{"id":4998,"date":"2016-09-22T12:40:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T11:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=4998"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:39:34","slug":"review-zhong-yi-mitakon-50mm-0-95-dark-knight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-zhong-yi-mitakon-50mm-0-95-dark-knight\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Dark Knight"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Introduction<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5101\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5101\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5101 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_title.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_title.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_title-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_title-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s with Mitakon 50mm 0.95 &#8220;Dark Knight&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Speedmaster &#8220;Dark Knight&#8221; is a very fast 50mm lens with the staggering maximum aperture of 0.95. Compared to the Leica Noctilux this lens is very cheap, on absolute terms it isn&#8217;t, so find out whether this lens is worth the asking price!<\/p>\n<h1>Sample Images<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5132\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5132\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5132 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_095_cosplay2.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_095_cosplay2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_095_cosplay2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_095_cosplay2-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5132\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bastian_k\/29228345494\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">higher resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5094\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5094\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5094 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_astroworkshop1.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_astroworkshop1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_astroworkshop1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_astroworkshop1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5094\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bastian_k\/29248481386\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">higher resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5097\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5097\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5097 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_horse.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_horse.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_horse-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_horse-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7 |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/140854680@N04\/29229233244\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h1>0.95<\/h1>\n<p>The<strong> very fast maximum aperture<\/strong> is what sets this lens apart from most of the other 50mm lenses. I don&#8217;t want to anticipate the conclusion right at the beginning, but in case you don&#8217;t want to use this lens at f\/0.95 there are definetly smarter options available.<strong> I will<\/strong> therefore heavily <strong>concentrate on how this lens performs wide open<\/strong>, especially as a portrait lens.<\/p>\n<h1>Specifications \/ Version History<\/h1>\n<p>There have actually been two versions of this lens, the older one has a 58mm filter thread and was only produced for a very short time, it also lacked the &#8220;Dark Knight&#8221; nickname. The newer one incorporates a 67mm filter thread and is said to have been improved optically.<\/p>\n<p>I am reviewing the newer 67mm &#8220;Dark Knight&#8221; version here which has the following specifications:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Diameter: 72.0 mm<\/li>\n<li>Field of view: 45\u00b0 (diagonally)<\/li>\n<li>Length:&nbsp; 87.0 mm<\/li>\n<li>Weight: 780g<\/li>\n<li>Filter Diameter: 67 mm<\/li>\n<li>Number of Aperture Blades: 9 (rounded)<\/li>\n<li>Elements\/Groups: 10\/7<\/li>\n<li>Close Focusing Distance: 0.5 m<\/li>\n<li>Mount: Sony E<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You may also have a look at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zyoptics.net\/product\/mitakon-speedmaster-50mm-f0-95\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>You can get this lens on <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2tc4Z5m\">amazon.com<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2lcDS6x\">amazon.de<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/bhpho.to\/2JIyuXA\">B&amp;H<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.com\/sch\/i.html?LH_CAds=&amp;_ex_kw=&amp;_fpos=&amp;_fspt=1&amp;_mPrRngCbx=1&amp;_nkw=mitakon+50mm+0.95&amp;_sacat=625&amp;_sadis=&amp;_sop=12&amp;_udhi=&amp;_udlo=&amp;_fosrp=1&amp;mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&amp;siteid=0&amp;mkcid=1&amp;campid=5337820268&amp;toolid=10001&amp;customid=&amp;mkevt=1\">ebay.com<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.de\/sch\/i.html?_ex_kw=&amp;_mPrRngCbx=1&amp;_nkw=mitakon+50mm+0.95&amp;_sacat=625&amp;_sop=12&amp;_udhi=&amp;_udlo=&amp;_fosrp=1&amp;mkrid=707-53477-19255-0&amp;siteid=77&amp;mkcid=1&amp;campid=5337820268&amp;toolid=10001&amp;customid=&amp;mkevt=1\">ebay.de<\/a> (advertisement\/affiliate links) for <strong>$799\/850\u20ac (new)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Handling \/ Build Quality<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5104\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5104 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_handling.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_handling.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_handling-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_handling-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Speedmaster &#8220;Dark Knight&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The lens is full of glass and the <strong>outer barrel is an all metal construction<\/strong>, therefore the lens feels <strong>very solid<\/strong> but also has quite some heft to it. The focus ring has a nice resistance and it takes about 160\u00b0 from Infinity to 0.5 m. The <strong>aperture ring<\/strong> is quite narrow and is (unfortunately) <strong>clickless<\/strong>. I managed a few times to accidentally change the aperture because of that. There is also a very plasticky cheap hood included but all in all the&nbsp;<strong> build quality is quite nice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1>Vignetting<\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5119 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vignetting_mitakon_50mm.