Samyang Brings Yet Another 35mm f/1.8 Prime to E-Mount

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A Sony digital camera with a 35mm f/1.8 lens attached is shown from the front, highlighting the lens and the camera’s top controls, including the power switch and shutter button.

LK Samyang kicked off its “Prima” series of lightweight, affordable prime lenses in late 2024 with the AF 35mm f/1.4 P. After launching the Prima AF 16mm f/2.8 and AF 85mm f/1.8 lenses last year, LK Samyang is revisiting the 35mm focal length with a smaller, lighter, and more affordable AF 35mm f/1.8 Prima prime for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras.

As LK Saymang explains, “Prime means ‘First’ and ‘Essential,'” noting that its Prima series lenses are “designed to be the first lens creators reach for.”

Across the board, the Prima series lenses are relatively compact, and the new AF 35mm f/1.8 P FE is no exception. The lens weighs just 216 grams (7.6 ounces) and is 71.5 millimeters (2.8 inches) long. That’s significantly smaller and lighter than the AF 35mm f/1.4 P FE, which weighs 470 grams (16.6 ounces) and is 99.2 millimeters (3.9 inches) long. The new lens has a 62mm filter thread, while the faster prime takes 67mm filters.

Three black camera lenses with "AF 35/1.8 FE" and "Full Frame E-mount" labels are shown from three angles: side view, front view, and rear view with a lens hood attached.

It will be interesting to see how well the new AF 35mm f/1.8 P FE lens performs, because PetaPixel was very impressed by its faster sibling, the 35mm f/1.4 P. In PetaPixel‘s review, Chris Niccolls described the lens as a “bargain for a fast-aperture lens” and noted its beautiful, albeit imperfect, image quality. Hopefully, the new AF 35mm f/1.8 will deliver similarly excellent value.

The new AF 35mm f/1.8 P lens features 10 elements arranged across eight groups. It includes four specialized optics: a pair of aspherical lenses and a pair of XHR lenses. It also features Samyang’s UMC II coating to reduce ghosting and flare. The company promises “excellent flexibility” and “balanced performance” for both photo and video applications, and says the lens is a great choice for general-purpose, travel, street, and portrait photography, as well as video content creation and vlogging. Samyang also notes the lens’s nine-bladed aperture when promising “smooth and natural background blur.”

The autofocus lens features a next-generation Linear STM II autofocus motor, promising quick, quiet, and smooth focusing performance. The lens focuses as close as 0.27 meters (0.9 feet), resulting in a maximum magnification of 0.19x.

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A busy European city street with cobblestone paving, intersecting tram tracks, people walking, a cyclist, and a red tram. Historic buildings line both sides under a clear sky with visible overhead tram wires.

A soccer goal stands on a snow-covered field under a bright, low sun, casting long shadows. The net is partially lit by sunlight, and the sky is clear with a few scattered clouds.

From a design perspective, the AF 35mm f/1.8 P FE looks a lot like the AF 35mm f/1.4 P FE, albeit smaller. The new lens still has a wide, diamond-knurled focusing ring, an AF/MF switch (which the f/1.4 lens lacks, actually), and a USB-C port for firmware updates. It features weather sealing, including at the mount, and a newly designed high-strength plastic petal-shaped lens hood. The new f/1.8 lens is also missing the silver accent on the AF 35mm f/1.4 P FE, but that’s purely cosmetic.

Pricing and Availability

Samyang US has not yet listed the new AF 35mm f/1.8 P FE lens on its website, so official U.S. pricing remains a mystery. However, the lens is 399,000 South Korean won in LK Samyang’s home region, which is around $265 at current exchange rates. While official pricing may vary due to factors like tariffs, this would put the new lens at about half the price of the AF 35mm f/1.4 P FE, which is currently $599 after a $100 discount.

A Sony Alpha 7C camera sits on a woven table next to two cups of latte with leaf-shaped latte art.

It will be very interesting to see how the new AF 35mm f/1.8 P FE’s price and performance compares against Samyang’s existing AF 35mm f/1.8 lens for Sony E-mount, which was unveiled back in 2020. That $349 — now $299 thanks to an instant discount — prime weighs 210 grams (7.4 ounces), has a narrower 58mm filter thread, and features 10 elements across eight groups in front of a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm. One notable difference is that it features an older STM autofocus system, though the two lenses are otherwise very similar on paper.

The competition is fierce in the budget 35mm prime segment on Sony E-mount. Beyond Samyang competing against itself, and by extension Rokinon, it also competes against similarly priced lenses from Meike, Brightin Star, and 7Artisans. Then, of course, there is Sony’s own 35mm f/1.8 prime, although that is about $850, way above where the new Samyang AF 35mm f/1.8 P FE lens will be priced.

Image credits: LK Samyang

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