-5.6 it gets dead sharpThe comparison between the 85mm at 1.4 is a bit frustrating which isthe only reason I took 1 star away. Clients will not notice softness with mixed video footage.and bokeh just makes everything look extra professional to them..gotta love that bokeh.Conclusion:This is an essential lens for cropped sensor camera buyers on a budget. Lens is a well made and will give you wider shots with great Depth of Field. I recommend this lens and the 85mm rokinon. I would have skipped the 35mm rokinon for this lens. Make sure your lighting doesn't suck because slight over exposure enhances the 1.4 softness. (I shoot everything at 1.4,manual iso because I love bokeh.) Be careful..Did I mention bokeh?..yea bokeh.

I'd like to start this review stating that I'm upgrading from the kit lens so my experience with high quality lenses is limited.Physical build: it's heavy, we'll made, large and in charge. I can't see myself breaking this anytime soon! And please trust everyone when they say that you won't miss auto focus because of the smooth manual focus!!!Picture quality: not too big an upgrade from the kit lens (this is only because crop sensor) but the f/1.4 is absolutely amazing and it's still very sharp and love the pictures I've gotten so far!!!Final thoughts: I F@@@@@@ LOVE THIS LENS!! It looks professional and is just pleasing to hold. The pictures turn out great and the 1.4 aperture is just amazing, however it is a little soft wide open. And the price point is just the cherry on top. 5/5 would really recommend! (Assuming you don't get a bad copy)