Samyang AF 50mm F 1 4 FE II Review | 54 Data compared

The Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 II is a highly competitive, compact, and lightweight full-frame prime lens for Sony FE mount that costs roughly $700 USD. Weighing just 420g and measuring 88.9mm in length, it is significantly smaller and over 350g lighter than alternative options like the Sony Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4. The updated lens body features a clean, modern aesthetic with a rubberised manual focus ring, comprehensive weather sealing at six different points, a focus hold button, and a customizable control switch. Optically, the lens outperforms its first-generation predecessor by 15% across the frame. It delivers excellent sharpness and contrast in the center even wide open at F1.4, outstanding edge-to-edge resolution when stopped down, remarkably low pincushion distortion, strong flare resistance, and high light transmission. Despite its stellar price-to-performance ratio, the lens does have a few drawbacks. The Linear STM focus motor, while a massive improvement in terms of quietness and eye-tracking stability for stills and video compared to the original version, suffers from a minor lag during drastic focus transitions due to lacking the higher torque of Samyang's dual-motor...

The Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE II lens is a lightweight, weather-sealed prime offering excellent central sharpness from f/1.4 to f/11, smooth bokeh, and low aberration. It features a fast, silent linear STM motor and a customizable control ring for aperture control, making it suitable for both stills and video. Pros include superior handling, a 0.4m minimum focus distance, and high-value performance, earning it a "Highly Recommended" rating. Optically, the lens excels, though sharpness drops off at the outer edges at wider apertures and close distances, and it is susceptible to some flare in bright, backlit scenes. Despite these minor edge-performance issues, it is hailed as a top-performing, cost-effective alternative to native glass.

The Samyang AF 50 mm f/1.4 FE II is a highly improved, affordable autofocus prime lens designed for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras, significantly outperforming its flawed predecessor. According to the LensTip review, the lens boasts exceptional image quality at the frame center, good sharpness at the APS-C edge, and acceptable quality at the full-frame borders. Key optical strengths include well-corrected spherical aberration, low distortion, negligible astigmatism, manageable coma, and remarkably low "focus breathing" which benefits videographers. Furthermore, its built-in linear STM autofocus mechanism operates quietly and accurately, and the lens renders pleasing out-of-focus background bokeh at a price point hundreds of dollars cheaper than brand-name rivals like Sony or Sigma. However, the review details a few notable drawbacks that prevent it from being completely flawless. The lens suffers from high vignetting when used on a full-frame sensor, requiring substantial corner darkening corrections. It also displays moderate struggles with longitudinal chromatic aberration, which can cause color fringing in out-of-focus areas. Additionally, its performance against bright backlight is somewhat disappointing; placing a strong light source just outside the corner of the frame...

The Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE II is a fast, lightweight standard prime lens designed for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras, functioning equally well as a 75mm-equivalent short telephoto lens on APS-C bodies. Built to celebrate Samyang’s 50th anniversary, this Mark II iteration introduces a majorly improved linear stepping motor autofocus system that delivers fast, quiet, and highly accurate tracking for both stills and video, while heavily minimizing focus breathing. Physically, the lens features robust, weather-sealed construction, a smooth electronically coupled focus ring, a customizable focus hold button, and a two-position custom switch that can assign the focus ring to stepless aperture control. Optically, it utilizes a premium 11-element layout including two ultra-precision aspherical elements to capture exceptional center-frame sharpness, beautiful bokeh, and well-controlled axial chromatic aberrations even when shooting wide-open at f/1.4. The lens offers several distinct advantages, notably its highly competitive $649 price point and a portable 420g design that comes in at roughly half the weight and price of premium competitors like the Sony f/1.2 G Master. Reviewers praised its excellent build quality, fast autofocus performance, and...

The Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE II is a major upgrade over its predecessor, offering impressive cross-frame sharpness that handles high-resolution sensors like the 60MP Sony Alpha 7R IV with ease. Priced at £599, it stands out for its lightweight design at just 420g and a compact 9cm length, making it highly portable compared to heavier rivals. The lens introduces an improved optical design with 11 elements in 8 groups, a weather-sealed construction, and a stepper motor that provides quiet, accurate autofocus with minimal focus breathing, which is highly beneficial for videographers. However, the lens does have a few notable drawbacks, such as the lack of a dedicated aperture ring and visible longitudinal chromatic aberration (colour fringing) in out-of-focus areas at wide apertures. While its autofocus is a vast improvement, it is still not quite as fast as its direct rivals and can occasionally become sluggish when refocusing between different distance zones at smaller apertures. Additionally, the AF hold button is quite small and requires unusual pressure to activate, and the 0.16x maximum magnification may disappoint photographers looking to shoot...

The Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE II is a lightweight, compact, and affordable full-frame E-mount portrait lens that weighs approximately 420 grams and measures 9.5 cm in length. Built with a combination of aluminium and hard plastics, it features weather sealing, a customizable switch, and a focus hold button. Optically, the lens delivers impressive central and corner sharpness even when shot wide open at f/1.4, vastly outperforming the older, more expensive Sony-Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 in corner clarity. Video creators will particularly appreciate its lack of focus breathing and minimal chromatic aberrations, though the focus ring movement is non-linear. Despite its strong overall performance, the lens exhibits clear drawbacks, most notably its weak close-up capability. At its minimum focus distance of 40 cm, the lens produces soft image quality in the center and poor sharpness in the corners, meaning users must stop down to at least f/4 for acceptable close-up results. Additionally, the lens displays heavy vignetting in the corners when camera corrections are disabled, which only resolves around f/2 to f/2.8, alongside a minor amount of pincushion distortion. While its...