Samyang Optics
Samyang Optics (LK SAMYANG CO., LTD.) is a South Korean optical lens manufacturer with over 50 years of expertise, designing and producing camera and cinema lenses for photographers, videographers, professional cinematographers, and industrial buyers across global markets.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1972
- HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Samyang Optics does
Samyang Optics, legally LK SAMYANG CO., LTD., is a South Korean optical lens manufacturer founded in 1972 with over 50 years of accumulated optical technology expertise. The company designs and manufactures camera lenses across multiple product categories — Auto Focus, Manual Focus, Premium Manual Focus, Cine Auto Focus (V-AF series for full-frame Sony E-mount), Cine Manual Focus, and the XEEN professional cinema sub-brand — supporting Sony FE, Fujifilm X, Canon EF, and Nikon F mounts. Its products incorporate proprietary optical technologies including Ultra Multi-Coating (UMC), High-Refractive (HR) and Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements, Linear Stepping Motors, the CCI Standard for consistent color across the lineup, and Preset Aperture Control for smooth video aperture transitions. The V-AF cine autofocus series adds video-creator-specific features such as a unified form factor for gimbal/drone use, Tally lamps, Dolly Shot Mode, Digital Par-Focal focus, and weather sealing.
The company operates from its headquarters in Gwacheon-si (Seoul metropolitan area) and a manufacturing facility in Changwon, South Korea, with a regional office in Tokyo, Japan. It sells globally through a network of authorized distributors covering approximately 60 countries across Europe, Asia, Oceania, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa, complemented by direct e-commerce (samyangus.com, Korean Naver store), marketplaces (Amazon, eBay), and professional camera retailers (B&H). Revenue is generated through one-time sales of lenses and accessories across customer segments ranging from amateur and professional photographers to videographers, solo content creators, professional cinematographers, and industrial buyers through a separate Industrial Solutions division serving machine vision and surveillance applications. Channel relationships include major regional partners such as Focus Nordic, Transcontinenta, Digitaccess, Fowa, Holdan, Kenko Tokina, Bronster, and EliteBrands. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, and is led by President/CEO Kim, Hyoung Youp.
Samyang Optics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Samyang Optics
- Legal name
- LK SAMYANG CO., LTD.
- Website
- https://samyanglens.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1972
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Samyang Optics (LK SAMYANG CO., LTD.) is a South Korean optical lens manufacturer with over 50 years of expertise, designing and producing camera and cinema lenses for photographers, videographers, professional cinematographers, and industrial buyers across global markets.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Samyang Optics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Camera Lenses / Optical Equipment
- SIC
- Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827), Photographic Equipment & Supplies (3861)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Lenses & Optical Accessories (Lenses, Filters, Adapters, Teleconverters) (CRACAPAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Camera & Lens Retail (Photo Cameras, Lenses & Optical Accessories) (CRACAHAA)
Keywords
Where Samyang Optics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seoul
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices3 records
Markets served
Samyang Optics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Camera Lens Sales: Primary revenue from manufacturing and selling camera lenses across multiple product lines: Auto Focus, Manual Focus, Premium Manual Focus, Cine Auto Focus, Cine Manual Focus, and XEEN professional cine lenses. Revenue is one-time per product sale with no recurring component.
- Accessory Sales: Sale of lens accessories including lens caps, hoods, filters, lens stations, and other complementary products. One-time transaction-based revenue.
- V-AF Accessory Ecosystem: Dedicated accessories for V-AF series including 1.7x Anamorphic MF Adapter and Manual Focus Adapter, expanding the product ecosystem and providing additional revenue streams from the cine lens lineup.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Product pricing varies by market and distributor |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels9 records
Samyang Optics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Samyang Optics (LK SAMYANG CO., LTD.) manufactures and globally distributes a complete lineup of interchangeable optical camera lenses. The portfolio spans photographic autofocus (AF) lenses, manual focus (MF) lenses, premium MF lenses, cine autofocus (V-AF) lenses, cine manual focus lenses, and the XEEN professional cinema series, along with accessories and industrial optical solutions. Founded in 1972, the company sells its lenses through authorized distributors, its own online stores, retail camera shops, and open marketplaces.
