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

Should you pick up the Zeiss Sonnar T* ZA or Samyang/Rokinon?
A few sample shots before 4:00, most are after 4:24 into video
Sony Zeiss Sonnar ZA 35mm f/2.8: amzn.to/2K4qgZF
Rokinon 35mm f2.8: amzn.to/2EQQoD5
Samyang 35mm f2.8: amzn.to/2MAYANW
antnie.com
/ antnie
/ theantnie
Music from filmmusic.io:
"Bummin on Tremelo" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
"In Your Arms" by Kevin MacLeod
Licence: CC BY (creativecommons...)

[@1025mahoney]

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

[@temujen]

The Rokinon sounded like a fax machine 😂

[@Kelkschiz]

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

[@logitech4873]

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.

[@Antnie]

Always gotta be checking the used market for lenses

[@rickbiessman6084]

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.

[@MikeLikesChannel]

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.

[@Antnie]

I too let the Samyang go to another owner. I know that the Sony uses Zeiss's T* lens coating, which is highly renowned for its flare resistance.

[@MikeLikesChannel]

@@Antnie Yep, I just had it out this weekend again -- no flare issues whatsoever.

[@chesslover8829]

A new Sony/Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 is now selling for $600 on B&H. While some might consider that price to be too high, it's far lower than the cost of any new Leica lens by a considerable margin. My concern with Samyang/Rokinon is their quality control and budget-minded lens materials. While I'm sure professional lens reviewers get cherry-picked samples to test, which results in glowing comments and hearty recommendations, consumers get off-the-shelf units. As such, there are a number of online posts of people complaining about noisy or sketchy autofocus performance, unacceptable lateral chromatic abbreviation, and decentered lens elements. Many consumers do love their Samyang/Rokinon lenses, most likely because they got a good copy at a low retail price.

[@qwertyuiop123-q7f]

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.

[@Antnie]

Maybe I got a bad model. Thanks for watching

[@ronaldjohnston7989]

Well done! Not only excellent content but truly wonderful music to boot. I just purchased a used Sony Zeiss version for a tad under $300 today...can't wait to try it out on my A7II and A7RII (and A6500 in APSC). I just subscribed and look forward to watching more of your videos...many thanks! Ron J

[@marcp.1752]

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.

[@DieCastErn]

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.

[@Antnie]

Thanks for watching the review!

[@weareyesyesyes]

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.

[@Antnie]

Don’t try repeating your test

[@samsen3965]

@@Antnie Hah hah.

[@anthonyrouse8014]

Thanks mate, nice review of these two...

[@karim1108]

A really good review! Thank you!

[@Antnie]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MrFredericks.]

Great review, thanks bro

[@jakebufton9930]

Thanks for the review man, very helpful!

[@JustinEspejo]

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

[@babylion1234]

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

[@MarttiSuomivuori]

What a nice review!

[@alfoutdoors9660]

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!

[@bennieferinga9609]

Now, after one more year, the Samyang is on firmware v.08 😊 I think it's great that they still update the firmware.

[@adventure_photo]

Love that Salty Cracker theme music!👌

[@iiJordan]

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

[@ChannelParodies]

Great video

[@JonniArmani]

Well done 👊👊💥💥

[@Antnie]

Thank you so much!

[@yttean98]

comprehensive review.

[@RyanSotelo]

Awesome review man thanks!!

[@Antnie]

Thanks for taking a look!

[@toasty-toast]

Can you do a boudoir shot with your model

[@mr4ex]

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

[@cameraprepper7938]

Get the Zeiss ! I just got a used Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar 35mm 2.8 ZA for US$215, I like it a lot, very good image quality, small, compact and light, a real little gem, so it sits always on one of my Cameras as if it was a camera body cap, ready to shoot. I can highly recommend this Lens !

[@charruaporelmundo]

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 .

[@Antnie]

I agree, if you can find a used Zeiss for cheap it’s better to spend that extra $100 over the Samyang/rokinon

[@talhashah]

I am in the same boat as you. Got 28-75, but want a smaller pancake style lens for keeping my camera in my laptop bag all the time, so I get to shoot more. Zeiss is going for about $320 to $400 used and Rokinon/Samyang is going for about $150 to $170 used. That makes used Rokinon less than half the price of used Zeiss. For performance and price of Rokinon, it is hard to justify double the price of Zeiss, but I am still leaning towards Zeiss. I have Zeiss Batis 85 and I love its rendering and colors.

[@charruaporelmundo]

Talha Shah When you talk double the price, ok, one thing would be when the lens was at 600-800 usd, but around 350!?. Zeiss all the way and you’ll get the point once you have both in your hand. For more perspective , If somebody gift me the samyang, I’ll sell it and buy the zeiss

[@talhashah]

@@charruaporelmundo Yeah. Zeiss colors and renditions are just something else. I like that background rendering of this lens is better than Sony FE f/1.8 (the lens that's tanking the value of Zeiss, thanks Sony). Keeping an eye out for a used Zeiss in good condition. I will have it soon.

[@lucca_lee]

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

[@Antnie]

Deal

[@toasty-toast]

Can we see a Rokinon vs iPhone shootout

[@kannonfps]

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 :'(

[@Antnie]

Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed the review. No worries on being late, always glad to have you!

[@applesamsungg2263]

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

[@Antnie]

Maybe you got a good copy.

[@samsen3965]

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.

[@garmithegingerninja6573]

Nice. I hope circa is in a future video.

[@olegasphoto]

Nice music. Rly

[@Antnie]

Thanks for stopping by

[@cameraprepper7938]

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 !)

[@phamha8184]

Me too in 2024. I just bought used one together with A7C II.

[@ostricalungimirante]

Come back to Italy!

[@Mytabernacleisinher]

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.

[@Antnie]

You can get the Zeiss for such a good prices on the used market!

[@alfoutdoors9660]

Lens price has no bearing on optical quality...The Samyang AF 24mm f1.8 FE is better than the Sony FE 24mm f1.4 GM but it's three times cheaper! With Sony and Zeiss you are just paying for the name, not for better quality glass.

[@ekkanofiqandriyana7325]

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

[@Antnie]

I’d love to test out/compare some of those tamron lenses

[@talhashah]

Tamron is better than Zeiss and Rokinon except the AF motor sound and AF speed. It is sharper and focus a lot closer than Zeiss. Construction of Tamron is plastic and build quality is not quite on par with Zeiss. Tamron is also significantly bigger than Zeiss, so if you are looking for a pancake lens, Tamron is not the lens for you. Take a look at DPreview TV video on this topic.

[@Forde-Photos]

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?

[@Antnie]

I notice it too, I really enjoy this lens.

[@etnarc]

Circa!!!!!

[@lmp_in]

which one of these for videos with a7iii?

[@Antnie]

I’d say the Zeiss

[@elliotandal6563]

Zeiss for that "3D Pop"😶

[@garmithegingerninja6573]

Nice nice. What does circa think of it?

[@Antnie]

I’ve taken dozens of pictures of her with this lens, when I show her the photos or lens, she just meows and runs to the kitchen for treats. I don’t think she is a fan of it.

[@thecrazyman7213]

did you move to a new house?

[@Antnie]

Yes, actually moving again right now. Should be in our new place within a month.

[@BigBaoSmallBao]

Is this on the latest firmware for the rokinon?

[@Antnie]

Yes

[@Specialsixtactics]

Zeiss win