Lens Review: Samyang XP 50mm f/1.2 Lens

Last month, Samyang announced the XP 50mm f/1.2, adding to its lens lineup of premium glass for the high-megapixel cameras of today. There haven’t been any real-world examples of this prime Canon-only lens being used in the field until now.

Daniel Gangur has done a review on the only (as of now) Samyang XP 50mm f/1.2 lens (known in the USA as the Rokinon SP 50mm f/1.2 lens) out in the real world. Gangur put this new and ultra-fast, manual focus, medium-length prime through its paces to see just how the lens stacks up in the current Samyang XP (Rokinon SP in the USA) lineup. To summarize, Gangur believes that the lens will hit a sweet spot as an ultra-fast prime that will appeal to portrait photographers and those looking for a general, high-quality 50mm lens. Astrophotography is also another area this lens will see a lot of use on Ganger’s camera, as it performs incredibly well with little coma, fringing, or astigmatism wide open.

Gangur gives a great rundown of different advantages of the lens through street portraits, vignetting tests, and an astrophotography comparison, thus showing this 50mm will exceed some photographers' hopes and may be a great alternative to Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.2L lens. If you’re looking at price-to-performance and have a Canon EOS 5DS or Canon EOS 5DS R, this is a fast prime that can resolve the images that you’re creating to the highest degree. Check out Gangur’s review here as well as his many other reviews on Gippsland Images.