Samyang XP 85 mm f/1.2 review - Summary

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Samyang XP 85 mm f/1.2

11 April 2017

Arkadiusz Olech

11. Summary

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Pros:

Solid casing and good build quality,
Very good image quality in the frame centre,
Acceptable image quality on the edge of APS-C and full frame,
Low lateral chromatic aberration,
Lack of problems with spherical aberration,
Negligible distortion,
Moderate coma,
Slight astigmatism,
Nice out-of-focus areas,
Low vignetting on APS-C sensor,
Sensible performance against bright light.

Cons:

Too high longitudinal chromatic aberration,
Distinct vignetting on full frame.

The Samyang 85 mm f/1.2 Premium is a very well-done construction. The only serious flaw we managed to find was too high level of longitudinal chromatic aberration. Compared to such rivals as the Mitakon or the Canon the Samyang is able to perform better on the edge of the frame. It also corrects coma more efficiently, and fares better against bright light. All these facts place the Samyang and its optical construction in very favourable light, especially as this lens is cheaper than its two direct rivals, mentioned above. If you add to that a solid barrel and proper workmanship which, as we understand it, is supposed to be one of the selling points of the Premium series, you get a lens worth your attention, a cheaper alternative to a bit slower aperture-wise, manual Zeiss devices from the Milvus and Otus series.