Samyang Releases Fast AF Lens for Sony Shooters

Samyang, or Rokinon if you're in the United States, has unveiled a new AF 24mm F1.8 lens for Sony E mount. The compact wide-angle lens is the eleventh focal length designed specifically for Sony's Alpha mirrorless cameras and comes after Samyang's announcement of the 35mm F1.8. 

Optically, it's comprised of 11 elements in 8 groups with two aspherical elements, three high refractive elements, and two extra low dispersion elements along with Samyang's Ultra Multi-Coating. Together, they reduce spherical aberration and chromaticaberration in the image. 

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Samyang is touting the lens as being great for landscape and astrophotography. With a fast F1.8 aperture that can cover full-frame, we tend to agree. There is also an astrophotography mode that automatically sets the lens focus to manual focus where it moves and locks the lens to infinity focus. When activated, an LED light will turn green. If the focus control ring is moved, the LED will turn red. 

Credit: Samyang

Additionally, Samyang has added a focus hold button to the barrel of the lens. By pressing and holding the button, the lens will lock at that AF distance. You can also assign different functions to the focus hold button through the custom key settings on the camera. Another innovation from Samyang is the single ring on the lens is customizable. In mode 1, the ring can change the focus. In mode 2, the ring adjusts the aperture. Since there isn't a dedicated focus and aperture ring on the lens, turning it to mode 2 while using autofocus can come in handy for video shooters. 

Controlling the autofocus system is a new stepping motor. It's designed to prevent the front element from rotating or changing in length. With a 9 blade aperture, Samyang says the bokeh is creamy with natural, circular out-of-focus highlights. When pairing the lens with an APS-C Sony E mount camera, the equivalent focal length is 36mm. 

The lens has weather sealing, a filter size of 58mm, and a  short minimum focusing distance of 7.48" (190mm). It weighs only 8.1oz (230g) and is 2.8" (71.5mm) in length.

You can pick up the Samyang AF 24mm F1.8 for $499.