The Samyang AF 135mm f1.8 FE is an excellent telephoto prime lens for Sony cameras. I am using the Sony A7IV and A7III to test this Samyang 135mm at a portrait photoshoot. Watch my review video to see examples of autofocus performance and accuracy, image quality, bokeh, chromatic aberration and lens flare. I also include video quality examples on the A7sIII and A7IV.

model jasmine

makeup lidija j

video dan @ i make films

All photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset Pack.

LENS BUILD

The Samyang 135mm f1.8 AF FE is an extremely light telephoto prime weighing only 772 grams. The lens features 3 customised buttons. This includes a focus hold button, a custom switch that you can customise with the lens station and a focus range limiter switch. Unlike most GM lenses, this lens does not have an aperture ring or a dedicated AF-MF switch.

BOKEH + CHROMATIC ABERRATION + LENS FLARE

The bokeh from the Samyang 135mm f1.8 AF FE is great, the background melts away. The bokeh is well defined, no texture and no CA around the edges. You can see examples of this in my sample gallery (download below) or in the 1:1 photos in my review video. The bokeh from the Samyang 135mm f1.8 is nice and round in the centre of the frame, forming a slight eye shape towards the edges of the frame.

After spending a couple of days taking backlit photos with this lens, I wasn't able to spot any chromatic aberration in my images. The lens flare this Samyang 135mm f1.8 produces is nice and washed out. You can easily blend this into your photos for a dreamy look - or use the lens hood to avoid.

Below are portraits I took with the Samyang 135mm f1.8 and Sony A7IV.

IMAGE QUALITY

This lens is very sharp at f1.8 and f2.8. I've included comparison photos between both apertures in my video to see the sharpness side by side. There is a beautiful amount of clarity in the portraits I took of Jasmine which you can look at in my review. At f1.8, I love how the eyes are tack sharp and the rest of the face melts away. At f2.8, you can see a lot of details in the entire face.

FOCUS ACCURACY

From my personal experience with this lens, I found that focus accuracy was great for mid-length to close up portraits. The majority of the images I had to choose from were tack sharp. I did not have focusing issues getting in my way of selecting my favourite photos to edit, which is great to see for a more affordable 135mm lens.

The lens struggled to focus a little more often when taking wider shots. This includes full body images with lots of negative space at the top of the frame and mid-length photos when stepped back - again, including negative space at the top of the frame. While I was able to capture sharp photos in this scenario, I did notice more missed focus here. This could be due to a busier frame or the subject's face being a lot smaller in the frame. I had the same experience with focus accuracy on both the A7IV and A7III.

On location, I compared the autofocus accuracy between the Samyang 135mm f1.8 AF FE and Sony GM 135mm f1.8 by taking a set of 20 photos. See the results in my review video. I share every single photo I captured at a 100% view. For the price, the Samyang 135mm f1.8 has a very acceptable and great in focus ratio.

VIDEO

At the portrait photoshoot, Dan captured 4K 50P slow mo footage of Jasmine on the Sony A7sIII. We also used the A7IV on another day to see the focus tracking speed of the Samyang 135mm f1.8 AF FE as well as testing out the focus breathing. Again, please watch my video to see these results!

Below are photos I took with the Samyang 135mm f1.8 and Sony A7III.