Product overview
Samyang Optics (LK SAMYANG) is a camera lens manufacturer with 50+ years of history offering a comprehensive portfolio of photographic and cinema lenses. The product lineup consists of: (1) Auto Focus and Manual Focus lenses across consumer and professional tiers; (2) V-AF Series - compact cine autofocus lenses with unified form factor for Sony E-mount video production; (3) Cine lenses (both AF and MF) for professional filmmaking; (4) XEEN professional cine sub-brand; (5) Industrial Solutions for non-photography applications; and (6) Accessories including the 1.7x Anamorphic MF Adapter and Manual Focus Adapter for V-AF Series. The company serves photographers, videographers, content creators, and cinematographers across global markets through authorized distributors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- XEEN: Professional cinema lens brand offering premium cine lenses for cinematographers and filmmakers.
Products and services
- Auto Focus Lenses (AF series) Photographic autofocus lenses for Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, Fujifilm X and other mirrorless mounts, targeted at still photographers and content creators seeking fast, accurate autofocus.
- Manual Focus Lenses (MF series) Manual focus photographic lenses offered in a wide range of focal lengths and mounts, designed for photographers who prefer manual operation and creative aperture/depth-of-field control.
- Premium Manual Focus Lenses (Premium MF series) Premium-tier manual focus lenses with enhanced optical performance and build, targeted at discerning photographers and videographers.
- V-AF Cine Autofocus Lenses Cine-styled autofocus lenses for Sony full-frame E-mount cameras, featuring unified size and weight across the lineup, tally lamp, preset aperture control, dolly shot mode, and digital parfocal performance for solo video creators and small production teams.
- Cine Manual Focus Lenses Manual focus cine lenses with geared focus and aperture rings, designed for filmmakers who require manual control over focus and exposure during video capture.
- XEEN Professional Cine Lenses Professional cinema prime lenses featuring CCI Standard color calibration, full-frame coverage, robust mechanical build, and standardized gears for feature film, TV, and commercial production use.
- AF 75mm F1.8 X Lens Compact portrait telephoto autofocus lens with F1.8 aperture, released for Fujifilm X-mount mirrorless cameras and targeted at portrait and everyday photographers.
- AF 35-150mm F2-2.8 FE Lens Flagship fast standard-to-telephoto zoom autofocus lens with a variable F2-2.8 aperture, weather sealing, and Linear STM autofocus, built for Sony full-frame E-mount mirrorless photographers seeking a versatile single-lens solution.
- Industrial Solutions Optical products and solutions supplied by a dedicated Samyang division for industrial and OEM customers needing optical assemblies beyond consumer photographic lenses.
- Lens Accessories Companion accessories such as hoods, caps, filters and related items sold alongside Samyang lenses to support the use and protection of the company's optical products.
Quantifiable outcome
- V-AF lenses weigh only 280g, making them among the lightest cine autofocus lenses available
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Samyang Optics
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Samyang Optics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature11 records
Samyang Optics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.
- Focus NordicmajorMajor authorized distributor for Northern and Eastern Europe covering Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Ukraine. Contact: +48-44-853-400
- TranscontinentamajorAuthorized distributor for Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Website: transcontinenta.de. Contact: +49-911-47-76-870
- DigitaccessmajorAuthorized distributor for France, Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. Contact: +33-1-61-37-32-23 (France)
- Fowa S.p.A.majorAuthorized distributor for Italy. Contact: +39-011-814-41
- HoldanmajorAuthorized distributor for UK and Ireland. Contact: +44-1457-851000
- Kenko Tokina Co., LtdmajorAuthorized distributor for Japan. Contact: +81-120-162-414
- Bronster Co., Ltd.majorAuthorized distributor for China (South), Hong Kong, and Macao. Contact: +852-2368-4328
- EliteBrands IncmajorAuthorized distributor for USA, Canada, and Mexico. Contact: +1-212-947-7100. Website: samyangus.com
- Photosale LtdminorAuthorized distributor for Russia. Contact: +7-495-234-9915
- Perrot Image SAminorAuthorized distributor for Switzerland. Contact: +41-32-332-7979
- Nikita DistributorsminorAuthorized distributor for India (West & South). Contact: +91-20-66050614
- Innovative Tech Distribution Pvt. Ltd.minorAuthorized distributor for India (North). Contact: +91-11-4308-2205
- Hanuman SpAminorAuthorized distributor for Chile. Contact: +569-3387-1497
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Samyang Optics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Sigma Corporation: Sigma is a Japanese third-party interchangeable lens manufacturer competing head-to-head with Samyang in AF, manual focus, cine and contemporary product lines for the same Sony E, Canon EF, Nikon F, Fuji X and L-mount systems. Sigma is the closest large-scale analog of Samyang's third-party lens business model.
