Zeiss vs Rokinon 35mm f/2.8 FE Compact Lens Battle! 

LOVE the fact that you had auto focus motor sound samples!!!! thank you!!!!!

I've been looking, but this is the only good comparison video I was able to find. Thanks for a great review!

Thanks mate, nice review of these two...

Thanks for the review man, very helpful!

Great review, thanks bro

Soo good to see your uploading again ! I used to watch you back in the day when you collected statues and video games you used to have an awesome gaming bedroom are you still into that sort of stuff if so do an updated room tour

A really good review! Thank you!

Was going to buy the Samyang, but found a very nicely priced used version of the Zeiss. Thanks for the comparison, it made picking the Zeiss a no brainer.

those photos were just beautiful! leaning towards the zeiss coz of better lowlight performance! thanks for sharing!

Awesome review man thanks!!

Love this review, only thing is my Rokinon was a lot quieter than the one in this vid. Silence is a big deal for me especially because I took my camera to some camera-shy countries and my Rokinon was unnoticeable.

first time watching your video, great work, very clear information, thank you! got yourself subscriber

Thanks for the detailed comparison! I’ve been debating getting one of the two to pair up with my A7C as an ultra compact, unobtrusive travel beast. I think optically I’d be happy with either, but I have three Samyang lenses already and I’m getting tired of the plastic construction. Seeing both of these side by side made it really easy to get an idea of the size difference in real life. Seems like a used Zeiss is the way to go for me, even though the Samyang/Rokinon is certainly fantastic for the price. But the build quality alone is a serious argument for me to go for the more expensive option.

I bought both of these lenses used for $170 and $380 respectively on eBay in excellent shape. After shooting both for awhile, I let the Samyang go to its next owner. Your conclusions about the Samy’s dodgy AF in low light are the same as mine, even on the current firmware 😔. To your point, the Samyang does **not** do well at night with flare, particularly when you take long exposures on a tripod (and that’s a big part of my hobbyist use)... the Sony must have some kind of proprietary coatings on the elements that the Samy misses out on, and in specific low light conditions, you see it. So yeah, I’m now on the Sony 35mm and it’s been awesome. My wife called it “a short stack of pancakes” when I called it a pancake... I guess she’s right 😂 Most often, I pair the “Zony” 35mm with my Tam 28-200 superzoom.

I paid 359 EUR for it, it was a bargain back into late 2017, and now...you can get this Lens for just 130-150 EUR being used, mint condition. There's no cheaper, better 35mm F2.8 Lens with AF for such low price. /edit This Samyang/Rokikon became really being better with AF & Co, with latest firmware. I always updated the Firmware, current State is v06.

What a nice review!

Very detailed review, cover nighttime shooting where bunch of reviewers ignore!! I came here for Samyang but I am intrigued by the Zeiss now. I can find a used Samyang for USD140 and a used Zeiss for $320, will consider the latter now.

Well done 👊👊💥💥

Nice. I hope circa is in a future video.

comprehensive review.

Great video

Love that Salty Cracker theme music!👌

You are not comparing them fairly as you don't use side by side samples taken of the same subject, from the same place, at the same settings and lighting conditions and then blown up to at least 200% so it's easier for viewers to pixel peep. Dustin Abbots review showed the Samyang (it's only called Rokinon in the States...Everywhere else in the world it's Samyang) actually has virtually silent AF, unlike yours, so yours is either a faulty copy that may have been dropped before you got it damaging the AF mechanism and making it noisy, or it's an older model of the 35/2.8 that was not fitted with current linear AF motor, which is virtually silent in use...Therefore this review cannot be relied on. BTW, the Samyang AF 35/2.8 F is officially the lightest AF lens in the world (it weighs less that 90g!) so as the ideal 35mm travel lens, the Samyang leaves the Zeiss in the dust. Also, make sure you update your Samyang lenses FW...This video is 3 years old now and they are up to FW v0.7 now which could have made a big difference from the FW in use when this video was made. For example, my Samyang AF 18mm f2.8 FE came with FW V0.1 installed and it had noticable vignetting in the corners or frame...I updated it to FW V0.6 and the vignetting is no longer visible!

I will say, i dropped my samyang 35/2.8 from about 5 ft onto cement. It bounced. put a little mark on the hood but it works perfectly still.

Has anyone heard about Rokinon's bug that when trying to upgrade the firmware, it may fail and you lose all your lens electronic capabilities with no hope to recover it in any way? That is one big No-No if true. So Please share your opinion and experience here.

Circa!!!!!

Can you do a boudoir shot with your model

I'm looking for a lens for street photography. What do you think about compare Zeiss 35/2.8 and Samyang 35/1.8?

I have tamron 28-75 but as you say I wanted a even smaller lens. I did have the samyang long ago, construction suck, noise when focus, yes sharp, but the zeiss can be found for under 400 (320 mine), well, I’m extremely please much much better all around lens than the samyang. And bu the way I’m putting life guard skin on all my lenses .

Nice nice. What does circa think of it?

Is this on the latest firmware for the rokinon?

the only thing i wasnt a fan off was the "flare" comparaison since one was direct sunlight compared to the second shot , otherwise really good review , yes i'm late to the party , i'm the awkward kid :'(

dope review.! but iam still undecided between these two vs tamron 35f2.8

I don't have samyang now but motor noise is not a problem.

which one of these for videos with a7iii?

Zeiss win

It is just me or did I notice that the Zeiss seems to have a kind unique look in the images a kind of vintage color look?

In my country (Thailand) you can get first hand Samyang as cheap as 130 USD

Well man Im about to purchase a lens for my 7iii and have these two in sight, I want quality so Im getting Zeiss, cant post a photo with a 1900€ camera mounting 250€ lens.

Nice music. Rly

did you move to a new house?

Zeiss for that "3D Pop"😶

A few month ago here in 2023 I bought the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar 35mm 2.8 ZA T* (T-Star Multicoating) used for US$215 (taxes included), it is a very good Lens and I can recommend it (I would never buy a cheap quality as the Rokinon/Samyang 35mm 2.8 !)