Samyang AF 85mm F1.4 Autofocus Lens for Sony FE

Product Information

The best standpoint from which to appreciate the full view of a subject is the distance of the diagonal length of the subject frame. This wider angle is superior to standing closer at a 50 degree angle to get a more detailed view. The AF 85mm F1.4 FE is inspired by the optical vision of the MF 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC, which has been loved for its beautiful out-of-focus images since its launch in 2008: however, this new lens develops the original’s existing strengths with a much more advanced optical design, newly optimized for mirrorless cameras. This lens of great value and charm with high resolution encapsulates Samyang’s universally respected 40-year optical technology in your photographs. The Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE has a very wide focus ring given the overall size of the lens. There are no hard stops at the ends of the range, making it more difficult to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 77mm filter thread doesn't rotate on focus. Optical construction is 11 elements in 8 groups, including 1 ED (Extra Low Dispersion) and 4 HR (High Refractive Index). The diaphragm comprises 9 blades and produces a circular aperture, to improve the bokeh. Samyang also claims that the absence of aspheric elements in the design means that there is no distortion to the bokeh, resulting in perfectly rounded, out-of-focus highlights. Sharpness is good rather than insanely great at f/1.4, while defocused areas look beautifully soft and dreamy (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

With the lens set to its maximum aperture of f/1.4, there is significant light fall-off in the corners. Stopping-down to f/5.6 virtually eliminates this. Manual focus isn't for everyone, but if you have the patience (and work more with subjects that sit still, like mountains and buildings) they can be highly rewarding and good fun to use. Many of Samyang's manual-focus primes have had no electronics at all, thus requiring the aperture to be set manually via the control ring. While this does limit the modes you can use, and cause a dark viewfinder image at narrow apertures, it can be an enjoyably tactile experience that feels like "pure" photography.

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Onboard controls boil down to a single autofocus/manual focus switch and a manual focus ring. The autofocus system itself is based on a Dual LSM (Linear Supersonic Motor), which is fast and virtually silent in operation. However, unlike with an ultrasonic ring-type arrangement, the manual focus ring has an electronic rather than mechanical coupling. The upshot is that the focus ring only works when power is supplied from the camera, for example after a light press of the shutter button. Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4: Performance The new Samyang has a fast , quiet and precise AF in most cases but it still has occasional issues with eye AF and in burst mode for difficult subjects (see dedicated chapter). The Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art has the best autofocus of the 85 F1.4 , very similar to the Sony FE85mm F1.8 Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test. Samyang XP lenses: Samyang also offers a range of ‘Premium Manual Focus’ optics for DSLRs, all of which are full-frame compatible and available in Canon EF-mount. Bearing the ‘XP’ (XPert) name, they currently range from the XP 10mm f/3.5 to the XP 85mm f/1.2. The 14mm lens is also available in Nikon F-mount. We’ll work through the chart results by first looking at distortion and vignette. As of yet there isn’t a correction profile available in Lightroom, but you can use the first generation profile without issue since the two lenses are essentially optically identical (with one caveat that I’ll discuss in a moment!)

The build quality of the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art is on par with the Sony GM and above the Samyang and Sony FE85mm F1.8 In real life , the results obtained are very good, we can however notice sometimes some slight missed focus for walking subjects As seen in the photos below, it rather dwarves the full-frame Sony A7 III camera that we tested it with, especially when the large lens hood is attached.

Pros:

The AF 85mm F1.4 FE’s optical design minimizes optical aberrations, while maximizing the image quality from corner to corner. Its detailed rendering results in exceptional image quality, even on the latest high-resolution full-frame cameras; and its bright maximum aperture means you can enjoy this excellent performance even when shooting indoors or in darker conditions.

La résistance au flare est juste bonne , on peut en avoir facilement du flare en pointant l’objectif vers le soleilFocusing is usefully internal and manual focusing is possible when the MF mode is set on the Sony camera body. Full-time manual focus override is also available if you choose the DMF focusing mode instead. There's no distance and/or depth of field scale available on this lens.

Lateral chromatic aberration is reasonably well controlled at f/1.4 but can be rather noticeable at narrower apertures. It’s rather worse than in most competing 85mm prime lenses. Distortion: 1.16

The sharpness is very good wide open and excellent as of F2 and skin rendering is very good but maybe a bit too contrasty sometimes Surprisingly the new Samyang 85 F1.4 II that I have tested is a bit less good than V1, Surely due to sample variation from one lens to another one. The Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art stays the king sharpness and has no issues at all with the A7RIV . The Sony FE85mm F1.4 GM is quite behind and less good than the Samyang on the A7RIV and should be limited to 42Mpix max The Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE ships with a soft drawstring bag and a large plastic circular-shaped lens hood. It accepts 77mm filters. The AF 85mm F1.4 FE features a total of 11 glass elements; the ED (Extra Low Dispersion) elements have been incorporated into its precise achromatic design. This design corrects chromatic aberrations, and creates quality results, with peripheral softness also being well-controlled.