Samyang AF 35mm 1.4 FE für Sony E

The Samyang AF 35mm f1.4 FE is a mild wide-angle prime lens for Sony’s Alpha mirrorless cameras, offering a bright aperture and autofocus at an affordable price below Sony’s existing trio of 35mm lenses. In my tests, the Samyang AF 35mm f1.4 FE left me with mixed feelings. There's no denying it gives you a lot of bang for the buck: good to very good resolution with little longitudinal CAs or color fringing in a package that is neither too large, heavy nor expensive for its bright f1.4 focal ratio. The Bokeh may not be the smoothest but still has the characteristic of f1.4 lenses, which simply produce bigger Bokeh balls and shallower depth-of-field than lenses with smaller focal ratios. My biggest frustration with my test sample regarded focusing: the autofocus was less reliable than the other lenses I compared it against and the manual focus proved erratic. Again this may have been an issue with my particular sample (and if I get a chance to retest another I'll update my review), but if you do go for it, make sure the focus-performance of your copy is up to scratch because you're probably not going to be happy with it if it has the same problems as mine did. But provided the lens focuses correctly I can still recommend it. The optical performance combined with a relatively light weight and low price makes it an attractive option for those seeking an affordable large aperture wide-angle prime.

To be very honest with you - we didn't have the highest expectations but the Samyang AF 35mm f/1.4 FE smashed them - mostly. The resolution is among the best that we have seen in this lens class. It's already sharp at f/1.4 and downright superb from f/2. Lateral CAs are very moderate, less so LoCAs (Bokeh fringing) albeit that's still rather normal these days. Distortions are next to non-existent when using image auto-correction but just on a medium level in RAW mode. Vignetting is visible at f/1.4 even with auto-correction (much more so in RAW mode) but not much of an issue beyond. The quality of the bokeh is good but not brilliant. This is not limited to the Samyang though - the Sony/Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA is actually worse in this respect. The build quality is impressive but stays just short of professional-grade expectations. Namely, weather-sealing is absent and the finish doesn't feel premium. That being said the all-metal construction is solid. The AF speed is fast and it's near-silent. While the focus ring is very smooth to handle, the actual focusing is a bit on the coarse side in manual (by-wire) mode. Overall Samyang AF 35mm f/1.4 FE represents an outstanding value and it's awesome to see that Samyang aims to provide this level of quality in a high-speed lens to a broader audience. Just watch out for sample variations.