Samyang made incredible lenses since the 50 1.4 AF and XP series. They only had to invest on good autofocus. Honestly right now I can work with a full samyang setup on Sony, except for the 200-600
I will be picking one of these up soon, been waiting for a review of it. I wouldn’t mind seeing the 100mm stf lens tested, I own it and think it’s phenomenal, would be interesting to see you test that one.
i'd still take this with a pinch of salt as Samyang might have cherry picked this lens out of the bunch because of its " fantastic optical performance " I'm ordering mine at the end of the month and will be putting it up with a Sony A1 and A7R4A il see how it perfomes on larger megapixel sensors
@@ItsEzlan I love the optic ofthe lens, but with ofc time to time… make my camera a bit “loquita”, I must remove the batterie to bring-it back to life .
Only thing I didn’t like about this review is that I have a 135 GM in my kit bag and was hoping for some affirmation that it was worth it. We’ll done Samyang.
I have seen another review of this lens and they did test both the samyang and Sony GM versions on a moving subject and while they were both insanely sharp! The Sony GM did get 18 out of 20 photos in focus while the samyang got 16 out of 20 when shooting burst on moving subject... So yeah the GM is still better... But is it worth 2x what the samyang cost? From my point of view I would say yes, if photography is your profession. If you are like me... A hobbyist photographer that sometimes shoot weddings for friends and family then it is more worth getting the samyang.. However, when I did notice Samyang was going to release their 135mm AF lens I was already saving for that Sony 135 GM 😇
If you're using the A9 or A1 bodies the focusing system on the Samyang can't attain 20 & 30 FPS. On the slower bodies with 10 FPS there is no real advantage.
I bought my copy of this lens on release and I regret NOTHING! however I did notice one downside with the lens...when in firmware v1.0 it will drain battery power from the camera it is mounted on even when the camera is powered off! This was solved with firmware update to v2.0... It can also be solved by removing the battery from the camera when not in use or removing the lens from the camera body. To update your Samyang AF lenses firmware.. You will need a lens station from samyang, it's fairly low cost and I did get one sent to me at no extra cost when I preordered this lens. If you already have a lens station you will need to uninstall the lens manager software if you have an old version of the software and reinstall the newest version (can be found on samyangs homepage).... I also noticed one more thing that is really not a big deal for me... But did anyone else that has this lens notice it is difficult to fit it in the lens bag that comes with it? 😅 of course I have a lens bag so I'm not really bothered by this but still found it a bit funny to see samyang send a standard sized bad for a big lens like this one 😂 anyway... I would like to nominate this lens for lens of the year (when it comes to bang for buck among Prime lenses)... It's my Best Buy so far this year 👍👍👍👍
1st world problems aside, this is getting obnoxious for me as a canon user. The 800mm and the good enough read out time on the R6 is all that’s keeping me in the system
Canon is great of you wanna be on a budget and adapt old lenses on the RF body. But if you want legit modern good stuff, Sony and it's first and third party ecosystem is where it's at.
At $1000, samyang probably didn't need to pack science-fiction grade optics into this lens for it to sell like hotcakes, but they did it anyways. Great review as always!
Sorry to disappoint you but ''science-fiction grade optics'' are not really what Samyang/Sigma/Tamron/Laowa and others really specialize in... That you can leave to Voigtlander, Zeiss, Hasselblad, PhaseOne and Leica. The most you will get out of these cheaper lenses is either faster aperture or sharpness. Best case scenario you get both fast aperture and sharpness, which with this Samyang lens you do get both! As for image quality, you won't see Hasselblad, Zeiss or Voigtlander level of glass engineering in a $1,000 135mm lens, that's physically and financially impossible to achieve, even if Samyang was a non-profit org/company. Sony GM lenses are built based on Zeiss engineering standards which Sony adopted from Zeiss during their Sony-Zeiss partnership contract that lasted from 2009 to 2019, so for the E-mount, if you care about image quality, your best (and only) options are to save up money for either the 135mm GM or 135mm Batis.
First Viltrox with the 13mm APSC-lens and now Samyang with this 135mm lens are showing what incredible performance they can achieve when they aren't restricting themselves by trying to keep the lens in the super-budget territory.
