Samyang AF 24mm f/1.8 FE lens review with samples (Full-frame & APS-C)

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I loved this one, too, Chris. Probably the most complete lens I've seen from Samyang.

[@negretehh]

I love to get opinions on lenses from my two favorite content creators! 🙌🏼

[@catchlite5196]

I can’t wait for you guys to review the new Samyang 135mm f1.8 which I bought blindly… 😁

[@godsoki6884]

Is it possible to put this lents on Canon Eos R? Or Which lens do you suggest me?

[@heathwirt8919]

We're in a golden age of photographic lenses, so many great lenses to chose from and some at very reasonable prices. Great review Chris, thank you.

[@Princeton_James]

Yours and Dustin's reviews helped me to get this one. Cant wait for it to arrive. I'm so glad you tested on APS-C as well. I love 24mm on APS-C.

[@JoshxIZ]

Im gonna use this on apsc too now...its basically a 35mm.

[@FarrukhPitafi]

I just got mine and it corresponds to this review. Crazy sharp and typical Samyang contrast with minimal / negligible CA. Amazing how Samyang pulled off this level of optical performance in such tiny size and weight!

[@yaot.1523]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWSUe3iolpqgppY

[@bobpaulson9r72fk24]

Finally! The true definitive review!!

[@mlattialy]

Really love your videos. You’re style of review is brilliant and I absolutely love how calmly you present all small details without leaving us bored and in the same time keeping everything clear and easy even for someone new to photography using Sony a5100 😉 such myself. Thank you and please keep it up. Absolutely brilliant!

[@lazerman121]

Refreshed the page and said uploaded 24 seconds ago. I'm early. Wow Finally a lens both sharp on FF and APS-C. I would love a 16mm APS-C equivalent with all the same features.

[@trym2121]

It's called the 12mm.

[@lazerman121]

@@trym2121 12mm would not be the APS-C equivalent. 16mm would be.

[@zakzoezie8658]

Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN Contemporary ;o)

[@robinfellows-weir3734]

To anyone looking - I and a few other people have found this lens to definitely NOT focus silently. In video mode there's a very faint whirring which won't be picked up if you're using an external or hotshoe mic (as you should). But in stills photography the focus motor makes a reasonably loud clicking and clunking, which, though not a problem like it could be in video, doesn't feel very good quality. I'd expected better from Samyang based on the reviews and how much newer this lens is compared to my previous ones from them - it's louder than the 18mm, for example, despite being more recent.

[@DrWasim]

I watched this review to the end, and then ordered the lens. I trust Chris.

[@baja_overlander3653]

After almos 11 months, what is your opinion?

[@Bibyyb]

3 years now. What is your opinion

[@DrWasim]

@@Bibyyb Brilliant

[@emokia15]

This is a lens with super great value. Usually I wait to watch yr review before I buy a lens but this is one i bought during preorder. Great sharp lens!

[@marc.s.moisan]

I've been waiting for this one! Thanks for the review!

[@donaldklopper]

I couldn't help but notice your excitement about this lens throughout your review. If you'd do a value proposition for lenses, I expect that this one would be right up there close to the very top. If you'd double the price, I expect that it would still perform towards the top. Lots of f/1.4 lenses you test only start to become usable at f/2 anyway.

[@scott3065]

Good point❗👍

[@patrick.771]

wow, this lens in 20mm would be amazing. Perfect for landscape and also astro

[@burritobrosvideos8060]

4 mm doesn't make a difference

[@lyaxedm1825]

@@burritobrosvideos8060 it does especially in wider angles.. also 4mm difference for astro work makes a huge difference as well

[@patrick.771]

@@burritobrosvideos8060 4mm at wide angle makes a huge difference!

[@alchemist_x79]

Nice review. I LOVE 24mm. I find it a perfectly fine focal length for astro and landscape and rarely shoot wider. If I didn't already have the 24mm GM, I'd be all over this lens.

[@steventhomas231]

The samyang primes are the best value lenses going. I wish they would come to the z mount as id really appreciate their light weight and portability especially as the s line lenses are so large.Ive said this loads of times before and been told the lenses need to be this big to get good performance. Doesnt seem to bother samyang lenses though!

