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Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 Review

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The Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 is a stellar lens, with exceptional sharpness and beautiful bokeh. The build quality is excellent, and it handles well. The lens is a bit heavy, and the bokeh can cause bright points of light to be cut off.

The Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 is a stellar optic and one of the sharpest lenses available. It is a highly recommended manual focus lens for professional photographers, especially for portrait work.

Pros
  • Exceptional sharpness
  • Beautiful bokeh
  • Excellent build quality
  • Solid metal construction
Cons
  • Heavy
  • Bokeh may cut off bright points of light due to vignetting

The build quality is impressive, with a solid metal construction, smooth focus ring, and overall well-built design.

The Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 is a premium lens that offers exceptional quality at a lower price point than its equivalent counterparts. The lens is designed for professional photography and excels in producing beautiful, high-quality images with its F 1.2 aperture. It is also well-suited for handheld work and shooting indoors due to its ability to capture around 30% more light than an F 1.4 lens. The build quality is impressive, with a solid metal construction, smooth focus ring, and overall well-built design. However, the lens is a bit heavy, weighing just over a kilogram, which may be a drawback for some users.Optically, the lens performs exceptionally well, offering exceptional sharpness even at larger apertures. It outshines Canon's equivalent lens in terms of sharpness and maintains its sharpness up to F11 and beyond. Vignetting and distortion are minimal, and the lens is essentially distortion-free on a full-frame sensor. However, the bokeh can cause bright points of light to be cut off due to vignetting.Overall, the Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 is a stellar optic and one of the sharpest lenses available. It is a highly recommended manual focus lens for professional photographers, especially for portrait work.

The lens is a bit heavy, weighing just over a kilogram, which may be a drawback for some users.

Source

This article is based on the review by

Christopher Frost

Christopher Frost

Christopher Frost is a YouTube channel dedicated to providing in-depth reviews and analyses of photography equipment, particularly lenses. Christopher Frost, the creator and host of the channel, is known for his thorough and detailed evaluations of various lenses from different manufacturers, including Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, and others.  To learn more, please visit the channel here.

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