LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8 review: this telephoto lens completes the Schneider-Kreuznach ‘trinity’ of f/2.8 zooms for mirrorless cameras

I love the constant f/2.8 aperture of so-called trinity wide-angle, standard and telephoto zoom lenses, which typically have ranges of 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm respectively. I’m less enamoured that they’re typically big and hefty, feeling a bit of a mismatch for svelte mirrorless camera bodies, and that they often cost a small fortune. It seems I’m not the only one and, sure enough, there’s a growing range of ‘alternative trinity’ zoom lenses that wrap the same constant f/2.8 aperture into smaller, more lightweight lenses that are relatively affordable to buy.

One manufacturer that’s signed up on the dotted line is LK Samyang. The company was previously just known as Samyang before adding the LK (Leading Korea) prefix, and its lenses have often been badged as Rokinon in the USA. I’ve already reviewed the LK Samyang AF 24-60mm f/2.8 standard zoom and the LK Samyang AF 14-24mm f/2.8 wide-angle zoom. Like both of those lenses, the third lens in the trilogy that I’m reviewing here has been co-designed with the legendary German lens specialist Schneider-Kreuznach, adding further kudos to the trio.

Perhaps a little curiously, the 24-60mm lens is still only available in Sony E-mount, whereas the 14-24mm and more recent 60-180mm are both available in L-mount as well as E-mount. I can only imagine that an L-mount 24-60mm will be coming along soon. Either way, the standard and telephoto zooms are typical of alternative trinity zooms in having slightly different zoom ranges to more regular examples of the breed.

The 24-60mm zoom maintains a 24mm minimum focal length which is often lacking in alternative trinity standard zooms, and the 60-180mm picks up the baton directly from it, even if it only stretches to the usual ‘alternative’ 180mm rather than a full 200mm. Ultimately, the 60-180mm aims to be one of the best telephoto lenses as well as one of the best lenses for wedding and event photography, especially if you’re keeping an eye on the budget.

LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Specifications

LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Price

The LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8 sells for around $1,099 / £899 / AU$1,789, which is a whole lot more affordable than own-brand 70-200mm f/2.8 trinity zoom lenses from most camera manufacturers. At the time of its later launch, the L-mount version of the lens was a little pricier at $1,199 in the USA, but the same price as the earlier Sony E-mount version in other world regions.

By way of comparison, the directly competing and thoroughly excellent Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 typically sells for $999 / £999 / AU$2,349, so the Tamron costs less to buy in the USA but is pricier than the LK Samyang in the UK and costs significantly more in Australia. The Tamron is available in Sony E and Nikon Z mount options, but not in L-mount.

For a more conventional telephoto trinity zoom, the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG DN OS Sports is particularly good value at $1,649 / £1,499 / AU$3,040 and is again available in Sony E and L-mount options.

LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Design & Handling

Top of the design and handling attractions as far as I’m concerned are the lens’s physical size of 87x149mm / 3.4x5.9in and its weight of 730g / 25.8oz. So despite its telephoto powers and relatively fast and constant f/2.8 aperture, the LK Samyang is less than six inches long and only around half the weight of many conventional 70-200mm lenses. Indeed, all three lenses in the LK Samyang trinity only have a combined weight of about 1.7kg / 3.8lb, similar to the weight of some 70-200mm lenses on their own.

Before I get too carried away with the compactness of this lens, I should point out that it has an extending inner barrel. The result is that the lens physically grows in length as you zoom in, extending by about an inch as you stretch from the minimum to the maximum zoom length. Most conventional 70-200mm lenses have an internal zoom mechanism, so the physical length remains the same at all zoom settings, although the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM is a notable exception.

Many photographers don’t like the thought (or the practice) of a zoom lens with an extending inner barrel. For one thing, it’s a weak spot that potentially makes the lens less weather-resistant, and for another the overall balance of lens and camera changes as you zoom. I’m actually not that fussed, especially when it comes to this LK Samyang lens, as the total physical extension is only about an inch and the change in balance is barely perceptible.

