The NEW Samyang V-AF 100mm T2.3 FE: First Impressions

By Alyssa Zalabai | Portrait Photographer, Light Petal Photography

Samyang have now released an additional focal length to their V-AF line-up, the V-AF 100mm T2.3. This lens is identical to its siblings with its distinct light brown coloured front and slick design, I honestly haven't seen any other sophisticated lens design like this before. My first impressions of this lens is its obvious small size and weight which is what Samyang is aiming for. The smaller size and lighter weight make it extremely easy to use with a gimbal, and alongside the other V-AF lenses as there is no need to rebalance your gimbal when changing lenses. One note to mention is that I found the 100mm is slightly front heavy, which is understandable in my opinion, it is 100mm after all! Plus, its size is already pushing the limits for this focal length, but the difference is not that much, so even our old gimbal can hold the 100mm after balancing for the other V-AF lenses.

Using the V-AF 100mm for video can be quite challenging due to its focal length, a tiny movement can be very visible when filming a video. However, it creates such a nice subject separation and background blur. When we were testing this lens on our night out at the Christmas Market, we found it easy to film the surrounding areas and the public as we didn’t need to be too close to them and we could observe from a good distance. Due to its amazing bokeh, it creates a beautiful ambience and clean, crisp video quality, especially when using it for slow motion videos, we just love it! You can watch the footage we took on our official review of this lens on our YouTube Channel: Hold my lens cap!

The V-AF lenses are advertised towards videographers due to their video features such as; allowing you to add the manual focus adapter, which will allow its users better control and precise focusing rather than using the focus ring on the lens. This line also has a unified colour rendition which means it makes it easy for videographers to colour grade their work without having to correct the white balance for each lens, and as I have mentioned, they have same weight and size, slightly different with 100mm, but this makes balancing on gimbal an easy task.

But do not mistake this lens for being only useful for videos, as I have used this for portrait photography, and guess what, it's amazing! First of all, this lens is so sharp, I was astounded when I looked through my viewfinder after I took a shot! You can clearly see pores on the subject's skin and natural creases. It renders a beautiful bokeh which is so nice for shooting portraits as it makes your subject pop out even more.

To think of it, this is in the middle of my two favourite focal lengths, which are the Samyang AF 85mm F1.4 and Samyang AF 135mm F1.8, all these three lenses produce similar creamy bokeh which I am all for when it comes to creating story-telling portraits. A lens that has a good background separation is something I am always looking for because my locations are mostly outdoors in the woods which sometimes can have very busy backgrounds, so this helps me balance out my pictures and allow my subject to be the main focus of the photo and soften the background elements and light which will give compliment to the whole vibe of the image.

In conclusion, the Samyang V-AF line is a unique series, and you can't just have one, you must get them all! As far as I know, there is no 100mm on the market currently with this size, weight and price point. I find most of the 100mm focal lengths out there to be chunky, heavy glass and quite expensive, so you're getting great value for money! I highly recommend the lens for both videographers and photographers.