Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 - Lightweight Portrait
In the past, Samsung has cut rather too many corners to be in the "value" category. Now that there is a lot more high-quality competition out there from companies like Viltrox, Samyang have seemingly stepped up their game.
Sony A7CR + Samyang 85mm f/1.4 II
The segment that Samynag have carved out for themselves is a series of full frame lenses that are some of the cheapest lenses out there, but ones that are also the lightest weight. Considering that most of these models are only available on the Sony FE platform, they make a great option if you want to keep the total weight of your compact full frame camera system down (A7CII / A7CR).
Build & Design
The build quality of modern Samyang lenses is pretty solid. There is a lot of plastic used, but they seem to make this work. In the interest of keeping the weight down as much as possible, you won't see an aperture ring, de-click or lock on these lenses, but you do get a custom button and switch. The latter is used to switch what the focus ring does, so technically you can make this into an aperture ring, or whatever you want.
Image Quality
Image quality is an interesting balance. Many people will be happy with this combination of features for the price. Sharpness across the frame is not class leading, but it is very respectable. Distortion is incredibly good, but Longetudinal Chromatic Aberration is rather poor.
Auto Focus
Focusing seems to be accurate, but just a little slow. Perhaps the biggest issue is that autofocus in video is rather unreliable and lacklustre, often seeing micro-jitters when subjects are tracked.
Final Words
If you want the lightest full frame 85mm f/1.4 lens for a mirrorless system, this and a Sony A7CII/A7CR is a nice option. I think I would accept the extra 160g and higher priced Sigma DN 85/1.4 over this one, but if you're not dead-set on f/1.4 then the new Samyang 85mm f/1.8 lens is an interesting option given that it saves you another 240g, taking the total system weight down to 780g with one of the compact Sony cameras.
Sony A7CR | Red Squirrel
More Squirrels
Here are some more squirrel photos from a trip that I took with this lens and the Sony A7CR...
Bokeh Panos
This technique (A-K.A. The Brenizer Method) involves stitching multiple images (with the same settings) to achieve a wider angle image with otherwise impossibly shallow depth of field and extreme sharpness.
