Driven by their recent flood of AF lenses, Samyang has been rushing into the mainstream of third-party lens manufacturers. One of their first AF lenses was the AF 85mm f/1.4 EF back in mid-2018 but with the tide turning towards mirrorless cameras, they released the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE one year later. While you may guess that the latter is just a mount-adapted version, it is in fact a completely new design. Relative to the specs, the pricing is pretty hot at around 550USD/EUR. Compare this to OEM lenses with similar on-paper specs. So where's the catch? We'll see ...

The lens feels surprisingly sturdy with a lens body made of metal. The blank portions have a satin-like finish to them. It's a bit slippery and probably not everybody's darling - but that's mostly a matter of taste. Samyang implemented 3 gaskets for weather sealing. This isn't quite as extensive as on some other lenses but it's reassuring nonetheless. The physical length remains the same across the focus range thanks to an internal focusing system. The broad, metal focus ring operates smoothly. There is no AF/MF switch on the lens so you have to control the focus mode on your camera. A deep petal-shaped hood is provided.

The Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE uses a DLSM or "Dual Linear (Ultra-)Sonic Motor" for auto-focusing. The focus actions are near-silent but the AF speed is a bit on the slow side. Sony's DMF (Direct Manual Focus) is supported - using the usual "focus-by-wire" system. Switching to manual focusing has to be done on the camera as well. An image stabilizer has not been implemented but you can, of course, use the in-camera IS (if available). The lens is compatible with Samyang's "Lens Station" which can be used for fine-tuning the AF and firmware updates.