Still a very good price here though. I like the budget lenses from these brands, but it's become very interesting to see what they do in the 'Better priced than rivals' catagories.
I have it for a week now and totally enjoy it. Razor sharp at 1.8, lightweight, fast auto focus, and incredible images: it's ability to isolate the subject even at long distance is quite remarkable. I also like bokeh, not clinically smooth, but somewhat warm vintage analog. And considering it cost twice as less as sony, it's a no brainer.
Christ please read all....I have purchased this lens135 f1.8 using it with my Nikon z 7.2 .....via the Viltrox adapter. When the lens hits foucs it a joy the pictures are of the quality I dreamed of in the 70s 80s all the way till now. I thought hard and long the z system seemed to be missing something .you have no z review of a 135 has we know it does not yet appear in the z ranage..... So I was forced to consider else where.Truth is for all the messing about with the foucs issues and then having to stop shooting turn off the camera quickly off and remount it the lens to get it to work on auto again .I mean move out of lock and back into lock position.... I love it I also have to state a worry about the adapter for the Viltrox z mount for Sony lense also came faulty.....so I can't yet work out if A up grade would help the Nikon focus .... Really this lens reminds me that old ideas about samyang and third partly being rubbish to day that statement is just old hat. if your still reading this rant... Christ I have the 70-200z now in the DSLr days it was worth 70-200 f mount was worth its weight in gold. Now Mr Chris I have noticed I never really use my 70-200 z because the prime lenses are just filled with natural sugar rushes with in their quality.... In today's market the lenses such as the 24-120 z 14-30 z are amazing so why use prime.... The answer is simple for me the zooms help me find the composition and the return helps me nail it with the prime..... Really having messed with old film loading and the cheap the tiny photos on card. happy are those who have the mirror less world with screens that display all the wonder .but one other thing is missing, one very important thing .... A desk top printer that can do the camera and lens justice with a print. justice requires a printer that we can show off or save our work for show..
Uh-oh,, GM, you just got slapped. My lens arrived two days ago. First to do, update the SW to ver. 2. That does address the only downfall to this lens, draining batteries in quiescent state. Let me say that this is "wicked shahp" and void of lens compromises. No field curvature, CA, loCA, vignetting, no complaints! Is it unnatural to feel this way about a lens?
I purchased this lens based on the stellar reviews... it was my primary lens on safari in Africa. Excellent performance. It worked even better in low light conditions... razor sharp in a smoky hut with the door half closed and no artificial light.
This is an amazing lens. I also own the manual focus 135mm F2 lens. Also super sharp but a beast to use outside of studio conditions and very heavy. This new lens has become my favorite portrait lens.
I returned my copy because it performed considerably worse than the old manual 135 mm F2 from Samyang. It was softer at F1.8 and hardly improved on stopping down. Probably I was just unlucky with my copy but it's such a pity that Samyang seemingly still has no proper quality control. And even if you get a good copy, how long does it last...? I think I'll spend a few hundred more and buy a used Sony 135 GM..
I just came across your video and you have persuaded me to purchase the lens. And boy oh boy, what an absolute BEAST! Thank you so much. I honestly was about to sell my kidney to buy the Sony version, but thankfully your video saved me from doing that lol.
I’m actually very surprised that Samyang kept this lens very quiet. As Sonys 135 is one of there absolute best performing lens right next to the 400 2.8. I use to have the Sigma 135 but it was so heavy and a burden to carry on wedding days and long shoots. This lens will be a perfect replacement and I have really missed this focal length. I’m hoping that the low light auto focus is still decent in continuous auto focus as well but this should be a very exciting lens for all Sony users
I have the old manual focus Rokinon 135mm F2 and that lens has amazing colors and background obliterating bokeh. A lot of folks (myself included) use it for astro photography (where lack of AF isn't such a big deal). I wonder how this news lens compares (for example, does it use the same optical formula and coatings).
How do you mount it on a tripod ? Do you use a tripod collar ? I shoot with an A6400 and got the manual 135mm f2 recently. Love it for handheld stills.. Still looking for mounting options.
I did not expect that I would be amassing a Samyang/Rokinon collection, but here we are. This lens is absolutely next on my list unless sigma releases a 70-200 before I get to buy this.
