Rokinon 50mm F 1 2 AS UMC CS Review | 54 Data compared

The Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC is a budget-friendly, manual-focus prime lens designed for crop-sensor mirrorless cameras, offering mounts for Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, and Sony E. In performance testing, the lens excelled with excellent sharpness and contrast scores, alongside practically nonexistent, "imperceptible" barrel distortion (0.03%). It shines in close-up photography, allowing users to focus on subjects as near as 19.62 inches with a solid 1:7.49 maximum magnification ratio. Additional benefits include a 62mm non-rotating filter mount ideal for polarizers, a secure-snapping lens hood, and a lightweight build that balances well on compact bodies. Priced at $549 (including a hood and pouch), it serves as a highly affordable alternative to native glass, costing $250 less than the Fujifilm 56mm lens. However, the lens does come with notable trade-offs, chief among them being the complete lack of autofocus. While the physical focusing ring has a smooth 160-degree rotation, it requires manual precision that may not suit all photographers. Optical flaws include noticeable vignetting (light falloff) at its widest setting, though this completely disappears when stopped down to f/1.8....

The Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC is a compact, manual-focus prime lens designed specifically for APS-C and Micro 4/3 mirrorless systems, equivalent to a 75mm–100mm portrait lens depending on the camera mount. It features a handsome, glossy build with a metal frame and nine rounded aperture blades that produce circular bokeh highlights and attractive sunstars. Optically, the lens delivers extremely strong performance with impressive sharpness and resolution even at f/1.2, significantly outperforming older "dreamy" ultra-fast lenses like the Canon 50mm f/1.0L. While it handles chromatic aberrations well at standard viewing sizes, it is prone to distinct ghosting patterns when shooting directly into the sun. The primary drawbacks are centered on its fully manual nature and the lack of electronic coupling, meaning there is no EXIF data for aperture or focal length, and users must enable "release shutter without lens" in their camera settings to use it. Handling can be challenging as the focus ring may feel stiff, especially in cold weather, and its 62mm filter thread is somewhat uncommon. Despite these hurdles, its combination of a fast f/1.2 aperture, compact...

The Rokinon 50mm f1.2 (also sold as Samyang) is an ultra-fast, manual-focus prime lens designed for APS-C mirrorless cameras, offering a field of view equivalent to 75mm or 80mm depending on the camera brand. The reviewer was thoroughly impressed by its exceptional corner-to-corner sharpness, noting that the edges and corners outperform rival budget lenses like the Kamlan 50mm f1.1 and 7Artisans 55mm f1.4. Built from high-quality, hard plastic, it features a buttery smooth 180-degree focus throw and a satisfying clicked aperture ring, though a de-clicked cinema version is also available. Optically, the lens delivers excellent contrast, rich color rendering, and highly controlled distortion and chromatic aberrations, making it a very balanced alternative to clinical native options like the Fujinon 50mm f2. The lens boasts a strong list of pros, highlighted by its superb corner sharpness, excellent flaring and ghosting control, rich contrast, and beautiful background separation from its bright 9-blade rounded aperture. Additionally, it is lightweight, suffers from minimal vignetting or distortion, and avoids the "made in China" label common to cheap competitors. On the downside, the cons include a...

The Samyang/Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC CS is a highly-rated manual-focus standard prime lens designed for mirrorless camera systems including Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, and Sony E-mount. Priced competitively under £300, it features a robust optical construction of nine elements in seven groups, including two aspherical elements to control aberrations, alongside ultra-multi-coating (UMC) to minimize internal reflections. The lens feels exceptionally solid in the hand with its high-quality plastic outer barrel and smooth focus ring. In terms of optical performance, it delivers impressive center and corner sharpness that match even at f/1.2, achieving its ultimate sweet spot around f/4. Furthermore, it boasts exceptional curvilinear distortion control, completely eliminating barrel or pincushion artifacts. Despite its five-star rating, the lens comes with distinct usability trade-offs. The lack of autofocus and built-in optical stabilization saves on weight but makes focusing at f/1.2 highly challenging without relying on digital aids like focus peaking or magnified view. Additionally, it completely lacks electronic metal contacts at the mount, meaning no focal length or aperture metadata is saved to your camera's EXIF data. Real-world...

