Leica 50mm 0.95 Noctilux | Zhong Yi 50mm 0.95 M | Voigtländer VM 50mm 1.0 Nokton | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | Mr. Ding 50mm 1.1 | Voigtländer VM 50mm 1.2 Nokton
The M-mount seems to be more popular than ever, thanks to plenty of manufacturers – old and new – from Europe, Japan and China designing and releasing countless of new lenses every year for this bayonet.
Super fast 50mm lenses are especially popular here, so many manufacturers designed one as their “flagship” lens.
Thanks to a reader and very cooperative companies I managed to get 6 of these lenses on my table at the same time, so let’s see what each of them is good at – to help you figure out which one might work best for your needs. Last Update March 2025: Transmission section updated
AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on Nikon Z7II Mirroless Camera
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G, a popular full-frame standard lens, and an equally popular portrait lens on an APS-C camera, is the last 50mm lens designed and made by Nikon with the Nikon F mount in 2011. Thus, Nikon had put all its knowledge, technology, and experience from decades of producing 50mm lenses in F mount into making this lens. The optical design was new by then and it was the first Nikon 50mm lens with an aspherical lens element, not even the much more expensive Nikkor 50/1.4G had such an element (58mm lenses not counted). Nikon did not make much fuss about this lens as they did not want to undermine the market for the much more expensive 50/1.4G. The price was set to just over $200 new and I see that you can buy a used one for under $100 today. It should be a bargain for such a fast lens, if it is good. Let’s see about it!
The lens was tested on 46 Mp FF Nikon Z7II, 24 Mp FF Nikon Z6, and 24 Mp APS-C Nikon D7200 cameras.
For one decade (2008-2018) the Leica 50mm 0.95 Noctilux-M Asph was Leica’s most expensive M-mount lens and it is still the fastest lens in their line up to this day.
Now in 2023 there are many f/0.95 lenses from China available for your mirrorless camera of choice, but in 2008 – when most people were using (D)SLRs – this was a unique offering and something you could only find in the M-system.
But is this lens (still) worth the asking price? Let’s try to find out. This lens will be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.
With lenses like the Sony FE 24mm 1.4 GM, Sigma 35mm 1.2 Art DG DN, Laowa 35mm 0.95 Argus and the Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM in the E-mount lens lineup and the ongoing Instragram hype it might be a good time to talk a bit about environmental portraits.
What is an environmental portrait and what is the difference compared to a normal portrait? Which lenses work best? Which mistakes I made in the past but you can already avoid today?
These are the questions I will try to answer in this article.
While the Laowa 9mm 5.6 FF-RL is one of my favorite lenses, I am very well aware that a 9mm fullframe lens is not for everyone and most certainly a niché lens, which is why I was very much surprised to see 7Artisans offering their own 9mm 5.6 lens. Who makes the better 9mm 5.6? Let us try to find out in this review!
The optical and most of the mechanical construction of this 7Artisans 9mm 5.6 lens is identical to the Brightin Star 9mm 5.6, which features an additional rear filter thread, so be sure to check out its review as well.
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon F/Z New article every week
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