GEAR
SAMYANG V-AF LENSES
SAMYANG HINTS AT NEW ACCESSORIES
capabilities of the lenses. If this is true, Samyang would have the world’s first AF anamorphic cine lenses. Other alternative accessories could be an adapter with built-in ND filters – which would also be a novel solution. But until there are any announcements, for now we are left with an unfinished appearance to the lens front.
The face of each V-AF lens features a set of electrical connections and a solid-looking bayonet mounting system. Samyang says these are for a forthcoming range of accessories, but hasn’t revealed what those will be. Insiders have hinted one accessory could be an anamorphic lens adapter, which would retain the autofocus
nine-bladed aperture. This isn’t a particularly advanced lens design, but performance is still very good. They are sharp across the frame – certainly good enough for 8K shooting as Samyang claims. There is some vignetting when they’re shot wide open, as you’d expect, but it’s actually quite attractive and could be fixed in post if you want. Bokeh is smooth, too, with no ‘onion ring’ effects that appear in some lenses. The colours are very consistent across the frame and seem more natural than other Samyangs we have tested over the years. The lenses also control focus breathing very well, especially in the shorter focal lengths as you might expect. For glass that costs this little and is so small, performance is great. Handling is helped by a real lack of bulk – and optically, they deliver. Samyang seems to be on to something good, for sure.
“Tally lights on the front and side go from green to red when recording is activated”
A single button on the side acts as a focus hold button, or you can select a preset focus distance by holding it down for a few seconds. Again, this may be changed via the lens dock. Another unique function is the tally lights on the front and side, which go from green to red when recording is activated. There’s no way of turning these off, though, so you might want to grab a roll of gaffer tape if you don’t want the lights affecting the footage – for instance, in close-up shots of reflective subjects. In use, the lenses have a brand-new optical design of ten elements in nine groups, with a
can be changed in the optional dock, but unfortunately we didn’t have one of these. It’s a shame the optic doesn’t have a conventional AF-MF switch like many of the higher-end Sony lenses, so you don’t have to dig into menus to change the focus type.
SET AND MATCH The three will soon be joined by 45mm and 20mm versions
FREEZY DOES IT The Samyangs produce natural colours that are very closely matched
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