Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE Review

Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE Performance

Sharpness is crisp and precise and it is no surprise to see that centrally it rates as excellent from f/2.8 all the way through to f/16. Diffraction results in a slight drop at f/22, but even here it is still very good.

The edges are a close match, being excellent from f/2.8 to f/11 and still very good at f/16 and f/22. Even using the full frame image sharpness is really even across the frame and every aperture is totally usable.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is virtually absent at the centre and still very well controlled at the edges. Even under the most arduous conditions CA will not be a problem.

Distortion is remarkably low for an ultra-wide lens. It measures at +0.04% Pincushion, going against the expectation that ultra-wides tend to suffer from barrelling. However, at this low level of measurement to all intents and purposes this is a rectilinear design and straight lines will remain as straight lines, even at the extreme edges of an image.

The very shallow lens hood has been mentioned already and as expected it is possible for flare to catch out the lens. This presents itself as a haze and lowering of contrast.

Bokeh is not really a major expectation for an ultra-wide lens, but in fact f/2.8 is enough to make some selective focusing possible. The lens has pleasing out of focus areas and delivers smooth bokeh effects.

Value For Money

The Samyang AF 24mm f/2.8 FE lens is priced at £279.99, a very fair and equitable amount to ask.

Looking at other full frame 24mm lenses, firstly for the Sony FE mirrorless cameras, there is not much else on the market. The Samyang MF 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC costs £529, sacrificing AF but gaining in speed. The Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 is a rather higher price, at £979.

Canon users have the EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM at £519 and Nikon users the AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8 G ED at £629.

The new Samyang lens clearly finds itself in a fairly empty niche at a very fair price, making it excellent value for money. For more options have a look at the Top 21 Best Samyang Lenses. or the Top 29 Best Sony E / FE Mount Lenses. 

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