I'm a long time lurker on your channel, but thought I'd just say... Wow. Corner sharpness at 1.8 was just unexpected. I thought we might see some softness, but nope!!! Thanks for the review as always. Am tempted to get this myself.
I would not hold my breath. Canon reminds me of how Sony had next to zero native glass for its apsc range and Sigma came along and released a stellar suite of lens that provided then, and now, superb quality and value for money. Fuji has recently allowed Sigma access to its X series and those great Sigma apsc lens are now available for Fuji X ( & Olympus however the x 2 crop factor may limit the appeal).
If only I had the money for this lens. Or a Sony. Or a FF camera XD I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed we start to see some AF lenses for Fuji from Samyang soon. I would love their 35mm f1.2 and 85mm for mirrorless camera's in an AF body on Fuji :D
Wonderful review as usual One thing I'm always curious about, is why people care so much about corner sharpness at open apertures of portrait lenses (other than from a purely technical standpoint). Surely the corners will always be blurry anyway in the photos taken?
When doing portrait photography, yes. But your subject won't always be dead centre in the frame, and also, portrait photography is not all these lenses are used for
Can't wait for the Fuji version. The manual Samyang 135mm has been my main concert workhorse for years across Nikon and Fuji systems, and the AF version looks pretty much just as good but like with the AF version of the 12mm F2 they seem to have gotten rid of the magenta cast.
This is a full frame lens. It may get a Z mount version (very unlikely since Nikon doesn't seem willing to open its AF protocol), but won't be on Fuji X mount.
@@serena-yu Dude, the manual Samyang 135mm F2 is a full frame lens too. Samyang has already ported tons of full frame lenses to Fuji, the 85mm, 50mm, the 14mm, the 135 and the list goes on. Viltrox does it too with their 85.
That's a remarkably good performance for this lens! Christopher, next time you're talking to Samyang, please suggest to them that they make a version for the Canon RF mount. Cheers. Great video as usual, by the way. :-)
I had the EF version of this lens when it came out and it rendered some of the most dreamy portraits I've ever shot. It was hard to use with the 5D Mark 3 but it would be easy with my R5.
I have used the f/2 version. This 135mm f1.8 is more apochromatic than the f2 ED, from the looks Christopher has shown, also from the photo of tree branches against a bright sky shown by Sony alpha blog.
I wish they've made this lens back in 2018, and I would've rushed out to buy it. The Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM brand new is twice as expensive, but nowadays, you could get one for roughly US$1200~1300 used. The AF speed seems to be very different.
I bought an EF mount manual Samyang 135mm lens a few years ago after a great review from Christopher. I have 25 lenses and out of all of them it is the only 100% perfect optical quality lens. Absolutely perfect image. Head and shoulders above all the others!
Thank you, Christopher, for your marvellous reviews which are always a pleasure to watch and - language-wise - to listen to! Your praising of this lens means that it must indeed be 100%plus! I wonder how you would rate it against the Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8 which I own, but hardly use. Cheers Samuel
This review helped convince me to jump on an open-box version (all the new ones were sold out everywhere I looked) and I have to say it lives up to the hype. Absolutely love it. Thanks for the video
So far I am more then happy with the lens. One thing not mentioned in the review there is issue with power drain even when the camera is off. You need docking station to be able to install new firmware to fix it. Otherwise for the money it's really great lens.
I honestly wish I had a use for 135mm. I really do. I would _love_ this lens. But my portrait work is done at 85mm to make talking easier and I just can't justify having one of these since I don't do anything professionally. Now whenever Samyang feel it's necessary to update their 85mm f/1.4, then we're talking.
@@deanjamescarroll None except that I already have a Sony 85mm f/1.8 that I couldn't justify replacing because there's not a big enough difference. I'd imagine over time that there will be with the second one. (The Samyang lens didn't exist back when I was buying or I'd have probably bought it.)
@@RealRaynedance If they make their XP lens lineup auto focus that will be a game changer. Their 85mm XP/SP 1.2 is beautiful. Just as sharp as the RF 85 1.2 it has the dreamy look with smooth bokeh and beautiful colors.
This is a no brainer for Sony users. But for us on L mount, we still don't have a fast 135mm for mirrorless. I can't believe Sigma is yet to come up with a DG GN version. Hopefully Samyang will release one soon now that they're part of the L alliance.