[@kellenholt6655]

This seems like a noticeable improvement from the 24mm f/2.8 model, almost to the point that I'm considering upgrading from mine. Great review!

[@gbee8888]

Bought this lens as a light weight 35mm equivalent street lens on a A6600. Sharpness is impressive.

[@kaushaltiwari9773]

Is the AF reliable? The AF on my Sigma 30 f1.4 is a hit and miss.

[@victor.ivanov]

Guess that’s the best option to get your “usual” 35mm look on APSC bodies

[@kaushaltiwari9773]

Looks like that. The Sony 24 F2.8 G is quite attractive though.

[@thymespianostudio5197]

Awesome review as always man! I'm now seriously considering this for my astro work.

[@vinzaputra]

If I made I switch to Sony, this is will be the first lens I get. Fantastic sharpness, with reasonable price.

[@SunnySoCal]

this is the review i thought i would have to wait a few months to see

[@michaelkhalsa]

Thanks Chris for sharing your review. I have had this lens for several weeks here in New Zealand. Love it, and has become my favorite. As mentioned in the review very sharp and excellent colors. The only weakness is purple fringing at 1.8, such as in brighter stars. I also notice CA in the 45 and 75mm samyang lens at f1.8. For astrophotgraphy it is easy to stitch multiple shots with this lens together, as the distortion is not extreme. The focus hold button for seting to infinity works beautifully right out of the box, and makes it easy to see if you bumped your focus, and to move around. The bokeh is very nice with gracefully transitions. The samyang has all the strengths of the tamron 24mm f2.8, while overcoming its weaknesses. Someone asked if this has a yellow tint. Yes, in my experience, all of the samyang lenses tend this direction of being warmer (magenta) (vs say the tamron primes which are cooler). They are consistant between them, which makes it easier to color grade when using them as a set. I really hope that Samyang continues in this direction with top notch lenses in the 500 dollar range that can compete with sony 20mm f1.8, sony 35mm f1.8, and even GM lenses for 95% of iq. Would be great if they did a mark ii of the 18mm at 1.8 or f2, or else a new 20mm with simular performance, and the astro focus hold button. Many of us really want close to GM iq ( but beyond budget), and are happy with good but not top of the class focus speed (and are willing to treat are lenses carefully). Making theses lenses light also allow them to be driven faster by smaller focus motors. They are a joy to use. Light and small primes are easy to change, overcoming one of the difficulties of primes vs zooms. My sony a7rii, and 3 of the samyang primes easily fit in a 6 liter sling along with filters, etc. I feel that this lens could launch Samyang into a much greater market. I hope they keep improving their quality control (and engineering that makes quality control easier) so that this opportunity comes to full fruition. Personally I like the build quality of the new lenses in the series, including the featherweight hoods.

[@emkayjeong]

Sharper than Viltrox 24mm f1.8. Very nice.

[@singsingmei]

Wow! I really wasn't expecting such a performance

[@paduchiu]

Paid for one the day it was available on Amazon. Can’t wait for it to be shipped.

[@hedydd2]

If only I knew about this lens before I bought the Sigma 24mm f3.5! Never mind though, I'm quite happy with the Sigma which looks amazing and performs very nicely indeed in reasonable light and I have a Sony 35 f1.8 for lower light, but without a doubt this would be the 24mm for me if buying today.

[@LukasLiwandouw]

If you hold the focus hold button and then turn on the camera, the light will initially glow red and then turn green, meaning that you're focused to infinity. This means that you don't need to focus the camera manually to infinity. And yes, you can adjust the focus, then hold the focus hold button for 5 seconds, and then the current focus is saved so whenever you do the same thing again (hold button then turn on camera) you will get the same focus as you set it before. This is quite a banger feature for astro focus tho

[@OlavAlexanderMjelde]

I bought this one yesterday, I do like it, but I still prefer the 85mm f1.4 which just gives that insane background blur :-P But of course the 85 is limited to people, cars etc. I will use the 24mm for long exposure shots of nature etc. So I will be enjoying it.

