Samyang Unveils the 135mm f/1.8 for Sony E-Mount Cameras
Samyang has announced that it has reimagined its manual focus 135mm f/2 telephoto lens that it launched in 2015 as a new and improved autofocus version, the AF 135mm f/1.8 for Sony E-mount. Autofocus is driven by Samyang’s Linear STM (stepping motor) technology and the lens offers a focus hold button, a customizable switch, and a focus range limiter.
The company plans to add more functions to the switch through future firmware updates.
“The Samyang AF 135mm f/1.8 FE is lighter than other 135mm lenses compatible with full-frame Sony FE mount, but it realizes overwhelming resolution in the entire image area and expresses the subject with clear image quality,” Samyang says. “You can capture the subject’s details from the fluttering hairs of models to the twinkling of nebulae light-years away with unprecedented resolution.”
Samyang says the optical construction of the lens is newly designed, despite the background of the optic coming from a lens it originally released in 2015. The 135mm f/1.8 lens is constructed of 13 elements in 11 groups, including three extra-low dispersion elements, two high-refractive index elements, and one aspherical element. The lens has an 11-blade aperture diaphragm, uses an 82mm front filter thread, and has a minimum focusing distance of 69cm (1.3’). On full-frame cameras, the lens offers an 18.9º angle of view, while on APS-C it offers a 12.5º angle of view.
The company says the three extra low-dispersion lenses produce clear image quality and effectively control chromatic aberration, while the two high refractive lenses and an ultra-precision aspherical lens deliver excellent sharpness and contrast in all areas of the image.
The lens is touted as having superb resolution and ultra-precise aspherical lenses that create a soft bokeh combined with a sharp rendition of subjects. The company also says that despite these advancements, the lens is still lightweight which makes it suitable for hand-holding in various applications like portraiture and landscape work. The lens is able to produce an extremely narrow depth of field and, thanks to the wide f/1.8 aperture, smooth and dramatic background blur that effectively separates a subject from the background.
Below are a few sample images from Samyang that have been taken with the new lens:
This lens adds yet another focal length range to Samyang’s growing autofocus prime lineup, which now consists of 24mm, 35mm, 45mm, 75mm, and 135mm focal lengths. The Samyang AF 135mm f/1.8 lens is expected to start shipping in March 2022 and is currently available to pre-order directly from Samyang for $999.
More info on Samyang’s website.
