ZhongYi Mitakon Speedmaster 17mm f/0.95 lens

[ibd]

Just announced... USD 400.
https://zyoptics.net/product/mitakon-speedmaster-17mm-f-0-95/

Richard Wong already has a great review out:

Yes, it's soft wide open, and yes, it fringes a lot. But the overall rendering looks beautiful. I like their 25mm lens. But this one seems quite a bit larger.

Are you going to get it?

 

[saladin]

Tempting. I'd like to see some more samples of how it renders oof fall-off. If it's anything like the Voigt or 17 pro at much reduced price, I may well get one. I like the focal length and I think it'll look fine on an Em5.

Edit: 400 US dollars isnt super cheap.

 

[ibd]

Richard Wong posted the full size samples on his blog: http://www.photobyrichard.com/reviewbyrichard/zhongyi-mitakon-17mm-f-0-95-lens-review/

As always, if you're willing to import directly from China, you can save around 10%. But it's not worth it IMHO.
https://item.m.jd.com/product/72327036316.html

 

[ibd]

David Thorpe has made a review:

 

[RAH]

It's tempting, but I cannot quite understand the appeal of a hyper-fast lens like this that is not sharp wide-open. Not just not sharp, but it appears to be pretty poor. From the reviews I have seen, it has to be stopped down to about 1.8 before it gets sharp. If you're going to do that, why not just get the Oly 17mm 1.8? I suppose a reason might be the price, and I realize that sharpness isn't everything (you might want a blurry background more), but still, I think it wouldn't be something I'd get much use from.

 

[iruediger]

I've been using the lens for about one month and I am quite happy with it. The image quality at f/0.95 is good (IMO), that's the aperture I've been using most of the time.

Focusing the lens wide open is not that hard, even with the smaller (by today's cameras standard) E-M5 II viewfinder. I found that for subjects from 1m away to infinity, focus peaking seems to be reliable.

My only complaints about this lens are its size and weight. It is somewhat big and heavy compared to other micro 4/3 lenses.

I bought my copy from Aliexpress and it did not came with a hood. All reviews I've seen on YouTube show a really nice hood. I got in touch with Zy Optics about this, their response was: "You have to contact the seller for this. They are not our authorized resellers.". So beware of this if you are buying from Alixpress.

 

[ibd]

Post some samples!

 

[RAH]

I've been using the lens for about one month and I am quite happy with it. The image quality at f/0.95 is good (IMO), that's the aperture I've been using most of the time.

It's quite interesting that you are finding the IQ at 0.95 to be good, and in fact good enough that it is the aperture you've been using most of the time. Hmmm. I wonder if it is sample variation and you got a good one. Being good wide-open would make this lens much more desirable, I think.

 

[iruediger]

I just took some boring test shots. I can provide the RAW files, if anyone interested.

All images where shot @ f/0.95.

The first 4 images are straight out camera, no correction at all.

I cropped the borders and increased the contrast of the 5th image.

EDIT: The forum seems to compress the images. How can I post the 100% quality versions?

 

[iruediger]

One thing i did not mention in my first post was lens distortion. It can get quite pronounced on some shots, but it can be corrected on the raw converter.

 

[RAH]

EDIT: The forum seems to compress the images. How can I post the 100% quality versions?

I don't think it is possible. All you could do is post them on a separate internet place and link to it. On this forum you can, of course, crop out 100% samples that show part of the image at full size. Not much good for showing background blur vs center sharpness together, of course.

 

[iruediger]

I don't think it is possible. All you could do is post them on a separate internet place and link to it. On this forum you can, of course, crop out 100% samples that show part of the image at full size. Not much good for showing background blur vs center sharpness together, of course.

I've made the raw files and full resolution JPGs available, in case anyone cares