[@Glacial_Glass]

OH!! Love your vids as always!!!

[@KevinZJR]

Added to my shopping list :)

[@chrisseveris5126]

Thanks for the review Christopher. I will be purchasing this lens sometime next week. Its my grandson's christening in a couple of weeks so looking for a fast wide prime to use in a small church. As an amateur photographer who shoots for fun, I can't justify spending the extra money on the amazing Sony 24mm 1.4 gm. Although there's still time to change my mind. 🤣

[@frankfeng2701]

I'd pick this over 24GM, even just for the focus breathing control.

[@Donbros]

So it does seem like third party manufacturers deals better with focus breathing than sony genuine

[@felipexakal]

Great content Christopher! Are you planning to review the new Samyang AF 24-70 f/2.8? I decided to buy the AF 24mm f/1.8 based on your review and I love it!

[@Glacial_Glass]

Love this lens but I wish they'd bring more support to the canon RF mount, only two lenses currently is a bit of a let down for alternative Korean made lenses

[@patrick.771]

It's the same with Z mount :)

[@michaelkhalsa]

Canon rf support is limited to operating a lens in the old ef manner, and does not use the RF communication protocols. That is because canon has encrypted the new rf protocol, making it impossible for third party lens manufacturers to reverse engineer it. In contrast sony has opened up its protocol to all manufacturers, although some usages of the mount remain closed off (through I assume patents), such as extenders. This has really benefited sony and a smart move.

[@patrick.771]

@@michaelkhalsa That's the biggest advantage (or let's call it "plus") for Sony in my opinion. If the Tamron zoom lenses would start at 24 and not at 28mm I would have bought into the Sony system.

[@SunnySoCal]

wait when did chris upgrade to an a7r iii 😳 ???

[@christopherfrost]

About a month ago :-)

[@SirRelith]

@@christopherfrost Nice! Hey have you noticed a big difference in resolution for the EVF or LCD compared to your A7rii?

[@christopherfrost]

@@SirRelith The EVF is noticeably higher resolution, yes. Quite a few differences with the a7R II actually, I'm pleased I made the upgrade in the end

[@Francisco_Otero]

@@christopherfrost When I upgraded from my R3, I wasn't sure if I would notice that much of a difference. A year later, I can say the R3 pretty much improves on everything the R2 does; ergonomics, features, customization, user experience, video, battery, USB-C, Dual Cards, EVF. One doesn't appreciate it until you get it. Such a good deal if you get it used!

[@christopherfrost]

@@Francisco_Otero It really is so much better. The first major thing I noticed actually was a big improvement in high ISO image quality, in both stills and video work - I wasn't actually expecting that so it was a v pleasant surprise

[@thebinalz]

Between samyang 24 and 35mm, what would you choose and why?

[@WeekendVisual]

Great review!! I love this lens so much!

[@HelloGlamorous]

"hey you, whatcha doin?" omg ❤️ I loved that hahaha

[@braddahjerry]

I may have to get this lens!

[@excentrisitet7922]

Coma is well controlled indeed but the residual blue chromatic aberration on bright stars might force you to stop down unfortunately.

[@michaelkhalsa]

In capture one, 100% on the purple fringe slider gets rid of it. it really only more pronounced on the brighter stars, and because of low coma and stars staying sharp, it is not as destructive as it would be otherwise. For landscape is not an issue

[@maelong7]

R.I.P to the Sony Zeiss 24mm f1.8 lens.

[@Vantrakter]

Which is a very good aps-c lens, not precisely comparable to a 24mm 1,8 full frame lens. Well traditionally..this lens isn't a whole lot larger. Still, the Zony 24 1,8 has been a mainstay since forever and will probably remain so for the remainder of Sony aps-c days.

[@mrbaiser4133]

@@Vantrakter Compare size and weight, both lenses are almost identical.

[@paulbeckmann]

Great review as always1 Thanks!

[@henrylee4734]

Can you compare this with the 24 1.4 GM from Sony please. This seemed to be more affordable and less heavy then Sony's. I jusrt wonder if the image quality would be a big difference. Thank you.

