Rokinon series II 85mm f1.4 on a T8i

[Jedase84]

The rokinon series II 85mm f1.4 lens is fully manual. Manual focus, manual aperture adjustment, no IS it doesn't even have the electrical contacts on the flange for the camera to recognize that a lens is even there. My question is what settings do I need to change in the camera for this lens to work, ie. for the camera to release the shutter without seeing that a lens is attached. Any help on this is greatly appreciated, I'm new to all this. Thanks so much.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Yes, look for "Release Shutter Without Lens Attached".  Don't recall if its included.  I'll have to check the T8i's manual to see if its supported.

**** Edit - This feature does not appear to be supported on the T8i

Its normally found under C.Fn 7

Canon : Product Manual : EOS REBEL T8i / EOS 850D : Custom Functions (C.Fn) (start.canon)

[MikeSowsun]

No, there is nothing you need to do to make that lens operate with your camera.

The T8i will operate without a lens attached. It will also operate with a lens that has no electrical contacts. There is no menu item for “release shutter without lens” because there is no need for it. 

[Waddizzle]

As already noted, there are no settings that need to be changed to use the lens.  

However, there are some settings that I would encourage you to make.  Because the camera cannot communicate with the lens, that means the camera is unable to control aperture.  You must dial in an aperture setting on the lens.  Why is this significant?

Because the camera cannot control or set an aperture value, you should not use any shooting mode that puts the aperture, Av, in an automatic mode to be controlled by the camera.  To make a long story short, you want to only use Av or M shooting modes on the top dial.  Those modes require the photographer to set an aperture value, which you will do on the fully manual lens.

I would also recommend that you dial in an ISO value when using Av mode, and set ISO to Auto when using M mode.  Do not allow the camera to control more than one leg of the Exposure Triangle..  But you can allow the camera to adjust shutter speed in Av mode, and ISO in M mode to get a correct exposure.

One more thing I want to point out.  Your DSLR does not have or feature any manual focusing aids.  This will make focusing and capturing [handheld] photos problematic.  The 85mm focal length combined with the wide f/1.4 aperture can create a very shallow DOF, Depth of Field.

I recommend using a tripod with this lens whenever possible so that you can focus using Live View or the rear LCD screen.

[shadowsports]

Thanks guys, I did assume he was using a manual shooting mode and @jedase84 did ask...  "what settings" so forgive me for assuming.  This applies to MILC not DSLR's

[ebiggs1]

This is no different than we did way back in the Stone Age. Believe it or not we set everything manually. And we liked it! Set it to M and shoot Old School. Fix you ISO to 100, set the lens to f16 and the SS to 1/100 and shoot away on a nice Sun lighted day. That was the starting point. Cloudy set it to f11. Overcast set it to f8 and so on and so on, etc.

Back then photographers like me for instance got to where we can simply look at a scene and set the exposure. Its really not that difficult. Today nobody can do that because all the cameras do everything for you instantly.

As to focusing that too is a lost ability today not helped because some cameras do not offer much help for manual focusing.

If I had that lens, I would feel right at home with it and not miss a lick.

[kvbarkley]

The focus confirmation light and beeper should still work.

[ebiggs1]

Perhaps I would not need it.

[shadowsports]

Indeed, many of the Rokinon and Samyang lenses are popular.  The 85  f1.4 in particular as a lower cost high value alternative.  Many are used for portraiture, with some of the shorter FL's for street, night time and astro photography.  I have a 12mm f2.8.  I know Ernie had something similar.  I found one of his monument photos on B&H's website a while back.