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Samyang 135 f/2 vs. Sony 70-200 F4 G


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Hi there, 

 

Long time lurker/first time poster here. Before anyone gets all up in a hoot, I do know and understand the obvious differences between these lenses i.e. price, AF/MF, aperture etc... that being said I am currently trying to decide between the 2.  I need something on the long end and price is not a huge concern for me at the moment.  I am wondering if anyone has experience with both of these lenses and how they stack up in terms of IQ, sharpness, CA, bokeh etc...

 

I own many manual focus lenses and while auto focus is always welcomed in my book it is not a must.  Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks in advance!

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I have both, and shoot them with my A7II. If I could choose only one, it would be the Samyang 135, for the much lower price, also it's as sharp as the 70-200/4 at 135mm (which is it's sweet spot), and also because of the increased shallow DOF and MFD capability. The MF is a breeze on the A7II given the IBIS and focus peaking. 

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I have both, and shoot them with my A7II. If I could choose only one, it would be the Samyang 135, for the much lower price, also it's as sharp as the 70-200/4 at 135mm (which is it's sweet spot), and also because of the increased shallow DOF and MFD capability. The MF is a breeze on the A7II given the IBIS and focus peaking. 

 

Thanks for your reply.  That is sort of what I was afraid of... ha!  I want to want the 70-200 but everything I am reading about the 135 sounds and looks so great!

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    • Hmm that's pretty dreadful indeed... My 18-105 for sure is sharper than that. If I have time tomorrow I'll shoot an example with mine at 40mm f/8 side by side with the 16-55. Sold my kit lens when I bought the 18-105 so can't compare those anymore.
    • Thanks for the very useful information. The 16-55 tempts me, I can live with the absence of stabilisation, what holds me is the price tag. As always, there is not such a thing like a free lunch in life. The Sony gives performance at a reasonable size but with no stabilisation and higher price tag, the Zeiss is compact, stabilised and reasonably priced but lower performed, while the Tamron provides performance at very good price and stabilisation at the expense of bulkiness. 😀 All in all, I think I will give a try to the Tamron, once I have taken in my hands. Here are two cutouts taken close to the center of the picture. The sharper one is the kit zoom, the other is the 18-105 mm, at approximately the same lenght around 40 mm at /f 8. The difference is impressive and more impressive for me is that all the lenses in the shop had the same behaviour on two different cameras. At this point looks like a whole batch and not just a lens.  

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    • That's a pity and certainly doesn't match with my experience with the 18-105: mine is definately on par with the 16-50 kit lens (which on its own was as decent as I could expect from such a cheap lens). Sure, dont expect sharp corners especially wide open, but in the center my 18-105 left little to be desired across most of the zoom range. The 16-55 does beat it in every regard except zoom range though. The Tamron 17-70 trades blows with the 16-55 and might be the better choice in some cases. I went for the 16-55 because of the smaller size (I also found the 18-105 too bulky most of the time) and slightly wider FoV. My camera has a stabilized sensor so stabilized optics was no requirement for me. As you noted, I kept the 18-105 on my old A6000 for the occasional video project.
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