It’s only a little thing but one of the design flourishes that I like about all three of the LK Samyang trinity lenses is the textured surfaces of their zoom and focus control rings. They look and feel a little different to standard fare and give you a bit of extra feelgood factor. The zoom ring operates smoothly with good tactile feedback, and is clearly marked at various focal lengths.

Another danger of lenses with an internal barrel that extends during zooming is that they can suffer from zoom creep. In my tests, I found that the LK Samyang was very resistant to this, even when shooting at vertically upward or downward angles, with the camera mounted on a tripod. There’s more of a risk that it can ‘drop out’ from its minimum zoom setting when walking around with the camera and lens hanging off a neck strap. To stop that happening, the lens is fitted with a zoom lock switch.

While the zoom ring is positioned towards the rear of the lens, the manual focus ring is toward the front. It has a different textured surface than the zoom ring but is equally tactile and operates with smooth precision. Following the convention of most modern lenses for mirrorless cameras, autofocus is based on a linear stepping motor, which tends to be quick for stills, as well as enabling smooth and virtually silent transitions when shooting video.

There’s an auto/manual focus mode switch on the side of the lens barrel, which makes it quick and easy to change between modes, instead of having to fumble around in camera menus. The lens also features a customizable function button, the action of which can be changed to various functions depending on the camera body. Most photographers tend to use it for autofocus-hold, myself included.

The optical path is based on 17 elements arranged in 14 groups, so there’s no shortage of glass. In fact, there’s no shortage of high-tech glass, as the lens features two aspherical elements, no less than seven ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, plus an HR (High Refractive index) element. The overall aim is to optimize sharpness, clarity and color rendition while suppressing unwanted aberrations like color fringing. The use of aspherical elements in preference to larger numbers of regular elements also helps to make the lens more compact and lightweight.

The hood supplied with the lens is pretty standard fare. It has an efficient petal-shaped profile for minimizing ghosting and flare, as well as a bayonet-action fitting. Again as usual, you can reverse the hood and fit it back-to-front on the lens, for compact stowage.

Towards the rear of the lens there’s a USB-C port. Given the fast-moving pace of camera technology, there’s a certain peace of mind that comes from lenses with a data port, so you can easily update their firmware to new versions, if and when needed.

Last but not least, the design features a sturdy metal mounting plate and gold-plated electronic contacts, tailored to either Sony E or L-mount, depending on the version of the lens. The build also incorporates multiple weather-seals, starting with a rubber gasket around the mounting plate to guard against the ingress of dust and moisture through the joint between the lens and camera body.

LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Performance

Let’s start the performance rundown by looking at the zoom range works out in practice. As I’ve mentioned, ‘alternative trinity’ zoom lenses often have non-standard zoom ranges so, for example, instead of 24-70mm and 70-200mm, you might get 28-75mm and 70-180mm. The LK Samyang standard zoom is actually 24-60mm, so the 60-180mm picks up directly from there. I actually like that the 60mm shortest zoom setting is barely more than an entirely standard perspective, enabling you to squeeze a little extra into the frame.

I’m not really fussed that the lens only stretches to 180mm instead of 200mm at the long end. The difference is often barely noticeable and is nothing that a little creative cropping can’t take care of. For a visual representation of the zoom range, the images above and below were shot at 60mm and 180mm respectively, of the same subject from the same vantage point. You’ll notice that there’s plenty of sharpness on tap at both ends of the zoom range.

70-200mm f/2.8 lenses (or thereabouts) are often favored by wedding and event photographers, as they deliver the versatility and flexibility of a telephoto zoom, along with a constant f/2.8 aperture rating. This makes them ideal for fast-moving portraiture, when you need to react quickly to unfolding events. The LK Samyang delivers good pictorial quality for portraiture, as shown in the image below. There’s good sharpness and clarity and the quality of bokeh is fairly smooth at f/2.8, even towards the short end of the zoom range where depth of field tends to be larger.

While the speed and accuracy of the autofocus system and the sharpness of the optical path are both impressive, I feel that LK Samyang is missing a trick by not including an optical stabilizer in the design. Sure, it’s only the very first range of Sony Alpha full-frame mirrorless cameras that lack IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization) but even so, optical stabilization tends to be more effective than IBIS for telephoto lenses. Another factor is that the lens is sufficiently compact and lightweight to be a tempting choice for Sony APS-C format mirrorless cameras, on which it has an ‘effective’ zoom range of 90-270mm. Most of these cameras don’t feature IBIS, so you end up with no stabilization at all.

