Ah, the long debate over what lens to buy. I have fought through this process on every lens I have purchased. Always wanting the best possible optics, features, and largest aperture that I can get without breaking the bank. I am just an amateur after all who doesn't make money on my photos. However, I do take my hobby very seriously, and what is worth doing if you aren't going to do it right! So on to my 35mm debate... and this was the most difficult lens choice I have come across so far.I shoot with a Canon crop. I have a good range of lenses now but realized that where I was lacking (severely) was in the 28-35mm (44-56mm full frame) range. I only had my 18-50mm kit lens to cover this range. That lens is sharp, but I have never been happy with the lens. No pop to the colors, slow aperture, etc. My top 3 choices to replace it:Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (Non-VC)Sigma 30mm f/1.4Rokinon 35mm f/1.4I still believe any one of these would have been a great choice. All seem to get top notch reviews. The Rokinon, being newer and a bit of a specialty lens in the sense that it is a fully manual lens didn't have nearly as many reviews to go off of. However, many of the reviews stating it is as good as Canon and even Zeiss offerings. I would have loved the Tamron for the zoom convenience, but for me the better low light capabilities of the f/1.4 was far more important. The Sigma seemed to get some very positive reviews, but then also some not so positive reviews including on photozone. So it's the Rokinon as the winner.Obviously the biggest concern with this lens is the manual focus. How hard is manual focusing this lens? Well, it's a challenge. But I have been practicing with this lens on a very difficult subject (an 11 month old crawling baby!). There are certainly missed focus shots that ruin some pictures. But the more you use it, the easier it gets and the less focus issues you have. Let's face it, at f/1.4 even auto focus is going to miss an eye on a moving baby pretty frequently. Will manual focus be an issue for you? Obviously only you can decide that. But my opinion, is you will be so happy with the photos you do get in focus (don't worry, there are a lot in focus), that it will far outweigh the missed shots. My only experience with manual lenses before this one was the Rokinon 8mm, but that doesn't really count. You almost have to try to get that one out of focus due to the nature of the lens.At f/1.4, even a little bit of morning light through a closed window shade looks as good as studio lighting... Seriously. Now that is what I was looking for! Still wide enough on my crop to give me an excellent indoor lens with beautiful portrait capabilities. I enjoy my Canon 50 f/1.8 but is not wide enough for many indoor applications. Outdoors, the awesome Rokinon 35mm even close focuses so well that it can almost work as a macro lens. It takes beautiful, sharp, high detail images in every situation I have tested. It is a very large, heavy lens. I find that to be a good thing. I like the feel of a heavy lens so actually find that to be a positive.Images are gorgeous. I will post some images soon that I think are stunning that I took on my 2nd day using (still a long way to go in perfecting manual focus).So, crop sensor users out there looking for a FAST 50mm equivalent lens (or full frame looking for a 35mm), I highly recommend. Great for indoor, low light, portraits, landscape, near macro... heck anything but sports! Do yourself a favor and give it a try.And thank you to others who have taken time to review lenses. Huge help!