A wide-aperture 50mm lens is one of the most versatile a photographer can have in their bag, suitable for everything from low-light events coverage to portraits. Samyang, well known for producing sharp manual focus lenses, has branched into autofocus lenses in recent years, and this great video review takes a look at the new AF 50mm f/1.4 FE II lens and the kind of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.
Coming to you from Julia Trotti, this excellent video review takes a look at the new Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE II lens. Samyang has been widely respected for producing affordable and sharp manual focus lenses, but in the last few years, they have begun producing autofocus lenses as well. The new AF 50mm f/1.4 FE II comes with a variety of features as well, including Super Multi-Layer Coating for reduced lens flares and ghosting and increased contrast, particularly in backlit conditions, and a nine-blade diaphragm for smoother bokeh. The lens does appear to suffer from some autofocus issues, including a bit of slowness, but if you do not need super-speedy autofocus, it looks like an intriguing option. Check out the video above for Trotti's full thoughts on the lens.
Disappointed about the autofocus.
I haven't watched this particular video as I'm waiting for more precise testing. I've seen other reviews that show very good AF performance using a7riii and a6500.
Image samples posted by Sony Alpha Blog (Marc Alhadeff) on Flickr look very good.
I've actually bought this lens and haven't found any issue with the autofocus. I'm pretty sure Julia got a bad copy.
wellwell
the greatest Leica and Nikon images were produced with f2 lenses. in the mirorless digital world, where ibis is almost universal among full-frame cameras, and ISO ratings of 1600 are flawless, the "bigger is better" acts to limit portability more than it adds to creativity
in studio - fine
in the field - carry what you need, not what will impress the cognisetti in the crowd
Then again, not needing a focusing helicoid means mirrorless lenses are generally lighter than DSLR lenses.
FE, not EF.
As far as AF glitches, Samyang likes to "fix it in post", with continuous firmware updates after launch.
Oops, thanks!