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

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE as an exceptionally lightweight (85g), portable, and affordable lens for Sony FE cameras, offering fast, quiet autofocus and excellent center sharpness. Performance is characterized by low chromatic aberration, minimal flare, and very good edge sharpness, making it a compelling, budget-friendly choice for travel and street photography. However, the lens lacks weather sealing, and the design omits full-time manual focus override, restricting its versatility in challenging conditions. Some users may also encounter compatibility issues requiring manual configuration of Sony’s SteadyShot system, though the review ultimately rates the lens highly for its overall performance-to-price ratio.

The Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE is an ultra-compact pancake lens specifically engineered for Sony's E-mount mirrorless cameras, functioning as a wide-angle on full-frame bodies and a standard prime on APS-C sensors. A prominent highlight of this lens is its exceptionally lightweight construction, weighing under 86 grams, which makes it feel virtually weightless and highly ideal for inconspicuous street and travel photography. Optically, the reviewer notes that the lens punches well above its weight class, serving up excellent sharpness and high contrast across the entire frame even when shooting wide open at its maximum aperture. Coupled with an extremely competitive, low price tag, it stands out as a highly budget-friendly alternative to the vastly more expensive Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA. However, the review points out several design compromises, primarily driven by its budget and compact footprint. The lens body is predominantly plastic with a lighter aluminum mount rather than heavy steel. While the autofocus is snappy in bright conditions, its biggest operational drawback is its sluggish autofocus performance and continuous hunting in low-light environments, where it sometimes...

The Samyang AF 35mm F2.8 FE is a compact and highly affordable autofocus prime lens designed specifically for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras, serving as a budget-friendly competitor to the Zeiss-badged Sony equivalent. Priced at just £280, it delivers surprisingly strong optical performance, producing sharp, highly detailed images that hold up well even on a high-resolution 42.4-megapixel Sony Alpha 7R II sensor. The lens' key strengths include its exceptionally lightweight 85g construction, rapid autofocus, minimal distortion, and well-controlled chromatic aberration, making it an excellent, unobtrusive tool for street photography. Furthermore, peak sharpness is reached at f/5.6, and the lens includes a neat, dedicated carrying case. However, the lens comes with several distinct compromises to achieve its low price point and small size. Its build relies on a noticeably plasticky barrel shell rather than premium metal, and it displays prominent vignetting (corner shading) and coma wide open at f/2.8. The bokeh can also look messy and distracting with busy, bright rings around out-of-focus background highlights. Physically, the flat cylindrical lens hood design is highly inconvenient for filter users, as it forces them...

The LensTip review highlights the Samyang AF 35 mm f/2.8 FE as an incredibly lightweight, compact, and affordable pancake lens tailored perfectly for the Sony mirrorless system. Optically, its biggest strength is excellent image sharpness in the frame center right from its maximum aperture of f/2.8. It delivers sensible image quality across the edges of both APS-C and full-frame sensors. Additionally, the lens shows great control over optical aberrations, featuring very low lateral chromatic aberration, negligible longitudinal chromatic aberration, minimal astigmatism, and no issues with spherical aberration. Its autofocus mechanism operates quietly and reasonably fast. It presents a highly compelling price-to-quality ratio, outperforming its more expensive direct competitor, the Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35 mm f/2.8 ZA, in center resolution. Despite these solid performance marks, LensTip noted several distinct drawbacks. The lens exhibits heavy vignetting on full-frame sensors, losing up many stops of light at the corners, which fails to clean up fully even when stopped down heavily to f/16. Its geometric profile is also flawed, revealing noticeable pincushion distortion (.92%.79% on full frame) which is atypical for a...

The Rokinon 35mm f/2.8 FE is an incredibly compact, lightweight prime lens for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras, measuring 2.43 by 1.30 inches and weighing just 3 ounces. Priced under $400, it stands out as an exceptional value for budget-conscious travelers and street photographers who want to replicate a lightweight shooting experience. Built with seven elements in six groups and a seven-blade diaphragm, the lens delivers impressive optics, sharp imagery, rich color, high contrast, and pleasing bokeh. While the lens corners show slight softness when shooting wide open in low light, the optics sharpen up beautifully as the aperture is stepped down from f/2.8. However, achieving this ultra-lightweight profile required major compromises in build quality and mechanical performance. The lens body is constructed almost entirely of plastic and lacks any weather sealing, meaning it cannot withstand storms or rough handling. The most significant drawback is its sluggish and noisy autofocus system, which frequently hunts to lock onto subjects and bogs down entirely when tracking fast-moving objects. Additionally, the unique lens cap is made of cheap materials and is currently impossible to...

The Rokinon 35mm F2.8 AF for Sony E is a highly compact, lightweight, and budget-friendly ($399) full-frame pancake prime lens, lauded by PCMag for delivering exceptionally sharp imagery. It offers quick, efficient autofocus and acts as a cost-effective, versatile option for travel and street photography compared to pricier first-party alternatives. JECR-Journal of Conversely, the review notes a lack of premium feel due to its all-plastic construction and a complete absence of weather sealing. While optical distortion is minimal, the lens exhibits noticeable vignetting at the maximum f/2.8 aperture, leading PCMag to suggest the sturdier Sony Zeiss 35mm F2.8 ZA for those requiring better durability and peripheral lighting.

The Samyang AF 24mm and 35mm f/2.8 FE lenses for Sony provide an exceptionally lightweight, compact, and affordable option for full-frame photographers looking for a "pancake" setup. Designed with a thin aluminum outer shell and an inner-focusing mechanism that protects against dust, these lenses turn large camera bodies into stealthy, point-and-shoot-style setups ideal for travel, street photography, and unobtrusive shooting. Reviewer Andy Day notes that while they retail at a budget-friendly price under $300, the build sacrifices maximum aperture and physical size rather than component quality, delivering solid autofocus tracking and subject acquisition that aligns well with Sony’s native entry-level primes. However, the reviewer highlights distinct performance differences and drawbacks between the two focal lengths. The pros center heavily on the 35mm version, which boasts impressive, usable sharpness wide open at f/2.8, an incredibly low weight of just 3 ounces, and a highly practical clamshell travel pouch. On the flip side, the major cons include the 24mm version being noticeably soft when shot wide open—requiring users to stop down to f/5.6 or beyond for acceptable sharpness—and the lack of weather-sealing...

However, the review details a few notable cons, headlined by a complete lack of weather sealing and no built-in optical image stabilization (IBIS). Optical drawbacks include considerable vignetting when shot wide open at f/2.8, along with image softening due to diffraction if you stop down beyond f/11. Design quirks also pose minor inconveniences: losing the plastic lens hood changes the front thread size, forcing users to buy a new hood just to utilize the original 40.5mm lens cap, or adapt to a 49mm alternative. Prospective buyers should also note that Samyang officially discontinued this model in late 2023, meaning it is progressively transitionary to the secondhand market.

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE as a highly capable, lightweight (85g) pancake lens delivering excellent center sharpness from f/2.8 and uniform, high-quality performance across the frame by f/5.6. It features fast, silent autofocus with low distortion and minimal chromatic aberration, offering great value for Sony users. While praised for its optical quality, the lens lacks weather resistance and full-time manual focus override in AF mode. Despite these omissions, it is highly recommended for travel and street photography, earning a 5/5 rating for performance and value.

The Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE lens provides outstanding sharpness, with excellent central performance from f/2.8 to f/16 and very good edge sharpness, alongside fast, accurate, and quiet autofocus. While delivering strong, punchy results, the lens lacks weather resistance and full-time manual focus override, and it may require manual SteadyShot configuration, according to ePHOTOzine.