Samyang AF 135mm f/1.8 FE lens review (Full-frame & APS-C)

Samyang's last 135mm lens was pretty epic for its time. What can this new autofocus version do, apart from offer a slightly brighter aperture?

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All pictures taken by me on Sony a7R III and a5100 cameras.

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[carjac]

Christopher Frost is the only lens reviewer that encourage people to break out of jail.

[moistgooseberry]

my jaw actually dropped when you panned over to those image corners at f1.8 - incredible performance for a lens half the price of the GM!

[DustinAbbottTWI]

Love the conclusion, Chris (break out of jail!) Looking forward to getting my hands on one and doing a head to head with 135GM.

[mohammadel-mohammadi]

And again Samyang proves itself! Thank you wholeheartedly for making world-class lenses that are affordable by most rising photographers!

[toshivibe]

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.

[MacandBlair]

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.

[andrewkawlni]

I've watched almost all your lens reviews and man this lens is good...even from its widest aparture, corner to corner, this lens is sharp af..

[alexmirza]

The low vignetting and fine corner performance is invaluable for night sky imaging.

[yourtallness]

Note that firmware V1 of this lens would drain the battery even when the camera is switched off. V2 fixes this.

[trustnugget]

I just wanted you to thank you for your stellar reviews Chris! Highest quality paired with consistency and just a pleasure to watch every time. :)

[Leonsimages]

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.

[Apatura]

Damn. What a stellar lens! Amazing work Chris (as always!)

[MrYoohootuber]

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.

[droneeye]

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!

[Travmann]

Insane that I was able to pick this lens up for 650$ on Black Friday. INSANE optics on this one.

[federicolearco]

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

[hamzatosun]

There is no one who makes quality review videos like you. You are unbeatable in this regard.

[CKramburglar]

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

[DwightMontgomery]

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.

[rainyambience]

I bought this lens instantly when i saw the test results! Incredible value for money, very pleased with my purchase, excellent video.