Sigma seem to be really raising their game of late with the new 'Art' range of primes and zooms. According to Imaging Resource the new 50mm Art lens is aimed at optically competing with the Zeiss Otus!!! Yet the Sigma will have HSM autofocus and will likely be a fifth of the price.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/01/08/sigma-50mm-f-1.4-art-targets-zeiss-otus-ignores-canon-l-nikon-glass

Sigma Art series so far . . . .

35mm f/1.4

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/35mm-f14-dg-hsm-art

50mm f/1.4

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/50mm-f14-dg-hsm-art

18-35mm f/1.4

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/18-35mm-f18-dc-hsm-art

24-105mm f/4

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/24-105mm-f4-dg-os-hsm-art

Hopefully Sigma will revise their existing 85mm f/1.4 under this Art redesign designation.

Another cheap Zeiss beater to look for is the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC. Also sold under the names Rokinon, Vivitar and Bower. At £220 compared with around £1200 (in Pentax mount, rare) for the Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 it's a real bargain.

Quite a few comparisons on the net . . .

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1005038

I can vouch for Sigma lenses...I have their 24-70/2.8 & it has Nik's beat hands down

regardless of what reviews say. Mine is razor sharp even at the edges and distortion

is minimal in the worst case. Heavy bugger though. I have always said, for many years

that Sig make a great lens for the money. I know zero about Samyang but have heard

they've come a very long way in recent years. Sip satang from moi!

^^ I'm surprised the Sig beats the Nikkor 70-200, which is supposedly the best in the Nikkor Holy Trinity.

I think it's worth keeping an eye on Sigma now with this Art range. I'll see how it develops but seriously considering selling off all the Pentax gear and going with a FF from one of the big two and some Sigma Art lenses instead. Sale of the Pentax gear might just cover most of the cost as the Pentax Limited's still fetch good used prices. See what happens this year.

Samyang are a true enigma. They have their own Holy Trinity of manual focus primes. The ones to look for are the 14mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4. I think the reason they're not so popular is because they are so, so cheap.

Have a look at DXOMark lens ratings and shockingly Samyang are up there with the best of them.

http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Ratings

Edited January 13, 201412 yr by MJP