LK Samyang, known as Rokinon in the US, has finally announced the release date of the long-awaited 28-135mm f/2.8 Sony FE full-frame standard zoom, which the company says will come to market in February 2027.
The Korean budget lens manufacturer made the announcement on its Instagram on September 30, with a second post finally giving us the technical specs we’ve also been dying for – following the zoom's earlier appearance at CP+ in February.
Honestly, I’m impressed, and I think we’ve got a real contender that could shake up the “do-it-all” focal-length segment of the lens market for the first time in a while.
Swipe to see the Samyang AF 28-135mm f/4 FE specs
The obvious eye-catcher is the versatile 28-135mm focal length combined with the fast f/2.8 aperture.
This is a seriously versatile setup — in fact, it’s the first-ever lens to combine this specific zoom range and maximum aperture — and, on paper, I’m inclined to believe Samyang when it says the forthcoming kit will work for “every moment.”
Although, the maximum wide angle of 28mm does cut you off at a slightly awkward point. My go-to lens is the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G Master, and I can tell you that those extra 4mm do make a difference.
These often save me having to change to my dedicated wide-angle and I can’t see the Samyang being quite as helpful at the wide-angle end, despite the claims.
The other big deal here is the voice coil motor (VCM), which is another first for Samyang, as none of its previous AF lenses have featured this kind of motor.
VCMs can handle large-aperture glass smoothly and pretty quietly, too. It’s good to see Samyang seemingly paying serious attention to AF performance in a lens that, in theory, could be used to shoot subjects like wildlife.
The weather-sealed zoom will weigh 854g and is constructed with 20 elements in 16 groups.
Going by the announcement, I have to say this lens looks promising, to say the least. Funnily enough, I recently scratched my Sony 24-105mm f/4 and am now getting mad lens flare.
If the build quality is there and Samyang prices the lens in line with how it normally does, maybe the forthcoming 28-135mm f/2.8 could be its replacement. Though, we’ll see if this is all too good to be true in a few months time.
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