[Music] Foreign Abbott and I'm here for another one of My versus episodes one that I have had a Lot of requests to do ever since this Lens got released earlier in the year And unfortunately it took me quite a Long time to get one that has been Rectified now and as you've probably Seen at this point I've got a series of Reviews centered around the samyang AF 135 millimeter F 1.8 this is a very high Quality telephoto Prime for Sony e-mount And of course it is placed up against One of what I consider to be one of the Very best lenses on Sony period And as Far as their non-super telephoto primes I consider this and the 50 millimeter F 1.2 to be kind of the upper echelon at This point and so my the question to be Answered here today is can this lens That cost less than a thousand dollars Compete with one of Sony's absolute best And I'm going to do my best to answer That question also maybe give you a Little bit of feedback as to which lens You should consider based on your actual Performance needs we'll break all of That down in reasons to buy the samyang Followed by reasons to buy the Sony and Then if you want a deeper dive I'm going To have an IQ breakdown at the end where We take a deeper dive into that actual Performance so stay tuned for that if
You're interested first however a word From our sponsor Today's episode is brought to you by Phantom wallet the minimalist modern Wallet that is now even better with the New Phantom X that is crafted from Aluminum right here in Canada it is 22 Percent smaller and 35 percent lighter While still making it easy to access Your cards and money when you need them Thanks to their unique Fanning mechanism You could even customize your wallet due To its modular design with accessories Like a money clip cash holder ID display And even chipolo and air tag tracking Integration visit Store.phantomwallet.com to check out Their unique sizes Styles and finishes That span from aluminum to Wood to Carbon fiber and use code Dustin 15 for 15 off when you're ready to check out So let's talk about reasons to buy the Samyang in many ways there's a lot of Similarities between these lenses but There are a few distinctions that I want To highlight here first of all the big One is the price the MSRP for the Samyang is 999 US Dollars though at the Moment I do note that it is available For 899 dollars making it a tremendous Value and probably the best bang for Buck optically that you're going to find On the Sony platform for under a Thousand dollars the Sony is more
Expensive at right under 2100 US Dollars Though I have recently seen the price as Low as around two thousand dollars and So either way you're talking about a at Least a thousand dollar difference Between the two lenses at the moment That price difference is more like Twelve hundred dollars that's a pretty Huge Advantage when you consider how Much you could purchase with that Additional twelve hundred dollars the Samyang also is slightly lighter it Weighs in at 772 grams or 27 ounces Versus 950 grams or 33 and a half ounces For the GM now I will note the samyang Isn't smaller but it is a little less Dense and so it is the easier lens to Carry along Another Advantage comes on the optic Side whereas we'll see in more detail Later the samyang sports slightly less Distortion basically no Distortion and Very very little vignette a surprisingly Low amount for a large aperture lens Like this the Sony is actually also Quite good but it is not quite as good In either metric as what the samyang is I also felt both in my test where I Looked for it in detail and then also as A general impression that the samyang Had slightly softer bokeh and defocus Regions were just a little bit creamier A little fewer hard edges and we'll try To break that down a little bit more in
The optical comparison I also found that It did have slightly nicer bokeh Geometry and what I mean by that is that It it has more circular shapes across More of the frame with less of a Deformation towards cat eye or lemon Shape when compared to the G Master lens It also has a little bit better Edge Performance something that is borne out In the mtfs and then also in my real World test and that as you move closer To the edge of the frame there's a Slight but real Advantage for the Samyang there also finally the samyang Has some specific features for Astrophotography that allow you to get Accurate Focus even in the night where It's a little more difficult to do that Sometimes and then also it has a very Very high performance in terms of low Coma and so it gives it a little bit of An advantage when it comes to that so Let's talk about reasons to buy the Sony Instead to me the top reason to buy the Sony instead is when it comes to Autofocus speed samyang has a single Linear motor whereas the uh the 135 G Master has dual XD linear Motors and XD To break that down centrally means that They have their higher torque Motors and As a byproduct of that there is Definitely a difference in autofocus Speed and confidence as you can see here Also an advantage for the Sony is that
Kind of along the same vein that because It's a first party lens and a high Performing one at that if you're Shooting with one of Sony sports related Cameras you're going to be able to Unlock their Full Burst rate and so with My Sony Alpha one that means 30 frames Per second on a A9 or A9 Mark II that Means 20 frames per second whereas Third-party lenses like the samyang are Going to be capped at 15 frames per Second now if you're not shooting with The sports body that's not a big deal if You don't shoot Sports maybe it's not a Big deal but this is a lens that very Much could be used in some sporting Situations as a sideline lens or you Know for that matter maybe performance Arts and it is a top-notch autofocus Performer it also has higher grade build Materials while the samyang is not bad Made at all I actually find it to be Quite nice the GM lenses are Sony's best And so they just have a higher grade of Materials and also I will note that even When it comes to weather sealing there Are 10 seal points in the G Master while There are seven seal points in the Sandying hopefully both would provide Enough but if you're concerned about Weather sealing the GM is just at Another level it also has a dedicated Aperture ring that does give you the Option of de-clicking it now you can
