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.
MS-Optics 73mm 1.5 Sonnetar via Hawks Factory Helicoid adapter on Sony A7rII
I always considered the Voigtlander VM 75mm 1.5 Nokton a very small and lightweight fast portrait lens, that is until I came across this MS-Optics 73mm 1.5 Sonnetar.
But what does this tiny lens have to offer? Are we better off carrying the heavier Voigtlander lens or is the Miyazaki lens actually holding some surprises for us? Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
Sony A7s with Leica 90mm 2.0 Summicron M (pre Asph) and VM-E close focus adapter (Helicoid)
The Leica Summicron-M 90mm 2.0 has been Leica’s top of the line M-mount portrait lens from 1980 to 1998. It is also one of the first lenses I reviewed for this blog, but I had to sell it to fund the Zeiss Loxia 85mm 2.4 back in the day. Yet, I somehow missed this Leica’s high contrast look and nice bokeh, so I decided to give it another chance. Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
I love travel photography, going to exotic places and exploring landscapes and cities different from those I can find back home. But when you travel somewhere far away what you mostly do is checking before what are “the best” spots, hoping for decent weather only to actually end up at a totally overcrowded landmark with lots of other photographers, fighting for a good spot and hoping to not have too many tourists in the picture.
In this article I will try to show some alternatives that might not be as exotic, but can nevertheless be just as enjoyable and in the process might also improve your photography skills more than just “collecting” the shots from other photographers.
Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP via metabones adapter on Sony A7rII
Back in 2018 Samyang – mostly known for cheap manual focus lenses like the 14mm 2.8 and the 85mm 1.4 at that time – wanted to show what they are capable of and released the first lens of their “Premium MF XP Series”, the Samyang 50mm f/1.2 XP. These faster XP lenses are only available for Canon EF mount and it seems they were devoid of any size constraints during development and even come with electronic contacts and electronic diaphragm controlled by the camera.
Despite all this it seems no one bought them though – was it due to bad marketing, lack in optical qualities or simply because of the massive size of these lenses? Let us find out in this review!
Sample Images
Sony A7rII | Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP | f/1.2Sony A7III | Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP | f/1.2Sony A7III | Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP | f/1.4
Zhong Yi 50mm 0.95 M via metabones adapter on Sony A7rII
After the TTArtisan 50mm 0.95 we got another unexpected 50mm 0.95 M-mount contender in 2020, this time from Zhong Yi, who already have some experience with making 50mm 0.95 lenses for other systems.
Let us try to found out who offers the better affordable f/0.95 for M-mount! This lens will be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon Z/F New articles every week
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