- Tamron: Tamron is a Japanese third-party lens maker offering AF zoom and prime lenses across the same camera mounts Samyang serves (Sony E, Canon EF, Nikon F, Fuji X). Tamron directly competes with Samyang in the autofocus still-photography tier and shares a similar value-positioning strategy versus OEM lenses.
- Tokina (Kenko Tokina): Tokina, a sister brand of Kenko, manufactures third-party photographic lenses for Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts, overlapping directly with Samyang's autofocus and manual focus product lines. As a Japanese third-party lens maker serving similar hobbyist and professional segments, it is a direct peer in product, customer and business model.
- Venus Optics (Laowa): Venus Optics / Laowa is a Chinese specialty third-party lens maker known for unique focal lengths (ultra-wide, macro) competing with Samyang's manual focus and creative optics lineup. Both companies pursue value-oriented specialty lenses for mirrorless systems.
Emerging players
- Viltrox: Viltrox is a rapidly growing Chinese third-party lens and adapter maker releasing autofocus lenses for Sony E, Fuji X, Nikon Z and Canon RF mounts. It overlaps with Samyang's autofocus product lines and represents an emerging value-tier challenger in the same third-party lens category.
- TTArtisan: TTArtisan is a Chinese budget third-party lens maker producing manual focus lenses for Leica M, Sony E, Fuji X, Canon RF and Nikon Z mounts. It overlaps with Samyang's manual focus and creative prime lens offerings at the entry price tier.
Broad incumbents
- Sony (Alpha / Cinema Line): Sony is the dominant camera and lens OEM for the E-mount ecosystem that Samyang's AF, V-AF and most product lines depend on. Sony's first-party G Master and G Lens lines, plus FE cine glass, compete directly with Samyang across tiers and set the technology bar for the mount.
- Canon: Canon is a major camera and lens OEM whose EF, RF and cinema (CN-E) lens lineups compete with Samyang's AF, cine and XEEN offerings. Canon controls one of the mount ecosystems Samyang targets and competes with Samyang across stills and video segments.
- Nikon: Nikon is a camera and lens OEM whose F-mount and Z-mount lens lineups (including NIKKOR Z cinema glass) compete with Samyang's AF and cine lenses. Nikon controls a mount ecosystem Samyang serves, and competes across the stills and pro cine tiers.
- Fujifilm: Fujifilm is a camera OEM whose X-mount and GF medium format lens systems compete with Samyang's AF lineup (including the Fuji-X-dedicated AF 75mm F1.8 X). Fujifilm controls the mount ecosystem Samyang targets in the APS-C and medium format segments.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Samyang Optics social profiles
Digital presenceSamyang Optics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Samyang Optics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Samyang Optics subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Samyang Optics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Samyang Optics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Samyang Optics
What does Samyang Optics do?
Samyang Optics (LK SAMYANG CO., LTD.) manufactures and globally distributes a complete lineup of interchangeable optical camera lenses. The portfolio spans photographic autofocus (AF) lenses, manual focus (MF) lenses, premium MF lenses, cine autofocus (V-AF) lenses, cine manual focus lenses, and the XEEN professional cinema series, along with accessories and industrial optical solutions. Founded in 1972, the company sells its lenses through authorized distributors, its own online stores, retail camera shops, and open marketplaces.
Is Samyang Optics a public or private company?
Samyang Optics is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Samyang Optics founded?
Samyang Optics was founded in 1972.
Where is Samyang Optics based?
Samyang Optics is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, in the Asia region.
How does Samyang Optics make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Camera Lens Sales are the primary driver. The others are accessory Sales and V-AF Accessory Ecosystem.
Who are Samyang Optics's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Sigma Corporation, Tamron, Tokina (Kenko Tokina) and Venus Optics (Laowa). Emerging players are Viltrox and TTArtisan. Broad incumbents are Sony (Alpha / Cinema Line), Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm.
Does Samyang Optics have an API?
No public API is recorded for Samyang Optics.
What industry is Samyang Optics in?
Samyang Optics's product category is Camera Lenses / Optical Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRACAPAF, Lenses & Optical Accessories (Lenses, Filters, Adapters, Teleconverters), with a secondary code of CRACAHAA, Camera & Lens Retail (Photo Cameras, Lenses & Optical Accessories). Its SIC code is 3827.