It looks like the selection of mirrorless lenses just got even bigger now that Samyang-Rokinon has announced two new primes for the Micro Four Thirds, Sony E-Mount, Fujifilm X and Canon EF-M mirrorless systems!
The Rokinon 21mm f/1.4 and Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 are both manual focus lenses and will available in black and silver. Since 21mm and 50mm are full-frame values, the equivalent focal length will depend on the system as you can see below:
Rokinon 21mm f/1.4
- 42mm on Micro Four Thirds
- 31.5mm on APS-C (E-mount, Fujifilm X and Canon EF-M)
The Rokinon 21mm is a standard wide-angle lens with an aperture range of f/1.4 to f/22 and a non-rotating 58mm filter mount. It will feature 3 aspherical elements and 1 ED element with ultra-multi coating, an internal focus system, and a rounded 9-blade diaphragm. Its fast f/1.4 aperture makes it a good choice for difficult lighting conditions.
Rokinon 50mm f/1.2
- 100mm on Micro Four Thirds
- 75mm on APS-C (E-mount, Fujifilm X and Canon EF-M)
The Rokinon 50mm will have an aperture range of f/1.2 to f/16 and a non-rotating 62mm filter mount. It will feature 2 aspherical elements with ultra multi-coating and a rounded 9-blade diaphragm. Having the equivalent of 75mm or 100mm with a fast f/1.2 aperture makes this lens a good option for portraiture with lots of shallow depth of field.
According to B&HPhoto, the lenses will begin shipping in October 2015. You can see the full specs by visiting their website.
Since these are manual focal lenses, I’ve never seen much point in these mount specific versions. I think it’s a far better idea to buy a Nikon or Canon FF version of one of the Samyang / Rokinon lenses and use them via adapters. That way you have lenses that you can use on a variety on cameras and with the amazing Metabones Speed Boosters to get wider and faster lenses. AF yes there is a point, but using lens mount specific manual focus lenses means you have to be sure you’re staying with the system. I’ve got Nikon fit MF lenses I’ve used on Nikon and Canon DSLR’s, m4/3, Sony FE, Fuji X and Leica T systems. Two of them are Samyang – the 14mm f/2.8 and 85mm f/1.4. With my Metabones 0.64x Speed Booster I get approximate 35mm equivalents of 19mm f/2 and 112mm f/1 lenses. The image quality is astounding.