Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE Lens for Sony E

There was a time when the only negative point about Samyang's excellent lens range was that all were manual focus. No longer is this so. Already we have the very fine 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.8 and 14mm f/2.8 AF lenses for full frame Sony FE mount.

In order not to sound baseless let me number them. The image quality in the frame centre can be considered good but the edge of the detector leaves a lot to be desired; the fact that you have to close the lens down to near f/8.0 on the edge of the small APS-C sensor is really too much.

• +

  good image quality in the frame centre,, moderate lateral chromatic aberration,, slight distortion,, sensible performance against bright light,, not especially bothersome coma,, fast and accurate autofocus.

• -

  barrel seemed to be fragile,, weak image quality on the edge of the frame,, significant spherical aberration,, presence of moustache distortion,, monstrous vignetting,, unpleasant out-of-focus areas.

We seem to have gone full circle and classic prime lenses, once the only choice, are seemingly being rediscovered and once again becoming highly sought after. Compact, high quality and reasonable priced it is not difficult to see why.

• +

  Excellent sharpness centre and edge, Virtually no distortion, Highly corrected for CA, Compact and light, Fast and accurate AF, Quality manufacture, Classic, useful focal length

• -

  No distance or DOF scales, Some flare with strong backlighting, Strong vignetting wide-open

I bought this lens for street photos and so sharpness wasnt a major consideration however it does a decent job even wide open. It is very compact and unobtrusive to use. The colors look great and the AF speed is excellent. The manual focus ring operates smoothly and is well damped.

As long as you stop down a little this lens is pretty sharp, even to the edges. Good color, contrast and AF speed too.

While it would be great to have a light, small, full frame 24 2.8 for my sonys, the lens I received wasnt very sharp even stopped down, and was constantly back focusing. I have other Samyang lenses for my Sonys (the 20 1.8 is great), so I had high hopes for this one. But it didnt measure up.

First impressions are that it's very small and lightweight, therefore ideal for the traveler who favours prime lenses.Price wise, this is a cheap lens compared to it's peers but I think it gives good value for the money spent.

• +

  Good Quality, Lightweight, Value for Money

• -

  strength?

This lens is a bit of a miracle, a 24mm full frame lens that weighs only 95g and is tiny. I use it on an original Sony a7, so only 24 MP, and use it only for landscape, so I can't say how good it might be for street photography etc.

• +

  Lightweight, Sharp

• -

  A bit fussy