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Archive 2016 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Tariq Gibran
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p.3 #1 · p.3 #1 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Fred Miranda wrote:
I was not able to open that linked image but I think this is the sample showing LoCA from the Photographyblog review:

That is the one. I was not able to open the link directly either but noted the name of the image from the link and found it on the samples page (3rd image from the left at top).

Jul 24, 2016 at 12:13 PM

CalBoy87
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p.3 #2 · p.3 #2 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Korean site already did some comprehensive comparison with FE55. You may use any browser with translator, as the site is in Korean. Here is the link:
http://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=user_review&no=41995

Jul 25, 2016 at 06:42 AM

Matt Grum
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p.3 #3 · p.3 #3 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

pdmphoto wrote:
What's the big deal about the CA? It looks to be the easily correctable form. It's a one click solution in most PP programs today.

To expand on what's been said already, there is a huuuuuuge difference between lateral CA, which depends on the position in the frame and is thus easily corrected, and longitudinal CA, which depends on distance in front of / behind the focal plane - a quantity that is unknown to the tool doing the correction.

When talking about "CA" it is vital to be clear which variant is being discussed!

Jul 25, 2016 at 08:13 AM

Fred Miranda
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p.3 #4 · p.3 #4 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

CalBoy87 wrote:
Korean site already did some comprehensive comparison with FE55. You may use any browser with translator, as the site is in Korean. Here is the link:
http://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=user_review&no=41995

No need for translators. The images say it all!

Jul 25, 2016 at 10:35 AM

pdmphoto
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p.3 #5 · p.3 #5 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Matt Grum wrote:
To expand on what's been said already, there is a huuuuuuge difference between lateral CA, which depends on the position in the frame and is thus easily corrected, and longitudinal CA, which depends on distance in front of / behind the focal plane - a quantity that is unknown to the tool doing the correction.

When talking about "CA" it is vital to be clear which variant is being discussed!

I'm well aware of the different types of CA. I didn't see any samples that showed Longitudal CA (which is also sometimes referred to as LoCA or Bokeh CA). The sample posted above with the black stripes look very poor, but the same shot using the Sony 50/1.4 would provide better reference. All fast 50's have some LoCA, unless they are APO.

The Zeiss 100/2 has a lot of LoCA, but has been a popular high performance lens for many years.

Jul 25, 2016 at 10:23 PM

johnctharp
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p.3 #6 · p.3 #6 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

'APO' is marketing-speak. Sigma, for example, has used it in the past on lenses that have more CA than say their current Art lineup.

(the Zeiss 100/2 has design characteristics that are very favorable for its expected uses, but it was also produced before Zeiss went on their latest APO/Otus adventure)

Jul 26, 2016 at 01:09 AM

DavidBM
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p.3 #7 · p.3 #7 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

pdmphoto wrote:
I'm well aware of the different types of CA. I didn't see any samples that showed Longitudal CA (which is also sometimes referred to as LoCA or Bokeh CA). The sample posted above with the black stripes look very poor, but the same shot using the Sony 50/1.4 would provide better reference. All fast 50's have some LoCA, unless they are APO.

The Zeiss 100/2 has a lot of LoCA, but has been a popular high performance lens for many years.

But the stupid shirt is clearly LoCA, since it's different colours on either side of the focus plane. LaCa would involve different colours on either side of high contrast edges in the plane of focus.
EDIT stupid is autocorrect for striped, I wasn't getting annoyed with anyone...

Jul 26, 2016 at 01:18 AM

DavidBM
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p.3 #8 · p.3 #8 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

DavidBM wrote:
But the stupid shirt is clearly LoCA, since it's different colours on either side of the focus plane. LaCa would involve different colours on either side of high contrast edges in the plane of focus.
EDIT stupid is autocorrect for striped, I wasn't getting annoyed with anyone...

"stupid" is autocorrect for "striped", I wasn't getting annoyed with anyone...