Turn the manual focus ring into an Aperture ring via the custom mode here On the side of the samyang but it Doesn't give you the visual Representation of what a dedicated Aperture ring does in that you can just Visually look at it and know what apt You're at whereas with the samyang You're going to have to look inside the Camera and you don't have the d-click Option that you do with the G Master Lens I will note that while again it's a Slight Advantage but an advantage Nonetheless the G Master Sports a very Slightly higher level of magnification It is 0.25 times versus 0.24 times and I Also felt that the G Master performance Was every bit as good if not a hair Better up close making it a very useful Lens particularly if you add like Extension tubes as a pseudo macro type Lens The GM also has very slightly more Center sharpness and pop there in terms Of contrast and so in many ways that Could be the most important place to Have that extra little bit as compared To the samyang which wins out on the Edges which are often less important in A telephoto type lens finally just as a Matter of practicality the GM is going To have full first party support on Every level from profiles to you know
Sanding does do firmware updates and all Of that but obviously a Sony lens is Going to get Sony support and it's also Going to have a higher level of resale Value as well because it is a premium Product from a premium brand So what's not really all that different Is when it comes to eye detection and Portrait sharpness something I know that A lot of people would be interested in And we'll dive into that more in our IQ Breakdown but as you can see from these Series of shots I had my wife who's not A photographer Um take these shots just using iaf and Camera on the Sony Alpha One and just Taking a series of shots just to test How well the iaf worked in focusing and How great sharpness it delivered and as You can see there is very little Difference between the samyang and the Sony results and so that's something That both lenses do exceptionally well But not necessarily a whole lot one Being better than the other So at the end of the day which one Should you buy well the salmon is very Clear the bargain choice and as we're Going to see even further it gives up Very little in Optical performance and Frankly it doesn't really give up a Whole lot in features either if you're Looking for a high value lens at the 135 Millimeter focal length samyang is an
Easy winner I think the GM is the lens Of choice if you want the most demanding Autofocus uh be it for sports or Performing arts or maybe even just as a Portrait photographer you trust a first Party lens more and I do think you get a Little bit more when it comes to Autofocus even you know overall Autofocus consistency the GM is Exceptionally good and so as a byproduct Of that if you are the most demanding of Users and you want the very best then I Think the G Master is the the lens of Choice still but I think for very many People you're going to experience quite Little difference between the two if You're looking at the more budget option As well I'm Dustin Abbott and if you Want to stay tuned for the image call Quality breakdown you can stay tuned for That and if not however there are links To my full text reviews and video Reviews in the description down below Also buying links if you'd like to Purchase those and of course if you want To have more information let's dive into The image quality breakdown okay let's Start by taking a deeper dive into this Comparison here that we briefly saw in Passing so this really is about a couple Of things before we've been looking at The focus accuracy and so as you can see Both of these are very well focused and Then also it's looking about at the you
Know kind of contrast and performance For skin textures so I mean quite Obviously both of these lenses are going To reveal probably more skin flaws and Blemishes than what your typical person Is going to want to deal with so I Wouldn't be too concerned about that I Would say that I think ever so slightly There's a little bit more contrast for The G Master though as you can see if You didn't you know have them side by Side you really wouldn't see much of a Difference you know as far as in like The hair here I do think a little bit More detail for the the G Master but Again very very close and as you can see Also skin tones aren't identical but There's not really anything that is Radically different either and so you Know color balance not really a factor Here that I can tell either now we Mentioned bokeh geometry we'll detail at That just a little bit and and so you Hear you can see with the samoying this Is f 1.8 then F2 then F 2.8 then F4 and So as far as the basic geometry all Across the frame that is really good as We're going to see a little bit better For the same however we're also going to See if we move to the G Master which you Can see here the G master has a little Bit more deformation towards the edges Than what the samyang did but we can Also see as we stop it dim that the
Aperture blades do a slightly better job Of keeping a circular shape as well so a Little bit of give and take there I Think this more apples to apples compare Person helps to illustrate that point Even better and so here we've got a Fixed location off of a tripod so you Can see that both of them are focused in The same spot but as we if we look over Here at the bokeh you can see that both Of them do eventually get towards a cat Eye or lemon shape towards the edge but Where we have an advantage is for Example here quite circular with the GM Already deformed and then in this area Right here salmon is very circular Whereas the GM already has some Deformation and so that's kind of a big Deal I think particularly for some People and that you're going to get just A little bit rounder bokeh circles out Of the samyang now we'll look at a Couple of other bokeh related things This is just more about the kind of Transitionary so again you can see They're both focused in the same area as We look towards the um the transition Area now I I'd made a minor mistake in That I must have bumped the app to ring And it was at f2 rather than F 1.8 it Gives a very slight advantage to the GM But I don't think enough here to make a Significant difference so if we look at Here it's just a little bit softer than
