Can the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II Compete With Much More Expensive Lenses?

85mm lenses with wide maximum apertures are wildly popular for portraiture work, offering a classical focal length in tandem with that shallow depth of field that a lot of photographers love. However, such lenses can easily run north of $2,000, which is what makes the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II, which retails for $799, a breath of fresh air. Can it compete with lenses that cost double or even triple that amount? This excellent video review takes a look at the performance and image quality you can expect. 

Coming to you from Dustin Abbott, this great video review takes a look at the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II lens for Sony E mount cameras. For a long time, Samyang was well known for making affordable but impressive optics with the caveat that they were manual focus only. However, in recent years, they have branched into autofocus options while maintaining that pleasing combination of sharp optics and affordable prices. The first version of this lens offered good image quality, albeit with hit-or-miss autofocus, but it seems like Samyang fixed that in the second iteration, making it a real winner. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Abbott.