[@user-dh5fp4gw1b]

Did u find out

[@droneeye2618]

Great review again

[@mleachphoto]

I'd be interested to hear a side by side of the Samyang and the Viltrox.

[@PetrKlapper]

Viltrox is much worse for almost the same price, no contest there. sonyalpha.blog/2021/05/24/samyang-24mm-f1-8-af/

[@GnartotheBone]

Interesting, had no clue about this lens but it seems like a viable contender in that focal range.

[@olegvorkunov5400]

Just got a 24mm 1.8 Samyang lens to replace my Sony 20mm 1.8 lens. And I did not make mistake on this. Lens distortion with in-camera correction is much worse for Sony 20mm than for Samyang 24mm. I understand that Sony is 20mm and Samyang is 24mm, but man, that is a huge difference. I took some shots while on a trip to Alaska and I had only Sony 20mm. Each photo had to be corrected and could not be posted straight out of the camera. And after correction, corners were destroyed for each shot using a Sony lens. With Samyang that distortion does not exist in JPEG files at all. Going to sell my Sony soon. Focusing in low light. Both performed the same. Image quality not considering distortion both perform the same. For street photography, Sony 20mm is NO GO. All structures are bent. For group shots side people are stretched with Sony 20mm. That problem does not exist with Samyang 24 mm at all. Sony 20mm landscape photography - if you have trees in the picture, side trees will be bent. So, practically I do not see any use case for Sony 20mm. Samyang 24mm does not have this problem.

[@armada1e]

I’m sure your experience is right, but that maybe a trait of the focal length difference. 24mm is quite wide but standard enough. 20mm is full on ultra wide

[@lauraemerson413]

Hi Christopher, I've only just discovered your excellent reviews in the last couple of weeks. Many thanks for your work! I purchased the lens for my Sony A7RIV and just can't get excited about it. Do you think that the optical quality is sufficient for a 61MP sensor, knowing that they've crammed so many pixels on that sensor that, well, it's not so great... And by the way, WHERE is that fabulous beach in your videos? Cornwall? I'd love love to take a swim there some day!

[@MohammadKhan-nb5xl]

@4:26 , you are talking about apsc sensor but on screen it's full frame one. What should we conclude?

[@christopherfrost]

It's the APSC sensor - I just made a little mistake on the text

[@RyanSotelo]

Ok that infinity light on the side is next level

[@sapeoscar4013]

Which one would you say has faster AF. Samyang 24 or Viltrox 24? Either in S or C mode. Thank you!!!

[@jonhermannsson9231]

I have the 24 35 45 and 75. and 50F1.4 love them all - think the 24 and 35 the best / sharpest and fantastic others good as well great value lenses and small and light - the F1.8s good review. hope they come out with a 16mm and 135mm F1.8. lenses In same style small and light and affordable

[@eliseogermanstenta]

you have updated to the A7RIII ? Congrats! i've been folowing you from apsc only times lol

[@bensmith6066]

Hi Christopher I have heard that for APS-C camera for Astro - When in infinity mode and the lights green you can't change shutter speed, or iso. You have to turn the camera off then choose your settings, hold button ,turn on camera - Sounds like a pain. Did you find that to be the case?

[@SovietLensReviews]

Can't argue with that sharpness! Neat little trick with the light to indicate infinity focus as well, are Samyang the first to do that?

[@jehanreyes]

Is this a better choice than the Sony Zeiss 24 1.8 for Sony apsc?

[@showingthelies8296]

Have you tried the new sony 24mm 40mm and 50mm?

[@k.mouanoutoua5374]

Thanks Chis for this review. I wonder if you are going to match it against the Viltrox 24mm f/1.8?

[@bradl2636]

A pocketable wide angle for walking around and trapping photons with. Awesome. The f1.8 is almost perfectly ok for astrophotography. Close enough.

[@lmenzol]

Will you be reviewing the new rokinon 12mm AF?

