LENS TEST
This short telephoto prime is a lovely affordable portrait lens for Fujifilm X users. Andy Westlake tries it out
Coming hot on the heels of the AF 12mm F2 X wideangle prime, the AF 75mm F1.8 X is Samyang’s second autofocus optic for Fujifilm X-system cameras. But this one takes a slightly different tack, as rather than adapting an older manualfocus design to AF, it starts with an existing E-mount full-frame offering and reworks it for APS-C. The result is a compact, largeaperture, short telephoto prime, whose 112mm equivalent angle of view should make it particularly well-suited to portraiture. With a launch price of £474, the X-mount lens is notably more expensive than its E-mount sibling, which can be found for as little as £319. This is despite the fact that it uses an identical optical design. However, the housing has been completely redesigned.
With this lens, Samyang has targeted an obvious gap among current X-mount offerings, for an affordable portrait lens with a slightly longer focal length than the ubiquitous 85mm equivalent. In this respect, it sits neatly between Fujifilm’s XF 56mm F1.2 R WR and XF 90mm F2 R LM WR, both of which also cost almost as much. Its closest third-party competitors are all 56mm designs, most notably the excellent Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN | C(£379). But does it perform well enough to make it a compelling alternative?
Features
Samyang has employed the same ten-element, nine-group optical design as the E-mount version, including two high refractive index (HR) and three extra-low dispersion (ED) glass elements to combat chromatic aberration.
Notably, the firm hasn’t employed any aspherical elements, with the aim of producing more attractive bokeh. This is aided by the aperture diaphragm, which employs nine curved blades to give rounded out-of-focus highlights. Focusing is internal, with a minimum object distance of 69cm. The 62mm filter thread is a step up from the 58mm of the FE model, but this makes sense when you consider that it’s shared with the AF 12mm F2 X. A bowl-shaped hood is provided, and reverses snugly for storage.
Build and handling
Samyang’s lenses tend to be relatively small and light, and the 75mm f/1.8 follows this trend. At 70mm in diameter, 69.3mm in length and 257g, it’s a really nice match to the Fujifilm X-T5 that I used for testing.
Both cosmetically and in terms of build
