Samyang 21mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC CS Review – Verdict

When you consider the quality of its build, the quality of the images it produces and its reasonable price, there’s a lot to like about the Samyang 21mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC CS. Whether it makes a great buy for you will depend a lot on the type of images you like to take. For action or spur-of-the-moment shots where instantaneous focus is key, you may struggle to find optimum focus fast enough and it’s in these types of situations you want your lens to support autofocus. If, however, you regularly take shots of stationary subjects, lock your camera off on a tripod or generally find that you have time to refine your focus settings manually before committing to firing the shutter, this lens makes a very strong case for itself.

There’s a delightful depth to images at f/1.4, which is particularly pleasing on the eye. The fast aperture also comes into its own when you’re in need of a few extra stops in low light. If you’d like an wideangle prime, albeit a manual-focus one, and you’re working to a sub-£300 budget, you can’t go far wrong with the Samyang 21mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC CS.

Score: 5 out of 5