[@sagittariusalba2851]

Great as always, thumbs up❗👍👍👍 Greatings from Hamburg/Germany... ❤️

[@Donbros]

This is beautiful

[@CosminMuresanTrainspotting]

What about 24 1.4 GM? Waiting for sooooo long ;/

[@christopherfrost]

The review will come out soon :-)

[@CosminMuresanTrainspotting]

@@christopherfrost Thank you

[@2Meerkats]

Thanks ! Would have like to see a test of eye focus hold in a group of 4 people. I wonder how Sony A7S3 for example handles the AF in an off-brand lens compared to a Sony lens with the same group. Especially where 1 face is a registered face. Are the eye focus videos held sharp with the subject walking toward the camera with this lens? Maybe something in a Part2 in future to test focus hold speed on moving subjects? thanks Christopher

[@artmaltman]

Sometimes Samyang lens have a yellow tint, particularly the 85mm. Did you find that true with this lens? Thank you.

[@ppnuwan]

I have the lens and can confirm it's not the case for this lens. I compared this lens with Sony GM 24mm F1.4 and Batis 25mm F2 and finally sold both of those and kept Samyang.. Such a beautiful lens.. Can't recommend this enough.

[@showingthelies8296]

Smear a little vas on the weather sealing ring and it's water resistant.

[@piotrmilczarek1262]

What would you think is a better buy for the some money: this Samyang or used Zeiss Batis 25mm F/2 ? I guess Zeiss should retain value better but I am not really convinced it is really better optically... this lens has a more advanced and newer design.

[@yaot.1523]

i m having the same situation here, what did u get ?

[@kaushaltiwari9773]

Is this lens fully weathersealed?? Can it be used in moderate rain? I am considering it as a 35mm option for my A6400.

[@powerlurker]

quite superb performer

[@xpynuker]

What's your recommendation of this vs. Sony 24mm 1.4 GM?

[@hellsbells8979]

Take a look at sony price) and then it makes you easy to decide

[@xpynuker]

@@hellsbells8979 what if price wasn't an issue

[@hellsbells8979]

@@xpynuker so if it's like that, I would definitely go for sony G 1.4

[@ppnuwan]

If price isn't a problem and you are not worried about bit of added weight then Sony GM. But if the price is a factor then Samyang hands down. I compared this lens with GM and at F1.8, they both are equally sharp and the bokeh is equally great. GM has bad close focus distance so at F1.8 Samyang produces better bokeh for close objects (understandably). But GM has F1.4 which Samyang doesn't. Also I think Samyang bokeh Balls are equally round shaped all the way to the edges while GM bokeh Balls get cat eye shaped at edges (which was surprising to me).

[@pearcemachineshop5200]

Have you any plans to test the sigma 70_200 sport lens, I would like to buy one but would appreciate you valued opinion. Regards Alan.

[@Kunal0915]

This seems to be the best 35mm equivalent lens for the Sony APSC. It seems to be sharp and has decent AF. It is weather sealed too. No other option like this for my SonyA6400.

[@TheBenchapman]

Looks good!

[@ajschot]

I love this lens i have it for a week now but did you also have problems with the focus ring? I changed custom mode 1 to aperture control and m2 to manual focus, so i thought both best way, so it is a af-mf switch but when in af mode it controls the aperture. But sometimes i have to disconnect the lens a couple of times before it works. If it not works it only does manualfocus with the ring however the af is working to it is like manual override, the biggest problem i have is that i can not change the aperture because of this mode my dial on my a7R III won’t work then too. I have no idea if this is a contact issue or a bug with tha a7R III

[@azharnurkemal9191]

Hi I want to ask, is this lens compatible with nikon z50 or it needs the adapter?

[@Zed_is_dead-999]

Thank you!!

[@fotomats8651]

Is this Lens sharper than the Sony 35mm 1.8?

[@hsniper10]

could you do a another up to date telephoto lens best comparison for aps-c please?

[@Alex-ps5ok]

Seems like a great lens. I’m really tempted to buy it… That red ring against the orange of Sony properly grinds on me though.. I know that’s ridiculous. It just does

[@JackWoodhams]

Got mine yesterday but noticed a LOT of chromatic aberration when shooting towards high contrast areas, arguably unusable. Can be removed with Lightroom but is really bad in my unit.

