All posts by BastianK

My name is Bastian and I am your expert here when it comes to ultra wide angle lenses, super fast portrait lenses (ranging from a 50mm f/0.95 to a 200mm f/1.8) and I also have reviewed way too many 35mm lenses. Don't ask me anything about macro or wildlife shooting though.

Canon, Leica M, Review

Review: Canon 50mm 0.95 – The original f/0.95 Dream Lens

March 3, 2025 BastianK 22 Comments

Introduction

review canon leica m 50mm 0.95 tv dream lens lens contrast resolution m10 42mp 24mp 61mp m6 analogue contrast bokeh vignetting — Canon 50mm 0.95 on Leica M10

While only lately f/0.95 fullframe lenses have become somewhat wider available and affordable, the first one that was commercially produced was the Canon 50mm 0.95 for the Canon 7 rangefinder cameras and that was in 1961. To put things into perspective, that was 47 years before Leica’s first f/0.95 lens, the Leica 50mm 0.95 Noctilux-M Asph, and 58 years before Nikon’s first, the Nikon Z 58mm 0.95 S Noct-Nikkor. Canon themselves called this the “Dream Lens”, so after already having reviewed most of these f/0.95 fullframe lenses, let’s get back to their roots and have a look at the original!
Big thanks to Camera Obscura Elburg for sending me the lens for this review!

Sample Images

review canon leica m 50mm 0.95 tv dream lens 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 — Nikon Zf | TTArtisan 6-bit Adapter | Canon 50mm 0.95 | f/0.95

Continue reading Review: Canon 50mm 0.95 – The original f/0.95 Dream Lens →

Leica M, Review, solinon

Review: Solinon 18mm 5.6 Asph

February 22, 2025 BastianK 25 Comments

Introduction

18mm 5.6 solinon calvin hong kong asph review architecture 42mp 61mp sony a7riv a7rv sharpness contrast vignetting cookie pancake compact m10 leica m11 m10r rangefinder — Solinon 18mm 5.6 Asph on Leica M10

It doesn’t happen often that one of our readers reaches out and tells us he had his own lens made, but that is exactly what happened here. Not finding what he was looking for among the lenses already available, our reader Calvin from Hong Kong decided to had a lens made to his desires and have it manufactured in China. Of course I was interested to review it, so let’s have a look at this intriguing lens together!
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10

Sample Images

Continue reading Review: Solinon 18mm 5.6 Asph →

Review, Sony, Sony Alpha, Sony E-mount

Review: Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM MK II – A worthy Update?

February 16, 2025 BastianK 28 Comments

Introduction

sony fe 85mm 1.4 gm mk ii 2 mark bokeh master sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma astrophotography z6 z7 z8 z9 — Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II on Sony A7rIi

The Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM is my favorite portrait lens out of the almost 300 lenses I have used so far. Being one of the first GM lenses, it features a comparably slow autofocus and some of the recent competitors offer higher contrast and resolution at f/1.4, so Sony decided to update this lens. Does it still have the bokeh qualities of the first generation 85mm 1.4 while making it smaller and sharper? Let’s find out in this review.

Sample Images

Continue reading Review: Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM MK II – A worthy Update? →

Meta, Nikon

Call out to readers: Looking for a Nikon Z 35mm 1.2 S

February 14, 2025 BastianK 16 Comments

Dear readers,

I plan on doing a comparison of super fast 35mm fullframe lenses (very similar to my comparisons of Super Fast 50mm M-mount lenses and Fast 28mm lenses) and I already gathered the Sigma 35mm 1.2 DG DN Art, Samyang 35mm 1.2 XP, Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 Nokton III, Laowa 35mm 0.95 Argus and a new unreleased 35mm 1.2 AF lens.

I would love to include the recently announced Nikon Z 35mm 1.2 S in this comparison, that should hit the market on February 26th. Sadly at the moment I don’t have 3.250€ lying around to just buy one (remember: reviewing lenses doesn’t make you rich).

I reached out to Nikon Marketing Germany, but I haven’t heard back from them yet and as I haven’t worked with them before and just a year ago we started doing Nikon reviews on a bigger scale I doubt I will.

So if someone among you (preferably from Germany) has a Nikon Z 35mm 1.2 S on preorder it would be great if you would consider sending it to me first for a week, as then I could include it in that comparison, which would be a great service to the community.

I know chances are slim, but I also know we have a great community, so I am taking my chances here.

Just leave a comment to get in contact!

Thanks in advance
Bastian

Analogue, Nikon, Projects

Analogue Adventures – Part 39: Fujichrome Velvia 100

February 12, 2025 BastianK 13 Comments

fuji fujifilm fujichrome slide film velvia 100 france review nikon f analogue film hamburg germany f80 — Fujichrome Velvia 100

Under the label Fujichrome, Fujifilm is still selling several types of slide film and one of those is Velvia 100. Let’s have a look at some pictures taken with this film under varying conditions.
Processing (E-6) and scanning (Noritsu) was done at urbanfilmlab in Germany.