The Samyang XEEN CF 85mm T1.5 for Canon EF is a manual-focus cinema prime built from carbon fibre, weighing 1245g with an 11-blade aperture, 200° focus rotation, interchangeable focus scales, and a built-in lens hood — designed for full-frame video shooters who want cinematic control without renting professional glass.
Key Specifications
- Focal length: 85mm prime (short telephoto)
- Maximum aperture: T1.5 — exceptionally wide for cinematic subject separation
- Aperture blades: 11 — produces smooth, rounded bokeh
- Focus rotation: 200° for precise, pull-friendly focus control
- Minimum focus distance: 1.12m — keep that in mind for tight setups
- Focus scale: Interchangeable (swap between metric and imperial)
- Built-in lens hood: Yes — no extra accessory needed on set
- Mount: Canon EF (DSLR) — fits EF-mount cameras and adaptable to many cinema bodies
- Weight: 1245g | Image stabilisation: None | Autofocus: None (manual focus only)
Who is the Samyang XEEN CF 85mm T1.5 for?
This lens was made for video shooters and filmmakers who work with DSLR or mirrorless rigs via adapter, and want cinema-grade ergonomics without the cinema-grade price tag. The 85mm focal length is a classic portrait and interview framing length — tight enough to isolate your subject cleanly, wide enough at T1.5 to pull in serious low-light performance. The 200° focus rotation gives a focus puller real room to work with, and the interchangeable focus scales mean you can swap metric for imperial depending on your crew. The built-in lens hood saves time on busy sets. That said, this is a strictly manual-focus lens with no image stabilisation, so it suits shooters on tripods, gimbals, or sliders more than handheld run-and-gun work. If you're building a matched Samyang XEEN CF set — say, paired with the Samyang XEEN CF 35mm T1.5 — the consistent gear ring placement and colour-matched rendering across focal lengths is a real practical advantage. Portrait photographers who shoot video alongside stills will also find the T1.5 aperture and 11-blade bokeh genuinely useful for that cinematic look in a talking-head or short film context.
Buying a used Samyang XEEN CF 85mm T1.5
Picking up this lens second-hand makes a lot of sense — it's a manual, all-mechanical cinema lens with no autofocus motor or image stabilisation electronics to wear out. What to check: the focus ring should move smoothly across its full 200° throw with no stiffness or grinding, the aperture blades should be clean and oil-free, and the carbon fibre barrel should show no cracks or stress marks around the mount. Every pre-owned lens on Camera-tweedehands.nl is individually inspected and comes with a minimum 12 months warranty, so you're covered if anything isn't right. One known quirk flagged in reviews: some XEEN sets show slight colour inconsistency between focal lengths — if you're matching multiple lenses, check them together before finalising your kit.
