Samyang AF 75mm F/1.8 FE Hands On

Earlier today Samyang announced a new compact AF lens from its Tiny series. This new 75mm f/1.8 lens is designed for Sony E mount, covers FF and has a new trick that is a first for Samyang – a switch that turns the Aperture ring to a user-configurable one. Photographer John Sison had a chance to play with a prototype of this new lens and you can watch his video above.

A few months back we tested the Samyang AF 45mm F1.8 FE lens which is yet another member of the “tiny” lens family by Samyang. All these lenses were designed to be small. lightweight AF lenses for Sony E-mount cameras with a relatively affordable price tag and good optics.

The new Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 FE is exactly that – it is really small at under 7cm/3″ and is super light at 250 grams or 8.8 ounces (with the hood). It has a fast silent STM AF motor, and it includes an interesting system that no other Samyang lens has – a dual-mode switch on the side.

The switch includes mode 1 (lens ring is used for controlling focus – normal operation) and mode 2 (the ring is user-configurable – currently only used for changing aperture). In the future users might be able to change the function of mode 2 (probably using the Samyang base station) and choose things like ISO or shutter speed (personally we would prefer and AF/MF switch – but that’s just us).

Some specs on the new Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 FE

75mm f/1.8 lens with full-frame coverage.
10 elements in 9 groups with 2 HR and 3 ED elements.
69cm min focus distance (1:7.6 macro magnification).
9 aperture blades.
56mm filter thread.
230 / 250-gram weight (without and with a hood).
E-mount only.

We don’t have exact pricing for the U.S. market but based on currency conversion we are talking about a lens that will cost under $400 in the U.S.

Official Samyang video/images of the AF 75mm f/1.8 FE

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.