The new Samyang teaser hinted us that there will be a product announcement on April 28. As expected the Photography world get excited that they will announce a new line of autofocus (AF) lenses.
Dicahub posted an interview with Samyang representative about their plans. In summary they are not working on AF lenses.
Instead of new AF lenses there will be new Samyang cine lenses announced on April 28th, one of them being a 7.5mm fish-eye lens. You can see the part of the translated content below.
Samyang Will Announce new Cine 7.5mm Fisheye Lens on April 28,
Q(=DicaHub): are you working on AF lenses?
A(=Samyang Optics rep.): we aren’t working on AF lenses.
Q: Is it difficult to work on AF lenses of open mounts like Micro Four-thirds or E mounts?
A: Open mounts like E mount also open only basic informations, so we need more discussion to develop AF lenses. In this case such issues weren’t solved also.
Q: Is same with Micro Four-Thirds?
A: Micro Four-Thirds also open only basic informations like aperture, so we need more discussion.
Q: Don’t you have any plan to support electric contacts like A(perture)?
A: We already have AD version for Nikon. We hope to support rest, but now we will prepare the lens supporing A contact for Canon because the share of Canon is still largest.
Q: What lenses will you announce on April 28th?
A: We are preparing cine lenses and other stuff also. (note: I don’t remember whether he said other stuff or stuffs.)
Q: I think the teaser image shows similar thing with 7.5mm F3.5 Fish-eye lens. If you can confirm, will you announce the cine version of 7.5mm F3.5 Fish-eye also?
A: This is… (he didn’t give any clear answer.)
In summary:
– It is true Samyang Optics had discussed with Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Micro Four-Thirds.
– They aren’t working on AF lenses because there are some issues like licensing, even about open mounts.
– They want to support A contact.
Following lenses are expected to be announced at April 28th:
– Cine lenses(not lens!) → 2 or more. The cine version of 7.5mm F3.5 Fish-eye MFT lenses could be announced.
– Other stuff or stuffs → 1 or more. The lens supporting A contact for Canon could be announced.
