Are you a photographer looking for the best lenses to capture your interest? Rokinon prime lens is the best choice for you, then. Rokinon introduced their new Cine-DS line of the best Rokinon lens, which features color scheme optics, standard focus, and iris gears.
But what’s the difference between the new and the older lenses, and which will work well for you? There are always the best solutions available if you are new to cinematography or frustrated with trying to fight with your poor-quality kit lens.
Is Rokinon Prime Lens the Best Option?
The Rokinon Prime lens is an excellent choice for budget cinematographers. It includes those starting out in the motion picture industry and requiring a quick, high-quality solution. Initially, they were first designed as manual focus photography lenses by Samyang. These primes are released under various brands in different markets, with Rokinon being the primary US brand.
While Samyang, Bower, Vivitar, and other brands are still available in the US, they are all primarily the same lens. Rokinon prime lens is the most popular South Korean brand in the US. Many people adapted them for cinema due to their high image quality and low cost.
Rokinon finally caught on and remodeled the lenses to include focus, iris gears, and aperture movement. Rokinon released 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm in the original. Additional focal lengths include 16mm, 14mm, and 8mm. They are the best Rokinon cine lens.
Speed of Lenses
One of the primary reasons for choosing the Rokinon prime lens is the speed of their lenses. All four lenses reviewed here are T1.5, which is extremely fast. Some of Rokinon’s other lenses are slower (for example, the 14mm is a T3.1), but for the vast majority of the work, It would be considered to use one of their standard focal length lenses.
It’s excellent that Rokinon can deliver on the front because these are budget-conscious cinema lenses, and many of the Directors who use them are probably working with constrained lighting and equipment. Rokinon prime cine lenses speed makes them ideal for many limited light situations, and they perform admirably even when used wide open.
Quality of lenses
| Considering the price, the lenses are surprisingly well-made. They’re plastic and look nothing like Zeiss CP2s or Canon Cinema Lenses. | Overall, the quality seems to be above ordinary, and any flaws are offset by the extremely low price of the lenses. |
| But it is inevitable that some of these Rokinon prime lens cost as little as $270, whereas traditional lenses can cost thousands. | When it comes to the iris ring and focus, these lenses appear to be designed with professional shooters in mind. |
| The iris and focus rings are smooth, and the lenses are robust to hold. | The focus throw isn’t as long as it would be on a traditional cinema lens, but it doesn’t appear to be that bad. |
The contrast of the Lenses
The Rokinon prime lens is generally low contrast, which can be positive depending on your perspective. Many of us aim for an extensive dynamic range look, so a low contrast lens will naturally aid in achieving that aesthetic. However, not everyone prefers a low-contrast look, and for shooters who prefer a more vibrant image, these lenses won’t deliver it right.
But you can constantly adjust your camera settings to compensate, but it’s something to keep in mind when shopping for these lenses. The 50mm lens with the highest contrast. Then Rokinon 35mm followed by the 24mm and 85mm with least contrast.
The sharpness of the lenses
There are several misinterpretations regarding the sharpness of the Rokinon prime lens, particularly when trying to shoot wide open. But that is not a problem. In wide open, they are slightly softer, just like almost any other lens. At maximum aperture, some of the Rokinons are noticeably softer than others. Many of the best cinema lenses often have a smooth feel, but this is usually viewed as a positive trait with other brands.
Performance of the Lenses
The performance and accuracy of these lenses will astound you. Like most other lens kits, the Rokinon cine lens kit will have some distortion (the 24mm in especially), but none of them will distort excessively. The four lenses we have discussed here perform pretty well in terms of distortion. Compared to other Rokinon prime lenses, including the 14mm T3.1, it exhibits significantly more severe distortion.
Frames of Lenses
- Only a few 35mm Full Frame (FF) cameras are widely used in filmmaking nowadays. Like the Canon 5D MkII, the Sony A7S, and the Nikon D810.
- Fortunately, the majority of the popular, quick Rokinon Prime lens will effortlessly cover the entire frame, but there are a couple that won’t.
- A Super 35 frame sensor or smaller is the only size that some of the Rokinon cine lenses have to cover.
- The broader lenses are usually used when coverage becomes a problem. The 14mm covers a 35mm FF camera, giving you the choice of a super wide angle.
- 35mm FF offers a larger field of vision than conventional Super 35, and the image quality and usability of the 8mm aren’t that amazing in the first place.
- The remaining prime lenses in the lineup, the 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm, will function without any significant chromatic aberration. Thus, there is not much of a problem with coverage.
- The camera mount you’re using is another thing to consider. You don’t need an adaptor because the Rokinon prime lens is readily present in all three mounts.
Conclusion
The images you can click out of the Rokinon prime lens are amazing and easily compete with many cinema lenses that cost several times as much. These lenses are affordable, thanks to Rokinon. There will always be some lenses in any set that are better than others, even in the most expensive cinema lens sets. Go for these lenses if you want affordable and good-quality lenses.
Also Read: A Company with High-Quality Telescopes
