With this 50mm 2.0 Speed Panchro II lens, Light Lens Lab tried to bring the look of the original Cooke SP II to the 35mm format and doing so at an affordable pricepoint – at least compared to what the original lenses are going for on the used market these days.
Before this lens, I never paid any attention to these old cine lenses, that makes it even more interesting to have a closer look at one. This lens will be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.
Sample Images
Leica M10 | Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II | f/2.0Leica M10 | Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II | f/2.8Sony A7rII UT | LM-EA9 | Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II | f/2.8Leica M10 | Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II | f/2.0Leica M10 | Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II | f/2.0Sony A7rII UT | Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II | f/2.8
Viltrox AF 24/1.8 Z, is the only AF prime 24mm lens for Nikon Z cameras besides the Nikon Nikkor Z 24/1.8 S (Also available with Sony FE mount). The full name is “Viltrox AF 24mm 1:1.8 STM ASPH ED IF for Nikon Z“. 24mm on a full frame camera is quite wide at the verge of ultra-wide angle, which can create dramatic images but at the same time it is not so wide that it makes composing images difficult. It is great for landscape photography, but due to its f/1.8 wide aperture, it can also be easily used indoors or in other low-light situations. It costs less than half as much as the Nikon 24mm lens, which makes it a very attractive alternative, but is it good enough? Let’s find out!
Sample Images
Nikon Z6 | Viltrox 24/1.8 STM ASPH ED IF | f/1.8Nikon Z6 | Viltrox 24/1.8 STM ASPH ED IF | f/5Nikon Z6 | Viltrox 24/1.8 STM ASPH ED IF | f/5.6Nikon Z6 | Viltrox 24/1.8 STM ASPH ED IF | f/1.8
Canon EF 50mm 1.2L USM via metabones adapter on Sony A7rII
During the DSLR era the Nikon users always envied the Canon users for their fast f/1.2 primes – even though most would have never willingly admitted to that. But those f/1.2 primes came at a price not only quantified in hard earned dollars: autofocus inaccuracies and focus shift could really spoil the party.
Now the modern mirrorless cameras solved these issues, and when the first AF adapters for E-mount came out some people even said these lenses work better on Sony mirrorless cameras than they ever did on Canon (D)SLR cameras.
So let’s find out together in this review, if there is still a reason to get and use this lens in 2023.
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM | f/1.2Sony A7III | Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM | f/1.2Sony A7III | Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM | f/1.2Sony A7III | Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM | f/1.2Sony A7III | Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM | f/1.2
Meyer-Optik Görlitz produced a series of triplet lenses “Trioplan“, based on the Cook Triplet design from 1893, in different focal lengths after WWII. One of those lenses was the 100mm f/2.8 Trioplan, produced from 1956 to sometime at the end of 70s or beginning of 80s, when Meyer-Optik Görlitz was merged with Pentacon in the then East Germany because they had better 100mm lenses. It had OK center sharpness and could produce a so-called soap bubble bokeh in certain situations. This was considered an optical defect then, which in fact is what it is. With the advent of digital cameras, it became very popular though, and the prices went up in the used market, so popular that the company decided, for the first time in history, to revive the lens by a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. It was a successful campaign; the produced lenses were sold out quickly for about €1000 each. Now TTArtisan has come up with a lens very similar to it, both in look and optical design. Let’s have a closer look at it!
Sigma 105mm 1:2.8 DG OS Macro HSM, a full frame lens with image stabilization, was released in 2011 and is a little bit old by now but is still in production and can be bought brand new and it has a good reputation. Worth to note that Nikon’s equivalent for F-mount (Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 105/2.8G) is five years older than this Sigma. Being macro lenses, they can give you good magnification (1:1 in this case) and at the same time they can also be used as portrait lenses. But of course, they also are good for compressed landscape images and candid photography. Because of its age it can be bought relatively cheap used, which makes it good value for money, if it appears to be good of course. Let’s see how good it is.
The sample images are taken with Nikon Z6 (FF, 24Mp) and Nikon D7200 (APS-C, 24Mp).
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon Z New article every Tuesday
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