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Samyang announces its second-generation AF 35mm f/1.4 FE II lens with improved AF performance

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Samyang has today announced the new full-frame Samyang AF 35mm f/1.4 FE II lens for Sony E mount, the successor to its popular AF 35mm f/1.4 FE (which is currently seeing a big price drop from $799 to $499). According to Samyang UK, the new lens boasts corner-to-corner sharpness and clarity with a faster and more precise quiet autofocus system.

It has a minimum focus distance of 29cm, weather-sealing and a “modern design” that looks pretty much identical to the old one on the surface, except for a slight colour change at the end of the focus ring. But has much really changed from its predecessor? Alyssa and Peter Zalabai managed to get their hands on one and have already posted a review.

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Samyang’s new lower-budget AF 135mm f/1.8 FE is only $999 (less than Sony, Zeiss or even Sigma)

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Samyang has announced their newest autofocus lens, the Samyang AF 135mm f/1.8 FE for full-frame Sony E mount cameras. This essentially replaces the Samyang MF 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC for many Sony shooters who are sick of manual focus and represents a significantly less expensive option than the Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 G Master, the Zeiss 135mm f/2.8 Batis lenses and even the Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Art.

The new lens, Samyang says, was released to provide an autofocus evolution of its manual focus f/2.0 predecessor, launched in 2015. It expands Samyang’s AF f/1.8 lineup, adding to the 24mm, 35mm, 45mm and 75mm f/1.8 autofocus lenses, allowing you to quickly switch between a range of focal lengths with the same bright wide aperture.

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Samyang sneaks upcoming autofocus (?) 135mm f/1.8 E mount lens surprise into its New Year video

Samyang, like most brands these days, has a pretty good presence on social media and they regularly make content specifically for posting on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Content like this Happy New Year video Samyang posted a few days ago. The video hides a little secret, though. It contains a lens that isn’t actually available to buy just yet.

Looking very carefully at the beginning of the video, and after a little Photoshop work, we can see that there is what appears to be an AF 135/1.8FE lens. The 135/1.8FE is quite obvious to read, although the “AF” bit is a little more obscured due to compression.

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Holiday Gift Guide – Best Lenses of 2021

The season of giving is upon us – which becomes immediately obvious whenever you walk into a store and you’re overwhelmed by Whamageddon. If you want to avoid the Christmas music and prefer to do your shopping online, then have no fear, DIYP’s 2021 Holiday Gift Guides are here to rescue you with some of our favourite new releases of the year, as well as a few old favourites that always seem to find a place in our gear bags.

In this post, we’re going to be taking a look at lenses, but keep an eye out for upcoming guides featuring Lighting, Tripods, Sliders & Gimbals, and other accessories and gadgets and be sure to check out our previous guide going over the best of this year’s new Cameras.

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Samyang celebrates its 50th anniversary with an updated AF 50mm F1.4 FE II

Samyang has today announced the release of its newest autofocus lens, the Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE II. It’s an update to the first autofocus lens Samyang ever produced. So, this will be what Samyang meant by “RE:BORN of the 1st” in its teaser a few weeks ago.

According to the press release, The Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE II is the smallest and lightest amongst large aperture 50mm lenses with the Sony FE mount, coming in at 88.9mm long and weighing 420g. It features a faster and quieter autofocus system with linear stepper motors and has a 9-blade aperture for smooth bokeh.

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Samyang’s first autofocus lens for Fuji X is the 12mm f/2 X

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Well, it’s not much of a surprise, really. The teaser image posted last week by Samyang for their first autofocus Fujifilm X mount lens with a silhouette that looked shockingly like the Samyang 12mm f/2 E for Sony has turned out to be… Wait for it… the Samyang 12mm f/2 X for Fuji.

Announced today, the Samyang AF 12mm f/2 X is, as mentioned, Samyang’s first autofocus lens for Fuji X. So, it makes sense for them to go with one that they know already works on other systems rather than go for something completely new.

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Samyang to launch its first Fuji X mount autofocus lens on October 26th

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Since Fuji opened up its X mount to third parties, those third parties sure seem to have jumped on it. And they’re not just manual lenses that happen to use the mount, either. We’ve seen a few autofocus from Tokina, Zeiss, Viltrox and even a zoom lens from Tamron. Well, now it looks like Samyang’s jumping into the fray with what looks like a 12mm f/2.0 autofocus lens for Fuji X.

Samyang hasn’t explicitly said what the lens is, but looking at the silhouette of the lens in an image posted to the Samyang Facebook page, it looks pretty much identical to the Samyang AF 12mm f/2.0 E lens for APS-C Sony.

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Samyang parfocal AF 24-70mm f/2.8 for Sony FE has now been announced globally

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Samyang (AKA Rokinon and Bower) has launched their first zoom lens with the new Samyang AF 24-70mm f/2.8 FE, a wide-angle to short telephoto lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture for full-frame Sony E-Mount cameras. The lens had previously been announced only in Thailand, but now the announcement appears to be global.

Autofocus lenses have been part of Samyang’s lineup for a while now, although they were primarily specialising in manual focus lenses. But Samyang says that after five years of “in-depth research and communications” with its customers, they now want to target more of the mass market to better meet photographers needs.

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Samyang’s $975 AF 24-70mm f/2.8 parfocal zoom for Sony has been released, but only in Thailand

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Well, this is odd. I stumbled across a leak from over the weekend about the new Samyang AF 24-70mm f/2.8 FE parfocal zoom lens for full-frame Sony E mount cameras and then spotted over on Mirrorless Rumors that it had actually been released… Except, strangely, it seems to have only been released in Thailand, of all places.

What makes this particular lens special over other 24-70mm lenses out there is that it’s parfocal. This means that as you zoom the lens from one extreme to the other, the focus distance does not change. This is typically more in line with lenses geared towards video rather than photography and is normally quite pricey. Although this one seems to be a bit of a bargain at only $975.

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Samyang’s first wide-angle AF prime for APS-C is the 12mm f/2 for Sony astrophotographers

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Samyang has today announced their first autofocus super-wide-angle prime lens for APS-C. Specifically, for Sony APS-C E mount. It’s the Samyang AF 12mm F2E and offers a field of view equivalent to that of an 18mm lens on full-frame with a wide f/2 maximum aperture, which is fantastic for subjects like astrophotography or interiors where it’s fairly dark when you want a wide angle of view.

It contains 12 elements in 10 groups, with three extra-low dispersion and two aspherical elements to minimise chromatic aberration and distortion, and increase sharpness. Ultra Multi Coating (UMC) has been applied to the elements to minimise ghosting, reflections and flare for what Samyang describes as “more contrast-rich imagery”.

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