Photo Plus - UK (2019-12)

The Canon Magazine 111

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f/1.2f/1.4 f/1.8 f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

85mm PORTRAIT LENSES

Centre Middle Edge

Sharpness

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f/8 Edge

Lower values

represent less

fringing, and

therefore better

performance

COLOUR FRINGING

Two flavours of fringing are served up by primes

ur lab scores reveal the extent of lateral

chromatic aberration, which shows up as

coloured lines around high-contrast edges

towards the corners of the frame. It can be visible,

for example, around dark tree branches and leaves

against a bright sky. Longitudinal chromatic

aberration, also known as ‘axial CA’ or bokeh

fringing, occurs mostly at very wide apertures, and

can be seen around the borders between in-focus

areas and defocused surroundings.

O

SAMYANG AF 85mm

f/1.4 EF £599/$699

A rare beast indeed, this is a Samyang autofocus

lens for Canon DSLRs

amyang, is best known

for its wide range of

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most of which are

available in a similarly wide

range of mount options. In a

minority of two, this is an AF

lens for Canon cameras, the

only other option being the AF

14mm f/2.8 EF. This lens feels

robust, and comes complete

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focus Samyang on test, despite

having an identical focal

length and aperture rating.

Indeed, at 485g, it’s not much

heavier than Canon’s f/1.8.

Like the Samyang manual

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lens includes a hybrid

aspherical element and Ultra

Multi Coating. But there’s no

need for an aperture control

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enable full communication

and aperture adjustment from

the camera. The AF system is

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the linear ‘stepping motors’

used in a number of recent

Canon lenses. As such, manual

focusing and override of AF is

courtesy of an electronically

coupled control ring.

Performance

Autofocus proved quick and

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by wire’ manual focusing is

smooth and precise. Like the

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sharpness is a bit lacklustre at

f/1.4, but gets into its stride at

f/2. However, sharpness is

disappointing towards the

edges of the frame. Even so,

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Bokeh is of good quality

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so when stopping down.

FEATURES

VERDICT

01

There’s the same

Ultra Multi Coating

that’s featured in

Samyang’s manual.

02

Another similarity

with the Samyang

manual is the hybrid

aspherical element.

03

The manual focus

ring is electronically

coupled.

04

Stepping motor-

driven autofocus is

rapid and virtually

silent in practice.

05

The diaphragm has

nine blades,

compared with the

manual lens’s eight.

FEATURES

BUILD & HANDLING

PERFORMANCE

VALUE

OVERALL

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04

02

S

03

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