Rokinon AF 35mm F 2 8 FE Review | 54 Data compared

The PCMag review highlights the Rokinon 35mm F2.8 AF for Sony E-mount as a highly affordable, exceptionally sharp, and compact pancake lens for full-frame cameras. Key advantages include its lightweight design and quick autofocus, making it ideal for travel and street photography. However, the lens lacks weather sealing and features a largely plastic construction to maintain its low price point. Additionally, optical performance is marred by significant vignetting, particularly when shooting at wide apertures.

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE as an excellent, budget-friendly "pancake" lens for Sony FE cameras, offering superb center sharpness from f/2.8 to f/16, very good edge performance, and low chromatic aberration. Weighing only 85g, this fast-autofocusing lens delivers punchy, high-contrast images with pleasant bokeh, earning a "Highly Recommended" rating for its exceptional price-to-performance ratio. Conversely, the lens lacks weather sealing and does not feature full-time manual focus override, requiring photographers to take care in adverse weather and switch modes through the camera body. Despite these omissions, its compact design and high optical quality make it a compelling, cost-effective option for street and travel photography.

The Samyang AF 35 mm f/2.8 FE is a compact "pancake" lens that offers a high-value alternative to the more expensive Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35 mm f/2.8 ZA. In its testing, LensTip highlighted the lens's excellent sharpness in the frame centre, where it surprisingly outperformed its Zeiss rival at the maximum aperture of f/2.8 and reached its peak performance of over 63 lpmm at f/5.6. The lens features a lightweight, portable build weighing only 85g, a metal bayonet mount, and a rich accessory kit including a sturdy hard case. Despite its strong central resolution, the review noted several drawbacks, particularly on full-frame sensors where coma and vignetting are significant issues. While the autofocus is quiet and relatively fast, it exhibited occasional accuracy problems, resulting in some blurry shots during outdoor testing. Additionally, while distortion was comparable to the Zeiss model, it is of the pincushion variety (.79% on full frame), which is unusual for a 35mm wide-angle lens. Review Summary Category Pros Cons Performance Very good center sharpness Whimsical autofocus accuracy Optics Low chromatic aberration Significant coma on...

The Rokinon AF 35mm f/2.8 is an ultra-compact, 3-ounce, budget-friendly prime lens for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras, praised by Shotkit for impressive optical sharpness, convenience, and effective autofocus paired with Sony's body tracking. However, this portability comes with notable cons, including a lack of weather-sealing, a plasticky build, and the absence of physical AF/MF or custom switches on the lens barrel.

The Samyang AF 24mm and 35mm f/2.8 FE lenses for Sony full-frame cameras offer remarkable portability and exceptional value, making them excellent choices for minimalist photographers and street shooters. Priced under $300, both lenses feature a thin aluminium shell, internal focusing that keeps them free from dust, and a lightweight pancake design. The 35mm lens is highly praised for its sharpness wide open, outperforming its price point, and its swift autofocus tracking which matches native Sony glass. This focal length makes it an ideal, low-key tool for street photography and lightweight professional use like social media or web work. However, the reviewer points out several compromises, noting that physics inevitably limits performance in such a tiny form factor. The 24mm lens suffers from noticeable softness when shot wide open at f/2.8, requiring users to stop down to f/5.6 or beyond to achieve acceptable sharpness. Additionally, neither lens features weather-sealing, and the autofocus motor produces an audible noise during video recording, though this can sometimes be masked by ambient outdoor sounds. Despite these drawbacks, the review concludes that both lenses fill...

This budget-friendly prime lens is highly praised for its exceptionally compact, lightweight design and strong optical performance, making it an excellent travel companion for Sony full-frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras. Weighing only 3 ounces and measuring 1.3 inches in length, it stands out as the smallest and lightest native full-frame E-mount lens reviewed by the author. Despite its under-$400 price tag, the lens delivers impressive color, contrast, and image sharpness, which clean up nicely when stopping down from its maximum f/2.8 aperture. Additional advantages include minimal image distortion, very slight vignetting when shot wide open, a smooth focusing ring, and surprisingly attractive sunstars. However, the lens has notable drawbacks resulting from its budget build quality and internal motor design. Constructed almost entirely of plastic, it lacks weather sealing and durability against harsh environments. A major performance flaw is its sluggish, loud autofocus system that tends to hunt significantly, especially in low-light scenarios or when tracking fast-moving subjects. This makes the lens poorly suited for video enthusiasts. Furthermore, the background bokeh can feel a bit harsh, and the unique, cheaply made...