Samyang Optics is a South Korean manufacturer of camera lenses, which was founded in 1972, with their headquarter in Masan.
The company is known by several other names, such as Rokinon, Bower, Opteka, Vívitar, Phoenix, and Quantaray, but their lenses are most commonly recognized under the names Samyang and Rokinon (the latter being their brand name in then US).
While they're mostly known for their manual focus lenses, they have published several lenses with auto focus in recent years, though these lenses are still not found for the X-mount system. They also have a Premium line of manual focus lenses, which - as with the auto focus lenses - unfortunately are not made for the X-mount.
Samyang has a rumor of making cheap lenses, which for some also means "bad". However, the reactions from reviewers proves that Samyang definitely is a brand to consider, with good quality for affordable prices. And even though their lenses generally use a great deal of plastic, they are still made out of good quality plastics and metals, and are considered to be of great build quality, as well as having good optic quality, particularly lenses of more recent years.
Samyang also makes cine lens versions of all the lenses, except the long telephoto and the 24mm tilt-shift lens. On top of that they have the Xeen cine lens line. So far Samyang seems to only be focusing on prime lenses, having only produced one zoom lens, the 650-1300mm f/8.0-16.0 zoom Lens.
When it comes to the APS-C specific lenses, of which there presently are 9, all of them have been receiving good reviews. The most popular of these lenses are the 12mm f/2 and the 50mm f/1.2, though the 21mm, 35mm, and 85mm seem to be of same quality, both in built and optical performance.
APS-C sensor specific lenses for Fujifilm's X Mount:
8mm F3.5 AS MC Fisheye CSII DH
8mm F2.8 UMC Fish-eye II
10mm F2.8 ED AS NCS CS
16mm F2.0 ED AS UMC CS
50mm F1.2 AS UMC CS
85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS
In general Samyang, or Rokinon for the US readers, is a trustworthy brand, which offers good products for affordable prices, though there are a few lenses which have received critical reviews. For the newer lenses for the X-mount, the 12mm, 21mm, 35mm, 50mm, and the 85mm, mentioned above, there seems to be no reason not to trust that you get good value for your money, if you invest in any of these lenses. But as always, we strongly suggest you to check the reviews and test the lens for yourself before buying.
Samyang official websíte: www.samyanglensglobal.com
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