Rokinon Cine DS 20 vs. Sigma Art 20 vs. Zeiss Distagon 21mm 2.8 ZF.2

[Zack Birlew]

Hi, everybody, I have been looking at some new wide angle options and I was sure about just continuing with Rokinon Cine DS while I have a set going but I've seen some deals on the Sigma Art and Zeiss ZF.2 series that makes me wonder. I've heard some comparisons between the Sigma Art and Zeiss but what about the Rokinon Cine DS 20mm in the mix? Has anybody worked with all of these to see how they would compare to each other? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, I tend to stick with Nikon so that's why I said ZF.2 for the Zeiss but any other mount should be the same.

 

[paul ross jones]

Hi Zack, I have used the sigma 20mm f1.4 quite a lot for stills. Like all the sigma glass the look is quite clinical, but most sharp wides have this look. The big deal with the sigma I like is that you can still have a decent amount of focus fall off at f1.4 even though its super wide (especially on a full frame). Its also extremely sharp right across the frame, sharper than any wide I have owned (wider than 24).

heres a commercial shot I took with the 20mm at f1.4
https://paulrossjones.com/PROJECTS/ABU-DHABI-TOURISM/10/caption
and another I think closed down a bit
https://paulrossjones.com/PROJECTS/ABU-DHABI-TOURISM/4/caption

and I have been looking at what lenses I will use for my new underwater housing and I came across this bit of footage using the sigma 20mm I thought was quite nice and interesting as you dont usually see wide shots with tiny DOF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJgJqHIp65E&t=182s

cheers Paul

 

[Omid Zoufonoun]

Hi Zack, I have used the sigma 20mm f1.4 quite a lot for stills. Like all the sigma glass the look is quite clinical, but most sharp wides have this look. The big deal with the sigma I like is that you can still have a decent amount of focus fall off at f1.4 even though its super wide (especially on a full frame). Its also extremely sharp right across the frame, sharper than any wide I have owned (wider than 24).

heres a commercial shot I took with the 20mm at f1.4
https://paulrossjones.com/PROJECTS/ABU-DHABI-TOURISM/10/caption
and another I think closed down a bit
https://paulrossjones.com/PROJECTS/ABU-DHABI-TOURISM/4/caption

and I have been looking at what lenses I will use for my new underwater housing and I came across this bit of footage using the sigma 20mm I thought was quite nice and interesting as you dont usually see wide shots with tiny DOF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJgJqHIp65E&t=182s

cheers Paul

Wow! That second shot is pretty amazing. Great job!

 

[Zack Birlew]

Very nice, Paul! I should also note, if anybody has experience with just one of these lenses then that’s good to hear about too as it’s surprising that there’s not too many comparisons out there and I also can’t seem to find in-depth reviews on the Rokinon 20mm Cine DS in particular which is odd.

 

[Zack Birlew]

Okay, I’ll post a little add-on question for Rokinon users, is there much of a difference between the Rokinon Cine DS 24mm and 20mm? I happened upon a terrific deal on a Cine DS 24mm and it seems to be very comparable to my Sigma 24mm F2 Macro II that I used on my first feature, save for the added low light benefit of F1.5. While it is mushy with some bloom at F1.5, the image isn’t all that bad being a 24mm wide lens that very few could even see the details anyway in practical use, we don’t pixel peep art after all.

Still, I can see the benefit of the Sigma being a smaller and lighter lens with not too much of a visual difference beyond F2 and I wonder if I might feel that there’s not too much difference with the Rokinon 20mm Cine DS as well and that all I would see is the slightly wider 20mm focal length but not much more optically. Does anybody have input on that aspect of the Rokinon 20mm Cine DS or even comparisons with the 24mm and the aforementioned Sigma Art and Zeiss equivalents?