Now that’s what I call a lateral thinker: Samyang’s new Remaster Slim for Sony is a tiny lens body that lets you swap out the optical elements to allow for different focal lengths, eliminating the need for entirely separate lenses.
As a housing, it contains all the necessary electronic components for communication between the camera and the lens, including autofocus. Even with the optical element installed, it is one of the smallest autofocus lens systems ever. It measures less than 2 cm and weighs just 80 g.
The Remaster Slim will launch with three different optical elements: a 32mm f/2.8 (pictured), a 28mm f/3.5 and a 21mm f/3.5. Each of these elements easily snaps into place magnetically and Samyang says they produce “warm and deep images that cannot be replicated by the digital world, giving photos a natural and soft tone.”
I’m not reading too much into the translation, although it sounds like the tiny Remaster Slim optic, which Samyang says has a “true analog sensibility,” isn’t quite as sharp as dedicated prime lenses such as Samyang’s own 35mm f/2.8 (pictured below next to the Remaster Slim), the company’s smallest autofocus lens to date.
Picture 1 from 2
What you do get, however, is a really tiny autofocus lens that’s ideal for a travel camera like the Sony A7C II. And instead of carrying multiple prime lenses for different scenarios, you can just leave the body on the camera and pack the tiny optical element units instead, which are also quicker to swap out than standard lenses.
The Remaster Slim is currently only available with Sony E-mount and must be ordered in South Korea (with the 32mm f/2.8 optic costing 308,000 won – that’s about $230/£200/AU$400). There’s no official announcement about availability for other markets, although Samyang is already asking for customer feedback on which other mounts it should make the innovative lens body for, including L-mount and Fujifilm X-mount.
Is this the lens innovation you really need?
In theory, the Remaster Slim is solid. Most photographers carry multiple lenses and thus have multiple physical components such as bodies, autofocus motors and lens mounts. So why not just put that hardware into a body that can accommodate multiple optical elements instead?
Using one lens housing for multiple optical elements with different looks also makes sense for creators who mount gear to a gimbal – it eliminates the need to recalibrate the gimbal each time for lenses of different weights. The quick and easy magnetic mounting of the optical units further increases the appeal of the Remaster Slim.
However, I’m not sure the Remaster Slim is really useful. It’s clearly designed for portability rather than absolute quality, and there are practical limitations. I doubt Samyang could develop any other optics beyond the three everyday lenses offered, all of which are pretty similar, that would fit in the Remaster Slim. Obviously, the Remaster Slim couldn’t accommodate a zoom lens, a prime lens with a wider aperture like af/1.4, or a telephoto lens.
In its current form, the Remaster Slim is likely limited to everyday prime lenses and a moderate maximum aperture – hardly the stuff to excite serious photographers.
The idea has potential though, and Samyang may release a larger Remaster Slim body in the future that can accommodate different lenses, including telephoto lenses. But until then, I’ll file this one away as a new feature that I don’t really need.
