OK, let’s get the important things out of the way first. This lens is Manual Focus only, and will work in Manual exposure mode only on the following DSLRs: D40/D40x, D50, D60, D70/D70s, D80 or D90. With the D200, D300, D700, D3/D3x you also have the use of Aperture-priority mode. The good news is, if you can deal with focusing and metering manually (and they’re good things to learn anyway), for a couple of hundred you’ll bag yourself a cracking lens that in many ways outperforms the the £800 Nikon 1.4.

The Samyang 85mm F/1.4 multi-coated aspherical lens, to give it it’s full name, is actually sold under many different names including Bower, Falcon, Polar, Rokinon, Sakar, Walimex and Vivitar – all these lenses are the same apart from the barrel finish. My copy was badged as a Samyang, and was purchased from a Polish seller on eBay for £215 including (surprisingly fast and fully insured) delivery. It comes in a with a lens hood, soft pouch, and instruction manual. It has a good, solid feel to it, weighing in at 513g. Build quality seems very good, with the lens featuring a non-rotating front element, and a good smooth action on the focusing ring. Minimum focusing distance is a respectable 1m (3.3ft), and the lens’ 8-bladed aperture allows for nice smooth out-of-focus elements. So, what you’re all dying to know is, how does it perform? Well, decide for yourself. At the bottom of this post I have uploaded a couple of example photos, shot wide-open at f1.4.

The lens, like any other 1.4 lens, does exhibit chromatic aberrations, yet these are automatically corrected in-camera if, like me, you are lucky enough to own a D90. Colour rendition is, in my opinion, is not great, but acceptable.

+ Price
+ Good build-quality
+ Razor-sharp at f/1.4

- Chromatic aberrations (typical of any 1.4 lens)
- Slightly disappointing colour rendition
- Not as sharp stopped-down

D90 @ f/1.4, 1/2500, ISO 200

D90 @ f/1.4, 1/2500, ISO 200 (100% crop)

D90 @ f/1.4, 1/2500, ISO 200

D90 @ f/1.4, 1/2500, ISO 200 (100% crop)