Samyang Rokinon 50mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC Lens for Canon EF Review

This lens is a one-trick pony, but that trick is a good one. If you want a cheap, fast 50mm for Canon full-frame cameras to shoot portraits in decent light, it gets the job done. Just know you're getting exactly what you pay for: great aperture and bokeh, and not much else.

The f/1.4 aperture is the star here, and it delivers. The bokeh is creamy and pleasing, landing in the 85th percentile. That's the surprise. The letdown is everything else. Autofocus is middle-of-the-road at best, and the optical quality is just okay. It's sharp enough in the center at f/1.4, but don't expect magic.

At $309, it's a decent value if your only goal is shallow depth of field on a budget. You're trading modern features like fast AF and stabilization for that big aperture. If that's your trade-off, it's worth it. If you need a well-rounded lens, it's not.

Don't confuse this with the Viltrox 35mm f/1.7 for Z-mount. That lens has modern autofocus and is for a different system. A closer competitor is the Meike 55mm F1.8 Pro, which offers better autofocus and often better optics for a similar price, but it's for different camera mounts. For Canon EF shooters on a tight budget, this Rokinon is basically competing against used first-party 50mm f/1.4 lenses, which might have better AF but older optics.

Buy this lens for one reason: you need f/1.4 on a Canon full-frame camera and you have almost no money. It's a specialist tool for portrait shooters who work in controlled light. For anyone who needs reliable autofocus, plans to shoot video, or wants a general-purpose lens, save up for something else.