Bower SLY3514N Ultra Fast Wide-Angle 35mm f/1.4 Lens for Nikon

I tested this lens using an USAF 1951 lens chart. This lens actually hits the Nyquist limit of my camera sensor, 92 lp/mm, at the f/2.0 f-stop. It is as sharp at f/1.4 where some of my other lens will peak. Which is very impressive for the price of this lens. I should add that I am a low budget photographer, and do not own any overly pricey lenses. I was not overly thorough in my lens testing. I did not construct a full Modulation Transfer Curve (MTF) chart for this lens. This makes my lens testing useless in comparing to other lenses.Manually focusing a 35mm lens is not overly difficult. The hyperfocal distance is short enough so that the depth of field is large enough to make focusing doable in most situations. I would not recommend using a longer manual focus lens if you need to focus on subjects quickly, but 35mm should not be too big a problem. Another good hint to using a manual focus lens is to focus ahead of time where you think the item is going to be and wait for it to move there. If you want to take impromptu photos at an event, this lens would not be appropriate.The lens is 670g and protrudes out 120mm from the camera. I measured the entrance pupil to be 68mm from the lens mount of the camera. I consider my entrance pupil measurement to be close enough and not highly accurate.

I got such a great deal on this lens. It is absolutely my most favorite lens I have purchased thus far. The only complaint I would make and believe me; it is a small complaint, the lens is not auto-focus capable. But that is such a small con compared to all the fabulous pros this lens has. It is a bit to get used to moving myself instead of changing my focus length, but I don't even care. The ability to choose the aperture I want to use right on the lens instead of programming it in my camera is GREAT, and takes a bit of headache off my shoulders. Any photographer that knows what they are doing is going to get the most out of this lens, if you aren't there yet, take some time to study and learn then buy this kind of lens otherwise you might end up not liking it. And I'm absolutely not knocking aspiring photographers, I have been there, done that, and I'm still doing that. I just feel comfortable shooting in manual and using manual focus and THAT is why I love this lens as much as I do.

The Bower 35mm f/1.4 lens performs as expected. I like the smooth focusing ring but it is pretty difficult to make use of the view finder alone for accurate focusing. I have to mount my Canon 550D/T2i on a tripod and make use of live view function to nail the focus. As most people had found out that this Korean lens does impose an amber tone to the image and this may not be the cup of tea for everybody.My first copy was defective, there was a creaking noise whenever I turned the focusing ring. I have to return it to Amazon. Amazon sent me the replacement copy quickly and the second copy was perfect.

I bought the Nikon mount version. If you're interested in this lens, make sure you understand it's a completely MANUAL lens! Before you mount the lens on your DSLR make sure you set the aperture to the smallest setting (largest number) otherwise you will get an fEE error on your camera.A few test shots show my copy is very sharp, however it has a back focus issue, simply demonstrated by taking a picture of some text at an angle and comparing where you focused to what's in focus in the image. I reported this to Amazon and they are in the process of sending a new copy and supplied me with a return shipping label for the original lens. Once I get the new copy, I'll update this review.

its PERFECT for movies and tripod photoshoots at f1.4. but not recommended for commercial shots as it is manual and u wont have time to adjust the focusing ring. Note: with 5d mark ii, ALWAYS shoot pictures through "LIVE MODE", then on screen zoom 10X to focus the subject u want captured otherwise ur camera will focus on RANDOM SUBJECTS, you'll waste alot of photos to blurriness. The lens DO NOT recognize faces or people so u MUST follow my advice. After hundreds of photoshoots with these lens, theres no substitute to what i said above...Once again (I'm repeating because i don't want u to end up returning it), only buy if u use it 4 videos and personal photo use, not recommended for wedding shots and commercial shoots due to manual time consumption of focusing. enjoy

I had high expectations towards his lens due to all the hypes around the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower 35/1.4 (My understanding is these three brands are actually the same lens). However it has a hell lot of color fringing everywhere, in focus or not, center or edge. And it doesn't go away even when stopped down to f8. I've never ever seen any worse color fringing like this. In addition, it's very hazy when wide open, which goes away in f8 as expected.Needless to say. It's on the way back. I give it two stars here because the build seems very solid and the handling is great. Given all the hype, I hope this one is just a terrible copy. So instead of asking for a refund, I am asking for a replacement. Let's see how the second one goes.

Thank you .Samyang, Bower and Rokinon for providing good quality lenses with reasonable prices. I have bought 8mm fisheye, 24mm, 35mm and 85 mm lenses from these 3 brands. They work all perfectly for video productions. The images are always sharpe, clear and crisp. Although you have to manipulate the apeture and focus rings in the same time, but it doesnt really matter to me. It's always good to get back to the traditional way.

This lens comes under a variety of different names- Samyang, Bower, Rokinon, but its the same lens. Used on my Sony PMW-F3 and AF100 and even my Canon 5D Mark III. I had it cine-adjusted by Duclos Lens in LA and it works great for video. Optics are surprisingly sharp and it really opens up wide! A great buy for stills or video!