Jul 26, 2016 at 07:27 PM

justruss
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p.3 #9 · p.3 #9 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

DavidBM wrote:

"stupid" is autocorrect for "striped", I wasn't getting annoyed with anyone...

Haha. I thought you were just annoyed by the stupid LoCA on that shirt.

Jul 27, 2016 at 01:57 AM

Beni
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p.3 #10 · p.3 #10 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

The test pictures are very useful but their real life pictures made me go back to sleep. Didn't seem to have any character at all. Incredibly neutral. Reminded me of my Canon 50mm f1.4. No doubt just their pictures though, shame they don't provide raws

Jul 27, 2016 at 07:53 AM

Faulta
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p.3 #11 · p.3 #11 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Last week I found a good deal and bought the lens. Never thought about buying it because I don't like lenses that don't perform well wide open. But price was good and after 5 minutes of not thinking too much I decided to give it a try.
First impressions:
Positive:
-1.4 sharpness almost hits sensor resolution on the a7ii, corners not too bad either
-build is A LOT nicer than other samyang lenses
-my copy seems to be well centered
-low amount of vignetting
Negative:
-its very very slow focusing. My Canon 1.8 STM with sigma mc-11 is a lot faster, never thought that to be possible
-defenitley plenty of ca
Will post some sample images later

Jun 14, 2017 at 09:26 AM

Faulta
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p.3 #12 · p.3 #12 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Ok, first I took some infinity sharpness shots in different apertures.. F1.4; F2.8; F8; F16
Shots are on a 24mp sony a7ii, so the rii could give different results all shots are sooc and in camera corrections are turned off.

the scene:

Scene Downscaled by marco köhler, auf Flickr
F1.4 is over exposed because of 1/8000 shutter limitation.

Center: all apertures feature good sharpness, the power lines clearly show the sensor pixel count limitation. F16 is softer due to diffraction. F1.4 is not as sharp as F2.8 and F8 but seems to be better than F16 - so good enough for me at least.

Center 1.4 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Center 2.8 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Center 8.0 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Center 16 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

slightly off center: pretty much the same

Off center 1.4 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Off center 2.8 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Off center 8.0 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Off center 16 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Off Center to Corner: again similar performance:

Corner 1.4 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Corner 2.8 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Corner 8.0 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Corner 16 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Corner to extreme corner: The F1.4 falls apart, getting notocible softer and showing CAs

Extreme corner 1.4 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Extreme corner 2.8 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Extreme corner 8.0 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Extreme corner 16 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

later this day I went out with my girl and i took the camera with me and took some pictures. all images are sooc jpeg, no corrections, auto white balance. I did not use the lens hood. All images are AF. Preview images scaled down, full resolution on flickr

DSC08963 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC08972 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC08984 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC08998 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09002 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09024 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09033 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09046 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09050 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09054 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09059 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09063 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09070 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09076 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09087 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09097 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09100 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09116 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09118 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09124 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09129 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09131 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09137 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09141 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09149 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09151 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09152 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

DSC09157 by marco köhler, auf Flickr

Jun 14, 2017 at 06:21 PM

TMaG82
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p.3 #13 · p.3 #13 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

^ Quite an extensive test and thank you for your test images. Your conclusion? Is it a keeper?

Jun 14, 2017 at 06:39 PM

Faulta
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p.3 #14 · p.3 #14 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

TMaG82 wrote:
^ Quite an extensive test and thank you for your test images. Your conclusion? Is it a keeper?

I've used it for a day, not enough to decide yet.
The slow autofocus is actually noticeable in different situation. Even in daylight it hunts from time to time.
Also it's quite heavy for a walk around lens, but I knew that before.
Another bad thing is the flare resistance. It's "ok" but nothing more, there are a lot of better options. Ca are also quite common at 1.4, but nothing too crazy.

