Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 FE review

Ideal for portraiture and still life photography, this is the fifth lens in Samyang’s ‘tiny but almighty’ series

Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 FE / Rokinon AF 75mm f/1.8 FE review
(Image: © Future)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Bearing either a Samyang or Rokinon badge, this 75mm f/1.8 lens for Sony E-mount cameras achieves its goal of shoehorning impressive image quality, speedy autofocus and high-end handling into a very compact and lightweight package. Indeed, it weighs in at just 230g, whereas the competing Sony 85mm f/1.8 is about 50 per cent heavier, and the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 is almost twice as heavy.

Pros

  • +

    Impressive performance

  • +

    Compact and lightweight

  • +

    Competitively priced

Cons

  • -

    Not weather-sealed

  • -

    Corner-sharpness could be better

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It should go without saying that a major attraction of ‘compact system cameras’ is that they’re compact. But all too often, the bonus of a slim, lightweight body is overshadowed by chunky, heavyweight lenses. In the summer of 2017, Samyang literally set about redressing the balance with the first of a ‘tiny but almighty’ series of autofocus lenses for mirrorless cameras. For Sony E-mount bodies, the first of these was the AF 35mm f/2.8 FE, which has since been followed by 18mm f/2.8, 24mm f/2.8 and 45mm f/1.8 lenses. 

The 75mm f/1.8 is the latest in the line-up – and as usual is marketed under both the Rokinon and Samyang brands (which you will find the more easily will depend on where you live in the world).

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.