SAMYANG 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC AE

Focusing is manual but built-in electronics enable a more refined operating experience

There are many Samyang lenses available in a Canon-mount but, apart from the most recent 14mm, all are purely manualfocus. That’s not necessarily a drawback for street photography, as manual-focus lenses tend to have a long rotational travel in their focus rings, and a fluid feel to their movement. The Samyang is typical in this respect, and features a focus scale with depth of field markings for apertures of f/2.8, f/5.6, f/11, f/16 and f/22.

For enhanced focusing accuracy, the lens also features built-in electronics that activate the focus confirmation lamp in the viewfinder. Many Canon-fit Samyang lenses require you to set the aperture manually, using an aperture ring on the lens body. With no electronic linkage, the aperture can’t be displayed in the camera’s viewfinder or LCD, and you can’t set the aperture from the camera. The ‘AE’ (Auto Exposure) edition of this lens enables camera-based aperture control, as well as use of the lens in all P, Av, Tv and M shooting modes.

Build quality is impressive and the lens has a solid feel. However, it’s the outright biggest lens in the group, at 83x110mm and is almost as heavy as Canon’s 35mm f/1.4.

Performance

Sharpness and contrast are disappointing at wide apertures but are much improved from f/2.8 all the way to f/22. Colour fringing is minimal, even at the extreme corners of the frame but, while barrel distortion is well controlled, it’s technically a little worse than the other lenses on test.