Some things I really like:
-Resolution is plenty enough for a 24mp FF sensor for me, so I don't care using it at 1.4 .. I don't like lenses that I have to stop down to get enough sharpness, sold all of them
- focus seems to be pretty accurate once it looked down
- I'm positively surprised by the sunstars, really like them
- bokeh is super smooth, not nervous like the 55 1.8

Jun 14, 2017 at 07:08 PM

genji
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p.3 #15 · p.3 #15 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Not a lens I'd wish to buy but it's great to see such a comprehensive test that gives a clear idea of its strengths and weaknesses. Thank you!

Jun 14, 2017 at 07:49 PM

BlueBomberTurbo
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p.3 #16 · p.3 #16 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Just picked this lens up from B&H. Had been hearing some generally negative stuff about it as far as IQ and AF, though some lesser known reviewers with more recent review dates said AF performance had improved greatly by the current firmware v33(!), and sample IQ was actually pretty decent on some sites (while bad to horrid on many others). Good enough in both areas for me to take a chance.

What I've found is that the lens, at least my copy, definitely needed the Lens Station to bring out its best. My firmware was out of date by 1 version (lens could have been sitting around for up to 1.5 years), and needed -4 AF correction to get it sharp. Sharpness is absolutely fine on my A7 III at normal working distances. Sharp enough to enhance in post to satisfy anyone's craving for sharpness without ramping up the noise. Things are pretty soft at MFD wide open, but sharpen up by f/2.8, and at twice the distance and beyond wide open.

One noticeable issue is that the lens has some field curvature away from the camera toward the edges. Some reviews were complaining about the corners being soft, but they're 90% as sharp as the center if you focus on them, or something lands in focus out there. Just a bit more CA. So while you're not going to get the corner-to-corner sharpness of today's high end lenses with a flat field of focus, you never have to worry about sharpness falling off outside the center if you choose to move your subject around the frame.

AF is a draw. As far as speed, it's as fast as the other Samyang 1.4s with current firmware. Quick but not fast. MFD to infinity takes maybe 1/4 second, but focusing continuously on a subject is fast enough that you won't miss anything except maybe close runners or dogs coming straight at you.

So while the lens' overall performance is perfectly fine for a non-high-end 1.4, the AF motors are noisy. They sound like a 56K modem on crack, whispering at you. Probably not the lens you'd want to use at an indoor wedding ceremony without MFing first for large focus changes. Locked on, it's passable. For video, you need to use an external mic away from the camera. For anything not requiring silence, though, it's fine. This was Samyang's first AF motor, after all. The other 1.4s make much quieter, lower pitched noises, but they're only audible by the photographer and the internal mics under quiet conditions.

I'll get some samples to post this weekend, where things will clear up on Saturday and I can put the lens through its paces, before I decide if I want to use it at Sunday's wedding. Haven't had a chance to torture the bokeh yet, either, but I hear it's absolutely excellent under almost all circumstances.

Mar 17, 2021 at 08:10 PM

Teo Rey
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p.3 #17 · p.3 #17 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

BlueBomberTurbo wrote:
Just picked this lens up from B&H. Had been hearing some generally negative stuff about it as far as IQ and AF, though some lesser known reviewers with more recent review dates said AF performance had improved greatly by the current firmware v33(!), and sample IQ was actually pretty decent on some sites (while bad to horrid on many others). Good enough in both areas for me to take a chance.

What I've found is that the lens, at least my copy, definitely needed the Lens Station to bring out its best. My firmware was out of date by 1 version (lens could have been sitting around for up to 1.5 years), and needed -4 AF correction to get it sharp. Sharpness is absolutely fine on my A7 III at normal working distances. Sharp enough to enhance in post to satisfy anyone's craving for sharpness without ramping up the noise. Things are pretty soft at MFD wide open, but sharpen up by f/2.8, and at twice the distance and beyond wide open.

