Samyang AF 35-150 mm f/2-2.8 FE
3. Image resolution
Let's check how the Samyang AF 35-150 mm f/2-2.8 FE compares – first we are going to deal with its results in the frame centre at 35, 70, 105, and 150 mm focal lengths which are presented by a graph below.

The shortest focal length sticks out at once in a positive way. In its case you see results worth any good system prime. Already at the maximum relative aperture we observe a very good value, amounted to 66 lpmm, and on stopping down the aperture the lens remain in the proxiity of 80 lpmm. At this place the Samyang fares distinctly better than the rival Tamron.
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Results at longer focal lengths are noticeably weaker but still the results are good and very good. At the 70 mm focal length and the maximum relative aperture you land at a level of over 55 lpmm that increases to near 69 lpmm on stopping down the aperture to f/4.0. Here the results of the Samyang and the Tamron are very similar.
In case of the 105 mm focal length you can notice that the Tamron slightly prevails. Its advantage at the maximum relative aperture reaches over 1 lpmm and on stopping down it increases to near 4 lpmm. In both cases you still deal with good or a very good level.
The duel at the maximum focal length is also very close. The Samyang by f/2.8 shows a value of 50 lpmm exactly; on stopping down it can exceed 61 lpmm. In case of the Tamron the result by f/2.8 is slightly weaker but on stopping down it is able to reach 64 lpmm.
Now let's check the performance of the Samyang on the edge of the APS-C sensor and how it compares to the performance of the Tamron.

What's interesting, this time the 70 lpmm focal length is the best, and the Tamron fared the same. Overall the results of both lenses are similar – for the Samyang they range from 52 lpmm by the maximum relative aperture to over 65 lpmm by f/4.0 and f/5.6 and for the Tamron they range from 49 lpmm to over 68 lpmm. The Samyang is a bit sharper at the maximum relative aperture but the Tamron is sharper on stopping down.
Not especially lower results can be observed at the 35 mm focal length where the MTFs increase to almost 49 lpmm by f/4.0 and f/5.6. Here the Samyang fares better than the Tamron – even though the maximum results of both lenses are very similar, at the maximum relative aperture the Samyang prevails and the difference amounts to as much as 6 lpmm.
The 105 mm focal length occupies the third place when it comes to resolution. At the maximum relative aperture you see a value of 41.5 lpmm so slightly exceeding the decency level and maximum results once again are close to a good value of 60 lpmm. Here the Tamron fares better, especially near f/2.8 where the advantage reached even 8 lpmm.
The weakest results on the edge of the APS-C sensor you see at 150 mm – in order to reach the decency level you have to close the aperture down to near f/4.0. The Tamron doesn't experience such problems, defeating its rival with a very healthy difference as its results are even by 10 lpmm higher.
The next duel takes place on the edge of the full frame sensor and the results of the Samyang presents a graph below.

The hierarchy of focal lengths remains here the same – the highest values you observe at 70 mm and the weakest at 150 mm. In case of the 70 mm focal length the Samyang can be only praised because at the maximum relative aperture it goes to 47 lpmm and on stopping down the aperture it exceeds 61 lpmm, faring a tad better than the Tamron.
In case of the 35 mm focal lenth there are still no reasons to worry - by f/2.0 you land near the decency level and by f/4.0 and f/5.6 the result of over 52 lpmm is really good. It's worth adding that in this case the Samyang definitely fares better than the Tamron.
When it comes to the 105-150 mm range the Tamron is better, though. The performance of the Samyang is deficient near the maximum relative aperture, a situation tat at the 150 mm focal length seems to be the most acute. In order to get an image of decent quality you have to close the lens down significantly, more than to f/5.6.
Still it would be difficult to be surprised by such an approach. In case of such an original construction the producers have to make do with several compromises and here I have to admit, they've chosen them sensibly well. In case of the edge of the frame they focused on the best correction of the 35-70 mm range leaving the longer end of the focal spectrum a bit neglected. After all their edges more often than not land in natural defocused areas anyway because of the offered depth of field. Our overall assessment of the Samyang in the resolution category is perhaps not excellent but you can certainly give it a well-deserved B +.
At the end of this chapter, traditionally, we present crops taken from photos of our resolution testing chart; they were saved as JPEG files along RAW files, used for the analysis above.
A7R IIIa, JPEG, 35 mm, f/2.8 |
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A7R IIIa, JPEG, 150 mm, f/2.8 |
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