Rokinon 50mm F1.4 AF Sony E Review

The Rokinon 50mm F1.4 AF Sony E ($699) is one of several low-cost autofocus lenses the company offers for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras.

It's as bright as the premium Sony Zeiss Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA, but also significantly less costly.

It's not our top recommendation for budget shoppers, however.

We like the Sigma 50mm DG HSM Art, now available in a native E-mount version, for photographers who demand f/1.4, and the lightweight Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA for those who are happy with an f/1.8 prime.

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The 50mm F1.4 AF is a short, stout lens.

It measures 3.9 by 2.9 inches (HD), weighs about 1.3 pounds, and supports 67mm front filters.

It's a little smaller all around than the Sony 50mm F1.4 ZA (4.3 by 3.3 inches, 1.7 pounds, 77mm front filters), but both lenses are heavyweights compared with the Sonnar T* FE 55mm (2.8 by 2.5 inches, 11.2 ounces, 49mm front filters).

The barrel is metal, finished in black with a red accent ring.

There's no protection from dust or splashes, like you get with a name-brand Sony lens, but the omission is understandable given the 50mm F1.4 AF's price.

You do get a reversible lens hood, as well as front and rear caps.

The Rokinon stamp is on the side, but you may also find the same lens for sale under the Samyang banner.

Samyang is the parent company behind the Rokinon brand—rest assured, aside from the logo, the Rokinon and Samyang versions of the lens are identical.

There are no controls on the barrel aside from the manual focus ring.

It turns freely, without resistance, to adjust the focus manually using the internal focus motor.

This focus-by-wire system doesn't offer any sort of tactile feedback—there are no hard stops or set focus points on the barrel.

Sony cameras do show a distance scale in the viewfinder when focusing manually, but if you are looking for a pleasant manual focus experience with a bit of resistance in the focus ring to make fine adjustments, look elsewhere.

Autofocus speed is a little behind first-party lenses, but the lens doesn't lag that far behind at 0.2-second when tested with the a7R III.

All focus modes, including EyeAF, are available.

The minimum focus distance is 17.7 inches (0.45-meter).

It's not macro territory—the lens projects subjects onto the image sensor at 1:6.6 life-size when focused as close as possible.

Image stabilization isn't included, but that's not a big concern for most Sony owners.

Sensor-based stabilization is included with all of its full-frame offerings since the second-generation a7.

Only one APS-C model, the a6500, has received the feature to date.

If you are using the APS-C system and want a stabilized lens, consider the E 50mm F1.8 OSS instead.

I tested the 50mm F1.4 AF with the 42MP Sony a7R III and Imatest software.

At f/1.4 results leave a bit to be desired.

The lens manages 2,391 lines on our center-weighted sharpness test, which is a bit shy of the 2,750-line minimum we've settled on as a good benchmark for sharp results from the a7R III's sensor.

Resolution is consistent from edge to edge.

Stopping down to f/2 brings subjects into clearer view thanks to a 2,962-line score.

It moves from beyond the range of good and delivers very good resolution at f/2.8 (3,523 lines), before crossing into the excellent range at f/4 (4,132).

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We see the sharpest results at f/5.6 (4,508 lines), and while there's a drop at f/8 (4,387 lines), it's not a huge one.

The effects of diffraction, which scatters light as it enters through a closed-down iris, are more apparent at f/11 (4,066 lines) and f/16 (3,501 lines).

Barrel distortion is very well controlled—the lens shows less than 1 percent, which is negligible.

There is a bit of dimness at the corners.

At f/1.4 they lag behind the center by -2.8EV, and show a -1.8EV drop at f/2.

At smaller f-stops the vignette isn't apparent.

If you want to remove it from Raw images, it's a matter of adjusting a slider in Lightroom.

If you capture images in JPG format your Sony camera will apply some automatic correction.

We only see a slight -1.2EV drop at f/1.4 in JPGs, which is just barely noticeable, and at smaller f-stops illumination is even across the frame.

A Fair Price With Optics to Match

The Rokinon 50mm F1.4 AF Sony E comes in at an attractive price—especially since it often sells for less than its MSRP.

It feels solid, although it omits protection from dust and splashes, and is a little bit slower to focus when compared with most first-party lenses.

It certainly gives you the shallow depth of field look you'd expect from a bright 50mm, but it isn't sharp enough to deliver really crisp photos at f/1.4 when paired with the a7R III.

It's better at f/2, and delivers photos with crisp, minute details when stopped down just a little bit more.

If you crave the 50mm f/1.4 look, but don't want to break the bank, the 50mm F1.4 AF Sony E is an appealing option, especially at its asking price.

But if you're going to carry a big, heavy 50mm, you should be getting better results at its widest aperture.

The Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art is also big and heavy, and costs a few hundred dollars more, but delivers exceptional results at f/1.4.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, the Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA is "only" an f/1.8 lens, but it's still plenty bright and sharp, and a lot smaller and lighter.

Thanks to Lensrentals for providing the lens and camera body for this review.