One noticeable issue is that the lens has some field curvature away from the camera toward the edges. Some reviews were complaining about the corners being soft, but they're 90% as sharp as the center if you focus on them, or something lands in focus out there. Just a bit more CA. So while you're not going to get the corner-to-corner sharpness of today's high end lenses with a flat field of focus, you never have to worry about sharpness falling off outside the center if you choose to move your subject around the frame.

AF is a draw. As far as speed, it's as fast as the other Samyang 1.4s with current firmware. Quick but not fast. MFD to infinity takes maybe 1/4 second, but focusing continuously on a subject is fast enough that you won't miss anything except maybe close runners or dogs coming straight at you.

So while the lens' overall performance is perfectly fine for a non-high-end 1.4, the AF motors are noisy. They sound like a 56K modem on crack, whispering at you. Probably not the lens you'd want to use at an indoor wedding ceremony without MFing first for large focus changes. Locked on, it's passable. For video, you need to use an external mic away from the camera. For anything not requiring silence, though, it's fine. This was Samyang's first AF motor, after all. The other 1.4s make much quieter, lower pitched noises, but they're only audible by the photographer and the internal mics under quiet conditions.

I'll get some samples to post this weekend, where things will clear up on Saturday and I can put the lens through its paces, before I decide if I want to use it at Sunday's wedding. Haven't had a chance to torture the bokeh yet, either, but I hear it's absolutely excellent under almost all circumstances. ...Show more →

It's a fun lens to use for its rendering, for sure. Bokeh on this thing typically blows any other AF 50mm out of the water that I've seen. Maybe some of the newer f1.2 lenses are better there, but you're not going to get one of those for $400!

Mar 18, 2021 at 12:17 AM

araudan
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p.3 #18 · p.3 #18 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

Has anyone here used the 50mm f1.4 II version of this lens? I'm contemplating it versus the Sony ZA 55mm. I can get either the Sony ZA or the Samyang with the dock for about the same price. On paper I like the Samyang for the 1.4 aperture and better sealing. I prefer the size of the Sony ZA and f1.8 is generally enough for what I do. I've seen reviews of the Samyang and it seems decent. I'm just wondering about experiences of people here. Unfortunately renting to test isn't an option where I am.

Dec 08, 2022 at 02:34 PM

QuietOC
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p.3 #19 · p.3 #19 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

araudan wrote:
Has anyone here used the 50mm f1.4 II version of this lens? I'm contemplating it versus the Sony ZA 55mm. I can get either the Sony ZA or the Samyang with the dock for about the same price. On paper I like the Samyang for the 1.4 aperture and better sealing. I prefer the size of the Sony ZA and f1.8 is generally enough for what I do. I've seen reviews of the Samyang and it seems decent. I'm just wondering about experiences of people here. Unfortunately renting to test isn't an option where I am.

I bought and returned the II version and compared it with the original and both Sony ZAs. It was the sharpest wide-open in the center F1.4 prime I've tried so far, but it wasn't sharp outside the center even stopped down. It might be good as a dedicated portrait lens. I didn't test that. I really like the handling of these new Samyangs.

Edited on Dec 08, 2022 at 03:20 PM · View previous versions

Dec 08, 2022 at 03:17 PM

jwpstl
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p.3 #20 · p.3 #20 · Pre-order: Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE ($699)

There’s a thorough review and discussion here: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1730747/0?keyword=Samyang,50#15782019

araudan wrote:
Has anyone here used the 50mm f1.4 II version of this lens? I'm contemplating it versus the Sony ZA 55mm. I can get either the Sony ZA or the Samyang with the dock for about the same price. On paper I like the Samyang for the 1.4 aperture and better sealing. I prefer the size of the Sony ZA and f1.8 is generally enough for what I do. I've seen reviews of the Samyang and it seems decent. I'm just wondering about experiences of people here. Unfortunately renting to test isn't an option where I am.

Dec 08, 2022 at 03:19 PM

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