I often run a bit of a techie test on this kind of lens, shooting a phrenology head in my back garden at various apertures from wide-open to a medium setting. The results give good indications of sharpness and the quality of bokeh for defocused areas. Moreover, fast lenses often suffer from axial/longitudinal chromatic aberration at the widest apertures, also known as bokeh fringing. This displays as color fringing around high-contrast transitions, just in front of and behind the plane of focus. The black lines and writing on the white porcelain of the phrenology head are a good test for this as well.

For points of reference, the head is about 1.5 yards in front of the camera, and the backdrop is about 2.5 yards behind the head. The sequence was captured at a focal length of 87mm, with apertures from f/2.8 to f/8. The LK Samyang does retains good sharpness even wide-open at f/2.8, along with attractive bokeh that remains smooth and appealing when stopping down a little, helped by a well-rounded 9-blade aperture.

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I found that the lens performed well in controlling distortions and color fringing, throughout its zoom range. Any aberrations can generally be eliminated by automatic in-camera corrections, or in RAW processing software that has the appropriate lens profile.

LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Sample Images

The following gallery of sample shots was taken at the East Somerset Railway in the South West of England. It’s a delightful historic railway that’s run as a charity by a friendly bunch of volunteers, and is well worth a visit. Weather conditions were very pleasant on a sunny, late summer morning. The images were taken at various focal lengths throughout the zoom range, and at a variety of apertures.

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LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Lab Results

We run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.

We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the center of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths. The tests also measure distortion and color fringing (chromatic aberration).

Sharpness:

Levels of sharpness are very good and pretty consistent throughout the entire zoom range. At mid-to-long focal lengths, it pays to stop down from f/2.8 by an f/stop or so, to get the maximum sharpness. As usual, sharpness drops off a bit towards the extreme edges and corners of the image frame, but it’s still perfectly respectable.

Fringing:

Color fringing is fairly negligible at all zoom and aperture settings, even out at the extreme edges and corners of the image frame. You’ll barely notice any fringing even with automatic in-camera correction disabled.

Distortion:

Barrel distortion can be a bit noticeable at the shortest zoom setting of 60mm, whereas pincushion can be evident in the 135-180mm sector of the zoom range. Even so, there’s very much less reliance on automatic in-camera correction than with many modern lenses designed for mirrorless cameras, especially those made with compactness and a lightweight build in mind.

LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8: Verdict

I feel that the LK Samyang AF 60-180mm f/2.8 has a lot going for it. As an ‘alternative trinity’ zoom, it fits right in with the previously launched 14-24mm and 24-60mm lenses, with the same look, feel and handling characteristics. The 60-180mm an excellent telephoto zoom lens in its own right, particularly well suited to wedding and event photography. But the bigger picture is that all three LK Samyang lenses combine to give you a completely coherent experience when swapping between them.

Typical of alternative trinity zooms, these LK Samyang lenses are relatively compact, lightweight and affordable. That makes them easy to live with and comparatively easy on the wallet. All in all, the 60-180mm is a really good lens at a bargain price, and the whole set of three zoom lenses is an enticing proposition. However, at the time of writing, the 24-60mm standard zoom was only available in Sony E-mount and the other two lenses were only being made in E-mount and L-mount options, leaving owners of other camera systems out in the cold.

Alternatives

The Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 is a direct competitor to the LK Samyang lens, at least for Sony E-mount cameras, and it’s also available in Nikon Z mount. It matches the LK Samyang for a constant f/2.8 aperture but adds optical image stabilization and typically sells for $999 / £999 / AU$2,349.

The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG DN OS Sports is a more conventional, bigger, heavier trinity telephoto zoom. It’s a great performer and is also standout value for money compared with most camera manufacturers’ own-brand equivalents. It costs around $1,649 / £1,499 / AU$3,040 and like the LK Samyang, is available in Sony E and L-mount options.