[@yaot.1523]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWSUe3iolpqgppY

[@ShanShiuam]

This lens is sharp with a apsc body, it might be replace the position of 24za ?

[@Donbros]

Help me kind sir, which has less focus breathing: sony G 20 or this?

[@Pharesm]

Would you mind letting us know if the lens was sent as a review sample from Samyang or if it was purchased at retail? Review samples are carefully selected by companies, and Samyang in particular has high variance in their lens families. Could be decentered and any number of other issues, if I'm buying something from a random retain source...

[@FarrukhPitafi]

True. However, I just got mine and it corresponds to this review. Crazy sharp and typical Samyang contrast with minimal / negligible CA. Amazing how Samyang pulled off this level of optical performance in such tiny size and weight!

[@yaot.1523]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWSUe3iolpqgppY

[@antarkhisa9223]

Is it come with canon mount also?

[@danniel0143]

Are you testing the autofocus in AF-S? Sony cameras are alot faster in AF-C, would love for that to be the norm :) Thanks for another great video

[@christopherfrost]

Yes. And yes, you are correct that AF-C is normally a little faster

[@WiwatChang]

Hope you can test a Laowa 4mm f2.8 fisheye (m4/3/ X/E mount), thanks in advance.

[@DynamicLearning4u]

How does this compare to the Viltrox 24 mm F1.8? Thanks!

[@rezamozaffari9704]

subtitle of aps-c camera test is wrong.

[@JulesFredericNerestant]

You should consider reviewing the dock station that everyone on Amazon says is necessary to update all the lenses they ship out with old firmware.

[@christopherfrost]

I did a group review of the Tamron, Samyang and Sigma docks

[@goadiaries3577]

sigma 16mm 1.4 or samyang 24mm 1.8.. which is better for E mount???

[@Termidryna]

Thanks, quite great lens. And any news about Sigma lenses for Fuji X mount? Anyone?

[@patmackin858]

Wat would it be like compared to the 1.4

[@hukumongdu]

love Samyang lenses, i guess they needed to make it plastic to keep the weight/cost down, but i'd actually pay a bit more if they used some metal in their body. Most samyang lenses have this plastic toy feel... still, amazing optics and i enjoy shooting with it!

[@LarsStokholm]

Would this lens be the best 24mm option for A6000 for photography only? Edit: Within this budget.

[@mchlhth]

Hi Lars! It’s been a good long while since I’ve had my Sony A6000 or A7II, but I believe, even today, this is quite a good lens with little competition at the price. If I were shopping for this focal length for myself, I don’t think any of the Sony or Sigma alternatives are worth considering because of the compromises in design - both handling and image quality. You might want to consider Samyang’s AF 24mm f/2.8 FE if you want the smallest possible combination, but that’s about all I can think of.

[@LarsStokholm]

@@mchlhth Thank you. Do you know if the A6000 has in-camera corrections for the distortions of this lens if I shoot in JPEG? I don't know if the camera does corrections for all lenses out of the box, or if specific lens support must be added with firmware updates for the camera.

[@WizardWatch]

Does the Samyang AF 24mm equivalent to 35mm on APS-C camera ?

[@DanteKLee]

With APS-C's 1.5x crop factor, it's equivalent to 36mm to be exact (arguably a 35mm lens).

[@Brandonatom]

This lens vs a tamron 17-28 vs Sony 16-35f4, what would we choose? Thoughts?

[@Donbros]

I am in simialar situation, did you make decision? Also there is G 20 for what you try to fill haha...

[@Ad3vodE]

samyang is geting stronger and stronger, last lens 35mm 1.8 was good enough that i bought it and its great

[@henriqueconte05]

I'm trying to decide between this lens and the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 for my Sony A7 which one would you guys get?

[@christopherfrost]

If you need the small size, then this 1.8. Ohterwise, the 1.4

[@kifley19]

This is or the Tamron 17-28mm 2.8?

[@geonerd]

Sharper than the Sony, and cheaper too!