Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE £499/$519

Automatic for the people

Lens mount Sony E ( FE)

Renowned for its quality yet reasonably priced manualfocus prime lenses, Korean manufacturer Samyang has recently started making autofocus lenses, mostly for Sony’s full-frame E-mount fit. There are currently five E-mount lenses to choose from, plus two Canon EF and one Nikon F.

This 50mm optic gives the ‘standard’ perspective on Sony’s A7 and A9 cameras, with a fast aperture rating of f/1.4. Physically, it’s about twice as long as the Canon and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lenses for full-frame DSLRs, more akin to the Sigma and Zeiss. The solid construction features mostly metal barrel parts and, at 585g, the Samyang is more than double the weight of the Nikkor.

Performance

From f/2 and onwards, sharpness and contrast are excellent, but vignetting is quite severe until you hit f/2.8.

Sharpness

Sharpness is very uniform across the frame at f/1.4 and becomes excellent at f/2.

Fringing 0.32

As with the Zeiss and Panasonic lenses, fringing is particularly negligible.

Distortion -0.47

There’s very little barrel distortion but it’s not as distortion-free as the Sigma.