Comprehensive Summary The Samyang (Rokinon) 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC is a compact, manual-focus prime lens designed for mirrorless systems (such as Canon EF-M, Sony E, Fuji X, and Micro 4/3) that delivers outstanding optical quality at a premium f/1.2 aperture. Reviewer Dustin Abbott highlights its exceptional sharpness, strong contrast, and impressive resolution even when shot wide open, outperforming older lenses like the Canon 50mm f/1.0L and f/1.2L. Built with high-quality plastics over a metal frame, the lens feels dense and substantial without being overly heavy, making it an excellent portrait choice for crop sensors. Its key pros include excellent light transmission, a 9-bladed rounded aperture that creates soft, appealing real-world bokeh and clean 18-pointed sunstars, well-controlled distortion, and minimal wide-open vignetting. However, the lens has notable handling drawbacks due to its completely manual nature. The primary cons stem from a total lack of electronic coupling, meaning it does not transmit EXIF data (such as focal length or selected aperture) to the camera body, nor does it allow for automatic lens profile corrections in editing software. Users must also change internal...

The Photodo review of the Samyang 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC CS highlights its ultra-fast f/1.2 maximum aperture for significant creative control and smooth, creamy bokeh, along with high build quality at a budget-friendly price point. The manual-focus lens also offers constant, accurate depth-of-field preview on mirrorless cameras due to its lack of electronic contacts. However, the review details substantial drawbacks, including the complete absence of autofocus, automatic diaphragm, and EXIF data communication, demanding high effort from the user. The razor-thin depth of field at f/1.2 makes shooting dynamic subjects difficult, requiring controlled, stationary conditions to achieve optimal, sharp results.

The Samyang 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC CS is a fast short-telephoto prime lens designed specifically for APS-C and Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras, offering a high-quality option for under £300. According to the What Digital Camera review, the lens offers an exceptionally solid build quality that beats expectations for its price point. Its standout feature is the ultra-bright f/1.2 maximum aperture, which delivers great low-light performance and beautiful background blur, making it a highly compelling short telephoto choice for portrait photographers. Mechanically, it is surprisingly lightweight at under 400g, the focus ring offers smooth and precise operation, and the lens handles distortion remarkably well, rendering perfectly straight horizontal and vertical lines. However, the reviewer points out several notable compromises that come with the lens's budget pricing and manual nature. The most prominent drawback is that it is a fully manual lens with no autofocus and no built-in optical image stabilisation. Because there are no electronic contacts on the mount, the camera cannot record any EXIF metadata regarding focal length or aperture settings. Optically, the lens suffers from noticeable corner shading...

The Trusted Reviews analysis of the Samyang 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC CS highlights a fast, manual-focus prime lens designed for APS-C mirrorless cameras, noting its impressive image quality, high sharpness at f/1.2, and lightweight, durable build. While the silky-smooth manual focus ring allows for precise control, key downsides include the complete lack of autofocus, absence of optical image stabilization, and the lack of electronic contacts, which prevents EXIF data transmission to the camera body.

The Samyang/Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 CS is a lightweight, compact, and robustly built manual focus lens designed for mirrorless systems, including Fujifilm X, Sony E, Canon M, and Micro Four Thirds mounts. Its primary strengths include its smooth, precise mechanical focus ring and an appealing background bokeh that stays circular down to f/2.8, though onion rings and cat's eye shapes are visible. Optically, the lens performs at its best during close-up shots at short distances, where details look noticeably sharper. It also displays strong resistance to chromatic aberration and flare, keeping optical defects minimal even in direct sunlight. However, the lens falls short in optical performance where it matters most, delivering very soft results when shot wide open at f/1.2 and f/1.4. Sharpness only improves starting at f/4, and because its corners are consistently softer than the centre, it is poorly suited for landscape photography. Performance degrades further at medium to long focus distances, which impacts full-body portrait shots. Additionally, it features no electronic contacts on the mount—meaning EXIF data is lost and in-camera JPEG corrections for its heavy wide-open vignetting...