Canon's RF lenses are certainly spectacular, but they are also quite pricey. Samyang's new AF 85mm f/1.4 lens is quite affordable and seeks to fill the ultra-popular fast 85mm role for lots of photographers. Can it hold its own against more expensive options? This great video review will show you everything you need to know about the lens.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost Photography, this great video review takes a look at the new RF Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 lens. No doubt, Canon's RF 85mm f/1.2L is spectacular, but at $2,699, it is very expensive, which may make it impractical for a lot of photographers. On the other hand, the Samyang is just a little over a quarter of the price of Canon's 85mm, meaning if it can provide close performance, it could be a huge hit for the company. Samyang's option features four high refractive index elements for reduced distortion and spherical aberrations and increased sharpness, one extra-low dispersion element for reduced color fringing, Ultra Multi-Coating for reduced flares and ghosting, Ultrasonic Dual Linear motor, a rounded nine-blade diaphragm for smoother bokeh, and a weather-sealed design. Altogether, it looks like a fantastic alternative to more expensive options. Check out the video above for Frost's full thoughts.
Is it really Sharp ? .. For sure it's cheap but it seems certainly not sharp on all the frame..
It seems a RF 50F1.2 at F1.2 is much much sharper from corner to corner than the Samyang at any aperture and rather soft on the edges .. It looks like any FE mount lens simply plugged on a RF mount, is far from the sharpness than can produce a real RF lens from corner to corner.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-KRct2Kn/0/cfae352f/O/i-KRct2Kn.jpg
Samyang also has a 500mm 50 times cheaper than Canon 500mm .. and does this price make it a sharp lens comparable to Canon ?
Did you not watch the video with actual samples instead of relying solely on MTF charts? They looked pretty damn sharp and good to me as a portrait lens. And, appears to have pretty smooth bokeh.
Here's a couple of samples in case you couldn't be bothered to watch the video.