It's sharp, a number of my images are unsharpened other than the default sharpening of my respective cameras. It absolutely kills my 50mm nikon f1.4 for sharpness wide open.

I love watching the haters in the non-metering forum squirm whenever this lens is mentioned, they even closed down the only thread on on this lens. The samyang shooters here seem to be pretty proud and downright excited about what this lens has to offer, and I'm certainly enthusiastic.

No experience with the duty fees though, sorry.

I found this discussion for you:

Europe to US

If Foto-tip can send it regular mail, as opposed to a courier service like UPS/DHL/FedEx, you probably won't get pegged much...it's in-line with things shipped between the US and Canada...USPS is great and you won't get pegged...with everyone else you'll be be paying much more.

The only catch is you might have to wait a little longer...

By the way...if you end up buying this version of the lens, let us know how it turns out...am very curious to see the difference the new coatings make...

So far there's nothing on this lens over on the big Korean forum (slrclub.com), no news from other Korean sources, and no reviews coming out of Europe...

You can take a look at the specs on the Samyang Optics site...on paper it looks similar to the Gen 1 version...

foto-tip sent me my copy via regular mail, although I live in Europe. turned out cheaper, got in the mailbox in 5 days.

also, I found their store on the ebay and then I found their site through ebay, so, you might want to check their ebay store and see if their have better offerings considering international postage.

OverdeaR,I have spent time on there E-bay site and the price is about
$378.00 US and free shipping which is not bad at all.I even asked them
in my last communication ,when will this lens be available in the USA.
If I hear anything I'll let you all know.

JSV,thanks for your input. I'll see if Foto -Tip will ship this by USPS.I would love to know what % of tariff the customs would put on this lens.

Funktoaster, I have a 50mm f/1.2 lens and between 1.2 and 2 is pretty amazing. The rest of the range is excellent also.Go to Alfie Goodrich page and look at his 50 1.2 photos.I love his work.

Ok,I Just ordered The new 85mm UMC AE from Foto-Tip. They said to
me that they would not have a problem shipping by USPS. I'll keep you informed. When i receive this nice lens ,I will shoot some new photos
and post them.

Good luck! Hopefully you get a good copy, keep us posted!

Hey,That takes the steam right out of me.I been reading the post and
doing enough research.I realize that some people have had some bad luck.The bottom line is ,I have a 36 month warranty.I'll send it back.I have already discussed this possible problem with them. I was told to send it
back to them. Foto-Tip seems to be very compliant.No matter! I'm looking forward to receiving the lens and having some fun with it.

I'm someone who has had bad luck with the lens. But that's not to say your experience will be similar.. remember, people who experience problems are always the first to post about it online. You're unlikely to hear the hundreds of other stories about someone buying this lens when it just works out of the box ;)

I have a good copy now and it's the best camera purchase I've ever made. Nice build quality, contrast, and sharp sharp sharp everywhere.

Have fun.

Thanks Daifuku for your comments.I'm looking forward to receiving
the lens.I will inform the group and post my first results.

Keep those nice photographs coming!

Ok folks my Samyang AE 85mm F/1.4 UMC arrived today in
Massachusetts USA.From the day I ordered the lens, to today about 9
days by USPS. No taxes! Free shipping.
I'm impressed with dealing with Foto-Tip. They were very patient with
all my questions and concerns while I was preparing to order.They were compliant on my shipping concerns. I would order from them again!

The lens is very very nice.Very good construction. A little heavy but
excellent focusing ring control. Pretty compact for a lens of this speed.
Fits very snug on my D200 and F5.
The AE control is a great convenience.I wish all my AIS Nikon Lenses
had this electronic communication.
I shot some samples and i must say this is amazing for what you pay for.I'm shooting an Arts fair this weekend and will post some results
to the group.So Buy this lens! The quality looks like my great Nikon
primes.

Let's see the results reprosteve...and point it at the sun, I'm curious to see if the flare control has improved.

Jsv,I will try that.Hopefully the flare is under control.We'll see!

Hi Reprosteve, i'm waiting for your sample of the samyang ae 85 because i'm interested to buy this objective! when can we watch some pictures? Thanks

SirSax; if you go to my photostream, I have some shots there wth the 85mm. I really love this lens.

@Runar Munkhaug,
Could you point it at some lights up close so we can see the bokeh...from you pictures it's difficult to see if the onion-ring bokeh is still present...

