I have long championed smaller, lighter lenses. If I can find a high-performing compact lens that’s sharp and renders natural-looking out-of-focus specular highlights (good bokeh), I’m interested even if it only has a maximum aperture of f/3.5 or f/4.5. And if I can find a sharp, compact lens with image quality that equals comparable lenses costing two, three, or four times the price, sign me up!
The Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE for Sony E-mount cameras is compact, it is sharp, and it renders a pleasing degree of bokeh. In fact, it meets all of my qualifications except for one—it has a maximum aperture of f/2.8—it’s relatively fast. Better yet, the darn thing is fast at about half to a third of the price of comparable optics. Did I mention it’s an autofocus lens?
On paper, the Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE is impressive. It contains 7 elements in 7 groups, including dual HR and 3 aspheric elements, and all are Ultra Multi-Coated. What makes Samyang’s AF 24mm f/2.8 FE particularly impressive to me and, no doubt, to other owners of Sony E-mount cameras, is its size (about 2.43 x 1.46") and weight (4.3 oz). Mount this honey on a Sony A7-series camera and you have what I consider an ideal street shooter. It’s compact, light, and has responsive autofocus and auto-exposure controls. When used on APS-C format Sony cameras, the lens effectively becomes a 36mm equivalent lens.
The lens barrel of the Samyang AF 24mm FE is made of polycarbonate which, while not as substantial in the hand as comparable E-mount lenses with metal-alloy housings, is a small price to pay in relation to the cost and weight savings the Samyang AF 24mm FE brings to the party.
Selective focusing is possible when shooting close-ups at wide apertures, and I would describe the lens’s bokeh renditions as being comparable to some of the pricier alternatives.
About the only lens comparable in size and price (aside from the Rokinon AF 24mm f/2.8 FE lens for Sony E, which is one and the same as the Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE) is the Handevision IBERIT 24mm f/2.4 for Sony E, but the IBERIT’s half-stop speed advantage costs you in weight—11.29 oz for the IBERIT versus 4.3 oz for the Samyang. (Not having field experience with Handevision lenses, I cannot comment on how the image quality compares to the new Samyang 24mm lens.
In use, the lens lives up to expectations. Being possibly the lightest lens I’ve ever mounted on any of my Sony A7-series cameras, the Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE was a welcome change from any the heavier lenses I’ve tested over the years, regardless of how floored I might have been by the results.
Included with each lens is a cute, pod-like case, a narrow-profile polycarbonate shade, and front and rear lens caps. How effective is this shallow shade? Probably minimal, but keep in mind that if you don’t hear or feel a click when you mount it on the lens, you will undoubtedly lose the shade within 20 minutes of leaving your home.
Lens-shade issues aside, I found the Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE to be a good performer that’s priced equally well. Lenses with polycarbonate barrels tend to feel like plastic compared to comparable optics with metal-alloy lens barrels, and this lens is no exception. Tactile impressions aside, the images we captured with the Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE were sharp, perceptually distortion free, with saturated colors, nice contrast, and clean tonal values.
I’ve been waiting for a long time for a truly small, truly light wide-angle autofocus lens with a dedicated Sony E-mount with a price tag that makes me say, “Yes!” I think I have found it.
What about you? Is this the kind of lens you’ve been waiting for?
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