Comments on: Three Lenses With Same Specs, Which Would You Choose?

By: Friendly Photo Zone

Friendly Photo Zone — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:01:00 +0000

At least the Vivitar looks noticeably different, which I guess is why it wasn’t included in this list.

There’s also an issue with the fisheye lens having a different claimed focal length between these brands, even though they’re all the same lens. Vivitar claims theirs is a 7mm while all the other brands claim 8mm.

By: John_Skinner

John_Skinner — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:48:00 +0000

I’ve had the 8mm Bower on my DX body and have taken some real money makers with it. Before I had made the purchase, I read one guy’s extensive testing between the Nikkor 10mm and the Bower 8mm. His findings showed comparable or better in some cases. I was SOLD for that price. Never looked back.

By: yourgoo

yourgoo — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:29:00 +0000

Acctually I dont have time for test and this kind of revies as I am busy using my Samyang( Bower, Rokinon and you forgot to mention Falcon and probably some other names as well) lenses to do some work.

By: Spy Black

Spy Black — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:10:00 +0000

Actually, there is an answer. Buy the Samyang. Besides the fact that your lens would bear the name of the actual manufacturer of the lens, the Bower and Rokinon lenses are typically repackaged returned lenses that Adorama and B&H re-sell as new. There are others as well (J&R come to mind), but these two are top dog at this. Not that this kind of stuff can’t happen with the Samyangs, it can, but typically only if you order it from Adorama or B&H, both which are notorious for re-selling returned goods as new.

So the answer is buy the Samyang, and don’t order it from either of these two distributors. They give a whole new dimension to the term “resellers”.

By: Joe McDonald

Joe McDonald — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:13:00 +0000

Anybody know the name of the company in japan that acts as a middle man for tech companies where they exchange ideas, resources, labor. End result is companies like Tamarac, Nikon, Canon, etc. end result appears that they all end up with the same same product. I heard about this from an American lens designen engineer who works for a lens manufacture, but I can’t remember the name of the company.

By: Arek Rajtar

Arek Rajtar — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:09:00 +0000

There is no such a thing like “same” in the branding business. There are always some differences, some of them not very obvious. It is a common sense “tradition” that anything which is a subject to the brand-engineering is NOT EXACTLY as good as the “parent” brand. Usually, this is reflected in the price, without undercutting the market position of “parent company”. GMC Vibe is Toyota Corolla in a different skin, but it is different than Matrix and Scion. Lenses are less complex, but still offer an opportunity to play the brand-engineering game.

By: Rick Massie

Rick Massie — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:08:00 +0000

I own the Bower version, but would choose the Rokinon since it seems to have a mounting alignment marker (the white dot) to help me change lenses when it’s dark. Much easier than looking on the mount for a dark red dot!

By: Lorenzo P

Lorenzo P — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:35:00 +0000

I personally own the the Rokinon 85mm. I paid $230 and this lens kicks A…… This is is extremely sharp!!!

By: Sieg Martil

Sieg Martil — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:50:00 +0000

From these three, I’d pick the the Rokinon. It’s cheaper than it’s triplet siblings and I’ve used Rokinon for years and they’ve been great.

By: Sieg Martil

Sieg Martil — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:47:00 +0000

do you really need the specs and mtf chart for each lens? they would all be the same across the board as they are the same exact lens.