Also, can you point it at the sun to see how much flare control the new version has.

Hi SirSax,I just finished shooting an Arts festival.I'm still editing my
files.I shot a lot of images there. Some with autofocus lenses and of course with the new Samyang. I have to say at this point this lens is amazing.I'm not an optical scientist. Being a photographer, the only way for me to test a new lens is to go out and shoot something you like. I
like festivals because there's so much variety that challenges me.

I will post some Samyang photos and share them with you and all.
I used the lens from 1.4-5.6 with great results.This lens if focused correctly ,is tack sharp with great color fidelity and contrast. If you like
very smooth Bokeh as everybody knows 1.4-2-2.8.
This is one of the nicest lenses i've bought regardless of the price.
I'm very excited,now if they would come out with autofocus...............

Hey jsv, what "onion ring" bokeh are you referring to? Maybe it's the same as my first copy of this lens. The strange bokeh was caused by bad coating on the rear element. The copy I have now isn't perfect, but damn close...

Point your lens to some Christmas lights and take an out of focus picture of them...it should show up...for day shots it doesn't show up, but a night it seems to show up more...

Look inside some of the bokeh rings in this image:

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/29707934@N02/3850535942/in/set-72157622194265983/]

Some like them, others hate them. It's a matter of taste. I'm curious to see if the coatings have changed this...as well as the flare, which I've discovered can be used to create some fantastic effects, as in this recent shot:

Oh yeh, I think I see it. My first copy had something similar, and I've isolated it to the coating as it has the same shape!
www.flickr.com/photos/chipsterman/3509618833/in/set-72157...

Xmas lights shot from around 18 inches away. I see concentric rings in the image, most noticeably from the green light.
Is this "onion ring bokeh"?

[]

can't see any

@Sighnensis
Was this taken with the AE version of the lens?

[edit]
Nevermind...it's with the AE...

I can also see the concentric circles in the green; however, it's very mild, almost negligible. With the MKI version it's the orange color that shows it the most.

There was some discussion a while back in this group that there was an aluminum "ring" (part of the lens housing?) that caused the concentric circles...perhaps it's been painted over or switched to a different material.

Well, whatever it is. I`m not going to pixel peep and get hung up about it.

I`ve tried several times to capture lens flare, but with a max shutter speed of 1/4000 sec and no nd filter it`s difficult, even with the sun low in the sky.
Cheers...........

It's not really pixel-peeping, as the rings show up in prints. The new lens, which you've got, probably won't show up in prints. Very interesting...I may try to convince the Mrs. to let me buy another lens (I'll really have to bring out the Bambi eyes for that though ; )

To get flare you don't need 1/4000 or an ND...just keep your lens between f1.4-f5.6, set your speed to whatever the sky would be 1/2500th? ISO 100 and keep the sun just out of the viewfinder frame (you can do it at 1.4, but you have to be in the shade). Another way is to use an object like a tree...meter the tree, and get the sun behind it and angle it just so that the sun peeks out to one side (but still not wholly visible in the viewfiner)...like this...

Anyway, thanks for sharing your findings on this lens...the bokeh is smooth and the focus tack sharp. Looks like another winner from Samyang...now if only they'd make a 50mm f1.2...for that I'd buy it and call it my early Birthday and Christmas present...

Ok, I'ts now time to enjoy this beautiful lens.
Thanks for the out of focus lights and info JSV and Singnensis. I've now
finally posted my first photographs to this group. I'm excited !
There will be more images posted down the road. I'm very impressed
with this lens.I hope more shooters embrace it. We can only wonder
what Samyang will do next.

SirSax,How do you like your new Samyang 85mm f/1.4 AE UMC?Did
you buy it from Foto-tip?Enjoy!

yes I buyed it ...not from fototip but from samyang.it (i'm italian), at 269 euro

On foto.tip the price is increased of 50 euro, and i worried for this have buyed this immediately on samyang.it where the price had been unchanched!

Thank you for your sample and opinion!

Enjoy to you!

I have got mine recently and have played with it for a few days now.

I have shot toward the sun (didnt include the sun in the frame though)
I havnt put any filters on the lens yet.

I have also used it at night along the main streets in sydney coupled with ISO1600 with the D90. Images shot at f1.4 in general.

They can be seen here

i really like the way the flare looks when shooting against the sun with this lens.