Rokinon/Samyang 50mm f/1.4 AS IF Review

Photographer Dustin Abbott reviewed the Rokinon/Samyang 50mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC lens. The video above is about handling and build quality, the video below about the image quality and Abbott’s verdict. He writes:

This lens has some challenges.  The relatively low price of existing 50mm f/1.4 lenses (despite a few outliers) has created less wiggle room for Samyang/Rokinon, so as a result this lens is not the budget value of many other lenses from the Korean manufacturer.  I do wish that it was $100 cheaper; I think more people would take a chance on it at that price, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Rokinon’s margin is pretty slim on this lens.  They’ve obviously invested some pretty serious engineering dollars to get an excellent optical instrument.  The Rokinon 50mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC is not any cheaper than the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, nor the Nikon G, nor the Sony Alpha 50mm, nor the original Sigma 50mm f/1.4 HSM, but it is optically superior to them all.  The challenge for most photographers will be the fact that this lens does not include autofocus.

The Rokinon sells for around $400 at Amazon. Price check for your country: [shopcountry 27421]