REVIEW: Artralab Nocty-NONIKKOR 50mm f/1.2 – An Homage to Classic Nikkor 50mm f/1.2

July 9, 2025 Martin 16 Comments

Introduction

The Artralab Nocty-Nonikkor 50mm f/1.2 is a manual lens that clearly evokes the nostalgic look of classic Nikkor lenses from the 1960s to the 1980s. Combined with the fact that it’s designed and built using modern technology—without being a direct replica—it makes for a lens that feels both exciting and appealing. Its fast aperture in a relatively compact package is also an intriguing combination. Let’s see how it performs!

camera-icon2 I tested this lens on a 46 Mp Nikon Z7ii (Sample images were taken with a Nikon Zf )
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.

Sample Images

Nikon Zf | Artralab Nocty-Nonikkor 50mm f/1.2 | f1.2

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Leica M, Review

Review: SLRmagic 50mm 0.95 Hyperprime LM

July 5, 2025 BastianK 11 Comments

Introduction

review slrmagic hyperprime lm T0.95 leica m 50mm 0.95 lens contrast resolution m10 42mp 24mp 61mp m6 analogue contrast bokeh vignettingreview canon leica m 50mm 0.95 tv dream lens lens contrast resolution m10 42mp 24mp 61mp m6 analogue contrast bokeh vignetting — SLRmagic 50mm 0.95 Hyperprime on Leica M10

In 2025 you can find various f/0.95 fullframe lenses from different manufacturers and with different focal lengths – most (or all by now?) of which you can find reviews here. In 2013 that wasn’t the case though, you only had the Canon 50mm 0.95 Dream Lens from the 1960s, the Leica 50mm 0.95 Noctilux-M from 2008 for 10k and then this SLRmagic 50mm 0.95 Hyperprime. Not many people were willing to spend 5k on this lens from a rather unknown manufacturer and production ceased soon, so this is an extremely rare lens. I finally managed to acquire one, so let’s have a look at one of my white whales.
Tests are being done on the Leica M10, samples have been taken with various cameras.

Sample Images

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Uncategorized

Full Resolution Pictures getting fixed

July 4, 2025 BastianK 5 Comments

The latest update to Flickr’s Terms and Conditions means that it wasn’t possible for you anymore to have a look at or download the sample pictures of my reviews in full resolution.

I spent the last days to migrate all the pictures to one account (not an enjoyable process) and upgraded that to a paid Pro account so that you should have access to the full resolution pictures again.

I now need to update the links to those pictures in more than 200 articles which will surely take some time. In the meantime you can already look up the desired lens directly here.

Analogue

Analogue Adventures Part 42: A wedding with Eastman Double-X 200

July 2, 2025 BastianK 5 Comments

Some of you may remember the last time I shot Kodak Double-X, which was completely mouldy and gave very interesting results. I had another roll and kept thinking what I could possibly do with it. When a friend got married I decided that it was the right opportunity to get this film out and create some special pictures with it.
Processing and scanning was done at urbanfilmlab in Germany, the pictures in this article are from one roll of film which was exposed as ISO 125.

kodak eastman double x dx 200 expired black white bw sw schwarz weiss weiß nikon f80 sigma — Nikon F80 | Eastman Double-X | Nikon AF-S 58mm 1.4G | f/1.4

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Review

Vivo X200 Ultra – The Death of the compact Camera

June 29, 2025 BastianK 42 Comments

Introduction

vivo x200 ultra review bokeh sharpness contrast vignetting comparison 50mp 200mp — Vivo X200 Ultra with Photography Kit Case

I am not someone who buys a new smartphone every year – quite the opposite actually – but when I need a new one I always look for the one with the most capable cameras. I did that in 2019 and ended up with the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and when I needed a new phone in 2025, after a lot of research, I decided to go with the Vivo X200 Ultra. On paper this looks like the death of the 1″ sensor compact camera segment, so let’s have a closer look at this intriguing device.