Samyang has finally released the final lens in its V-AF autofocus cine lens series for Sony E. Although announced in September 2022, the 20mm T1.9 lens wasn’t expected to be released until Q4 of 2023. Now it’s Q2 2024, but it’s finally been officially launched.
This rounds out the Samyang V-AF lens lineup, but that’s not all they’ve announced. They’ve also released a 1.7x Anamorphic Adapter. This is an accessory that attaches to the end of Samyang’s V-AF lenses.
Samyang V-AF Cine Lenses
The original Samyang V-AF Cine Lens lineup was supposed to comprise five lenses. First, there was the V-A 75mm T1.9 (buy here), which was launched when the series was announced. This was expected to be followed by 20mm T1.9, 24mm T1.9 (buy here), 35mm T1.9 (buy here) and 45mm T1.9 (buy here) lenses in 2023.
By the end of 2023, Samyang had released three of those four remaining lenses. But they hit us with the surprise announcement of a V-AF 100mm T2.3 (buy here) in December. The 20mm T1.9 was still nowhere to be seen when the new year hit, but now it’s been released.
Now, the full-frame six-lens set is now complete, along with two accessories. The V-AF Manual Focus Adapter (buy here) was released around a year ago. The other new accessory is a 1.7x Anamorphic Manual Focus Adapter.
Samyang V-AF Anamorphic Manual Focus Adapter
Samyang’s V-AF lenses contain some interesting features. For example, these are autofocus lenses. In fact, they’re the first autofocus cine lenses ever to be released. But their front end allows you to add a manual focus adapter, turning them into regular manual focus cine lenses.
The regular manual focus adapter has been around for a year or so, but now the company has announced a new V-AF 1.7x Anamorphic manual-focus adapter. Samyang says it works with all of the V-AF lenses except the 20mm that was announced alongside it. I guess it just makes things too wide.
It contains 0.8 MOD gears for focus motors and follow-focus units. It provides that characteristic oval bokeh typically associated with anamorphic lenses. When it comes to flare, you’re going to get orange, not the usual blue.
Perhaps Samyang will release another version of this in the future if the demand is there for a blue flare version. But until then, it’s still a fascinating set of lenses. Hopefully, Samyang will expand them out of Sony E mount and into other systems at some point, too.
Price and Availability
I haven’t seen US pricing yet. However, in the EU, the Samyang V-AF 20mm T1.9 lens costs €649.99. The Samyang V-AF Anamorphic Manual Focus Adapter is a little more expensive at €999.99. Pre-order links don’t seem to be available anywhere yet, but I’m sure they’ll be coming to the usual places soon.