What it is on the GM as I look along This and as I look at the kind of Textures on this I see just a little bit More softness also up here um just a Little fewer kind of edges that are There here's another example here and You know while I don't see a major Difference in this particular image I See the geometry thing favors the saming On the left a little bit as we move out Of this kind of defocused area and then We look towards over this area both of Them are nice and creamy and I don't Know that one stands out to me more than The other now this example here is a Little bit interesting in that again Obviously both set up in the same Situation exact same settings there was Some sun coming through the window that Was highlighting this from the back you Can see actually that the GM has done a Little bit of veiling here in the corner Whereas the samyang has actually shown Up a little bit better contrast and so This also gives us a look at any kind of Longitudinal chromatic aberrations I Think that there is a tiny bit of a blue Green fringing on the salmon very very Little and I think that maybe the GM is Just a little bit more neutral in that Regard and so maybe a slight win for the G Master there as we look towards the Kind of defocused areas here I do think That the samyang is a little bit
Creamier and softer and just a little Bit more edging for the G Master now if We talk about these things for portrait Work Um I I did find that as far as my Triggers went that the the two didn't Trigger identically and so we have Identical settings but Um there's just a little bit more flash Power for whatever reason that came out Using the G master and so let's what We're more looking at is just kind of The defocused background and in these Cases I think the both of them show a Nice transition towards defocus likewise In this shot where we have both some Foreground and then some background Bokeh if you look at just the kind of The dock that's in the background and The water Beyond and then at the surface Of the water you can just see there's a Little bit more edging in the transition Area for the G Master whereas the Samyang is just ever so slightly softer Again I don't think this is a major Thing at all but it is worth considering That there is a very minor I believe Bokeh advantage in both geometry and Then softness for the samyang now I Mentioned the vignette and Distortion so If we look at the GM nothing significant Here you can see a little bit of cushion Distortion and a little bit of vignette Neither is Extreme now if we do a manual
Rather than a profile correction we can See that the there's just a minus one to Correct that pin cushion Distortion You're probably not even going to want To bother with that and a plus 35 to Correct for the vignette if we jump over To the samyang the samyang required no Correction it basically has so low of Distortion that if you tried to correct Something you would create more Distortion than you would correct and Then it has a little bit lower vignette A plus 28 that's a plus seven difference Not significant but again in both Metrics just a tiny Advantage for Sammying there all right our major Showdown here and that comes to show Sharpness and contrast this is a 50 Megapixel image and it is shot or I'm Going to show it to you at 200 Magnification so here is where as Mentioned before I think that the GM Shows a little bit more contrast in the Center of the frame just a little bit More pop there you can see slightly more Of the Noir pattern that comes from Really intense sharpness and contrast a Little bit in the text you can see a Minor difference there and even down Here just a very slight Advantage for The GM in the mid frame that Advantage Is it's largely gone they're about the Same down here in the corner it is Actually the samyang that gives us a
Little bit stronger performance you can Just see a little bit more detail and Contrast here towards the edge of the Frame now if we stop them both down to F 2.8 we can see that now the a contrast Has really really bloomed for the Samyang and it is now every bit as Contrasty in the center of the frame and The text popping arguably the samyang is A hair better and this mid frame Performance I think a little bit more Contrast than what the GM shows and down Here in the corner both of them are Really really good in the edge of the Frame but you can just see like from This text there's a little bit more Contrast and performance out of the Samyang we pop over here to the left Side we can see that they both look very Very good we'll take a look here as well A couple of other spots I very slightly Think that there's a little bit more Contrast for the G Master there if we Look up in the upper corner here we can See that they both look very good but Maybe just a hair better on the samyang A little bit more contrast it reaches Right out to the edge of the frame we'll Do one final comparison at F 5.6 and so We can see here in the center of the Frame both of them are exceptional if Anything I would maybe give the GM the Very slightest of edges it's incredibly Close in the mid frame the samyang is
Just a little bit better though I mean Frankly I mean it's splitting here is The both really really brilliant down Here in the corner they are both you Know just fantastic I mean both of them Just kind of popping right off the page And so I mean frankly the performance All around is just really really Exceptional no matter where you look Everything is just fantastic across the Frame for really for both of these Lenses they are exceptionally strong so As you can see these are both incredibly High performing lenses and frankly You're going to be very happy with what You get from either one of these lenses When it comes to their Optical Performance so at the end of the day There are other considerations here but Hopefully I've given you enough Information to help you make an informed Decision as to which lens is going to Work best for you I'm Dustin Abbott and If you look in the description down Below as mentioned linkage to the full Suite of reviews on these buying links Also linkage to follow myself or Craig On social media to become a patron to Get channel merchandise please like And Subscribe thanks for watching have a Great day and let the light in [Music] Foreign