I was looking for this review for a long time... I bought this lens a couple of weeks ago. I had to return it 3 times until I got a perfectly centered one. The lens is optically perfect and for those who are wondering, it doesn't show up any coma or antigmatism on stars wide open. This lens is the best that samyang has ever made, but the QC is just garbage, as always...
Out of interest, how bad was the de-centering on your lens? Was it immediately noticable or did you test it thoroughly? On my copy of the lens there is a more noticable difference in sharpness between f/1.8 and f/2.8. At least more than this well executed review suggests.
@@tanelai4119 I normally make my test with a chart, one of my copies was so bad that I could see it in the first photo I made to the chart. The second one was harder to notice. I didn't see anything wrong on the chart, just a tiny difference in focus on one corner of the image, that went off stopping down to f2.2-2.5, so I thought It was ok. But I bought this lens mainly for astrophotography and when I tested it on stars... It was very clear that the upper left corner and the bottom right were out of focus when focusing on the center... So I sent it back again. The third copy I tested it directly to the stars, it was perfect across the entire frame at 1.8 and there is nearly no difference between 1.8 and 2.5. Then the problems start again with the v2 firmware update.... It tuned off the camera randomly... But I made a re-install of the firmware and the problem has been solved. Now, I hope everything is OK.
@@bestattentions just make a photo of the stars focusing manually on the center of the frame with a bright star and see that the entire frame is in focus. If there is any corner clearly out of focus, it is possibly decentered, all four corners have to have the same amount of sharpness.
@@jmpince Thank you for a thorough answer! I'll need to look into if the difference in sharpness wide open and at 2.8 is worth taking the lens back. I would have thought this sort of behaviour usual for most lenses, but now having seen the review it seems I might have a QC issue with my copy. I also have a similar problem after updating to firmware 2.0. When using this lens, every now and then my Sony A7iii shuts down in the middle of shooting and resets aperture, iso, shutter speed and shooting mode. All have to be dialed back in. I reached out to Samyang a few days ago but haven't had any answer. I'll need to try re-installing the firmware. I realize the lens is 50% of the price of a Sony GM, but it still feels annoying to find that QC is left to the customer on a $1000 product.
Wow, just wow. A small part of me is considering selling my GM and buying the Samyang to recoup some of the cost. That is a crazy good performance for the money. Damn that lens is thicc... in a good way.
It crossed my mind as well, but used ones go for around €1400. It will save you €400, but you lose build quality, more accurate focus and more FPS when used on A1 or A9.
I'd buy this lens if I didn't already own the Sony version. Damn at half the price of the Sony is insane... Just 1cm closer focus which isn't amazing but still, better.
These Samyang lenses are seriously making me consider the jump from Fuji to Sony. The size, quality, and (importantly) cost really makes full frame mirrorless seem like a viable option to me vs my Fuji X-T4 with f/1.4 glass. My main concern would be ergonomics and the fact that I've not historically enjoyed using Sony cameras that much.
I have to admit that I am very impressed with this optic for its price tag. I just wish that Nikon will make a 135 F1.8 or open the Z mount for 3rd parties who have this lens. Shame...
This is "the" review I have been expecting for a long time. A lot of online reviews showed portraits, but they were not strict enough to draw a conclusion to its optical performance. By comparing to your previous review on 135GM, I have decided to purchase Samyang 135 when I see a discount (hopefully in June, end of financial year sales as I am in Australia).
@@OkwyUgonweze Bought now when I found a discount. Top optical quality with nothing I could criticize. The focusing speed isn't top speed like 135GM, but since I don't use it for birding, its focusing is just good enough for human portraits or landscape.
@@OkwyUgonweze It actually appeared better than Chris's tests in chromatic aberration, because I used night stars as an infinity target than a close up target for chromatic aberration. The total CA was about 2 pixels on A7Riv, i.e. about 6µm. It's also very sharp too with a couple pixels of coma maximum. Optically, it's among the top quality of all full frame lenses, definitely on par with 135GM.
Your enthusiasm for this particular lens among the many you've tested is quite remarkable. Can you recommend a full-frame wide-angle lens with similar acclaim?
