Bower Lens

[cjstarr]

What are your opinions on this lens?
It is one that I never see that much information posted about here.

I'm looking one that is new, 85mm f/1.4 .
On my Sony a57 that would be a 135mm I think.

 

[havoc315]

Haven't used it. It would be 127mm equivalent. Love the focal length for outdoor portraits and head shots.
The Bower/Rokinon does get excellent reviews on dyxum. But it is manual focus only.
If you don't -need- the 1.4 aperture, the Sony 85/2.8 is an excellent prime lens. About the same price, slightly slower, but with SAM autofocus. With my vision, I try to avoid manual focus.

 

[wiigirl]

Haven't used it. It would be 127mm equivalent. Love the focal length for outdoor portraits and head shots.
The Bower/Rokinon does get excellent reviews on dyxum. But it is manual focus only.
If you don't -need- the 1.4 aperture, the Sony 85/2.8 is an excellent prime lens. About the same price, slightly slower, but with SAM autofocus. With my vision, I try to avoid manual focus.

Thanks!

 

[photo_chick]

I have the Rokinon branded 85, Canon mount. It's awesome. Sharp, great contrast, good color reproduction, OOF highlights rendered nicely. If you're good with manual focus it's an awesome lens for the price.

 

[HPS3]

Its an excellent lens and sharp at 1.4. The trick is focusing wide open. I used it on a Nex 7 with peaking. I'm not sure if the A57 has focus peaking but it works wonders along with focus zooming.

Wide open on a Nex 7.


Libby by Harry Shields, on Flickr

 

[cjstarr]

Haven't used it. It would be 127mm equivalent. Love the focal length for outdoor portraits and head shots.
The Bower/Rokinon does get excellent reviews on dyxum. But it is manual focus only.
If you don't -need- the 1.4 aperture, the Sony 85/2.8 is an excellent prime lens. About the same price, slightly slower, but with SAM autofocus. With my vision, I try to avoid manual focus.

havoc315 do you have any information on this lens;

EXC+ Sigma 90mm AF f/2.8 MACRO Lens for Sony.

Thanks

 

[havoc315]

havoc315 do you have any information on this lens;

EXC+ Sigma 90mm AF f/2.8 MACRO Lens for Sony.

Thanks

You can take a look at Dyxum, I don't really know that lens. But be warned that some older Sigma lenses are not fully compatible with Sony dSLTs.

For my Macro, I use a Minolta 50/2.8 which I love. Though some people prefer a longer focal length for Macro, such as the 90. The working distance on the 50 can sometimes be a bit toooo close... If you want to shoot insects, a 90 or 100mm would be a better choice.

 

[HPS3]

Cjstarr, the Tamron 90 gets great reviews. I would try a set of extension tubes or Raynox DCR-150 first to find out if you like macro photography. Its a cheaper way to get started. Remember that on a macro lens when you focus closer than a set distance your aperture automatically gets smaller. I had a Tamron 60 f2, which is amazing, and could only use f2 at distances greater than 10 feet I think.