Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 X review

Available under both Rokinon and Samyang brands, this 75mm f/1.8 is a welcome new telephoto for Fujifilm X shooters

Rokinon AF 75mm f/1.8 X
(Image: © Rokinon)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Samyang has come up with an appealing combination of performance and price which offers a great alternative to the short telephoto primes in Fujifilm’s XF system. Sold under the Rokinon brand in North America, the AF 75mm f/1.8 X is nicely compact, so it feels right at home on the likes of the X-T series bodies on which it handles very comfortably. The optical performance is excellent with a high degree of optical correction for chromatic aberrations and distortion if you’re shooting RAW, with Fujifilm’s in-camera correction playing back-up for JPEGs. The overall look – particularly in terms of the pleasingly smooth tonality – very much suits portraiture, but compliments many other subjects too.

Pros

  • +

    Lightweight

  • +

    Great optical performance

  • +

    Fills a gap in Fujifilm's own range of lenses

  • +

    Weather sealing

Cons

  • -

    No manual aperture ring

  • -

    Doesn't focus particularly close

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This may be a bit controversial, but it seems that when a camera maker opens its lens protocols to third-party manufacturers, its system benefits in a number of ways. Sony, of course, is the prime example, and making licenses freely available right from the start has undoubtedly put it where it is today. The staggering choice of FE mount lenses is great for the system’s users, and often the third-party offerings fill in the ‘gaps’ in a camera brand’s own line-up. What an open system also says is that the camera maker is confident in the quality of its own lenses – which is very much the case with Sony – and the independents can either compete on performance or price (or sometimes both). Either way, these lenses need a camera body so, really, everybody wins one way or another. 

Since Fujifilm opened up its lens protocols for the X mount, there’s been a steady flow of new autofocus lenses for the system from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and others. Samyang and sister-brand Rokinon – now very much a mainstream players in third-party lenses rather than niche brands – joined in with the AF 12mm f/2.0 ultra-wide prime (equivalent to 18mm) and now there’s the AF 75mm f/1 .8 X (equivalent to 112.5mm). The quality of Fujifilm’s own Fujinon XF lenses is well recognized – and a key reason for many photographers adopting the system – so the bar is set high for anybody else wanting a piece of the action. Samyang already offers a number of its manual focus primes in the X mount, but the new AF lenses obviously tap into more capabilities beyond just autofocusing, including the automatic in-camera corrections 

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Paul Burrows
Editor

Paul has been writing about cameras, photography and photographers for 40 years. He joined Australian Camera as an editorial assistant in 1982, subsequently becoming the magazine’s technical editor, and has been editor since 1998. He is also the editor of sister publication ProPhoto, a position he has held since 1989. In 2011, Paul was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute Of Australian Photography (AIPP) in recognition of his long-term contribution to the Australian photo industry. Outside of his magazine work, he is the editor of the Contemporary Photographers: Australia series of monographs which document the lives of Australia’s most important photographers.