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vignetting_mitakon_50mm.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vignetting_mitakon_50mm-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vignetting_mitakon_50mm-768x625.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><br \/>\nThere is <strong>noticeable vignetting wide open<\/strong> (~3.0 EV) which drastically improves on stopping down to f\/1.4 (~2.3 EV), already at <strong>f\/2.0<\/strong> it is <strong>quite unobstrusive<\/strong> (~1.4 EV) and from f\/2.8&nbsp; onwards rarely noticeable (~1.0 EV). Taking the parameters of the lens into account this is <strong>not a bad performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31157\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31157\" style=\"width: 1026px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31157\" src=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ZY50_0.95_II.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1026\" height=\"766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ZY50_0.95_II.png 1026w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ZY50_0.95_II-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ZY50_0.95_II-800x597.png 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ZY50_0.95_II-768x573.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1026px) 100vw, 1026px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31157\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zhong Yi 50mm 0.95 II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>It is recommended to have a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/vignetting-graphs-explained\/\">this article<\/a> first to get an idea how this brightness graph works.<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Sharpness<\/h1>\n<p><em>infinity<\/em><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5126 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_Mitakon50.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"2462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_Mitakon50.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_Mitakon50-97x300.jpg 97w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_Mitakon50-768x2364.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_Mitakon50-416x1280.jpg 416w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Wide open<\/strong> sharpness in the center is <strong>pretty decent with some loCA<\/strong> (which are already gone by f\/1.4) and<strong> a tad lower contrast. Midframe and corners aren&#8217;t so hot <\/strong>and need stopping down to f\/5.6 to f\/8.0 for very good performance.<\/p>\n<p><em>close focus<\/em><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5181 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_close_mitakon50.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"2234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_close_mitakon50.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_close_mitakon50-107x300.jpg 107w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_close_mitakon50-768x2145.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sharpness_close_mitakon50-458x1280.jpg 458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><br \/>\nThis lens clearly wasn&#8217;t designed for great performance at the minimum focus distance wide open as it is <strong>very soft at f\/0.95 and<\/strong> still soft at <strong>f\/1.4<\/strong>. Fortunately on stopping down to <strong>f\/2.8<\/strong> the lens <strong>sharpens up considerably<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h1>Flare resistance<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5177\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5177\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5177 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50_095_lensflare.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50_095_lensflare.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50_095_lensflare-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50_095_lensflare-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5177\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is definetly<strong> a weak spot of this lens<\/strong>. With the sun inside or near the frame (no matter whether you are using the hood or not) you will catch artifacts, ghosts and also dampened contrast to such a degree that it can certainly ruin your shots.<br \/>\n<strong>My purely personal opinion<\/strong> here is: <strong>from time to time I actually like to use such effects for portrait shots<\/strong>, like in the following example:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5096\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5096\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5096 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_flare_portrait.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_flare_portrait.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_flare_portrait-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_flare_portrait-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/140854680@N04\/29742919242\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h1>Coma<\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5122 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Coma_Mitakon50.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"2212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Coma_Mitakon50.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Coma_Mitakon50-108x300.jpg 108w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Coma_Mitakon50-768x2124.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Coma_Mitakon50-463x1280.jpg 463w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>Wide open the<strong> coma correction is not great,<\/strong> but it is also not worse at f\/0.95 than the Nikon Series-E 50mm 1.8 @ f\/1.8.<strong> Stopping down to f\/2.8 improves the situation a lot <\/strong>but I would recommend stopping down to<strong> f\/5.6 for nightly cityscapes<\/strong>.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1>Distortion<\/h1>\n<p><div class=\"twentytwenty\" class=\"twentytwenty-container\" style=\"display: none; max-width: 100%; width: 800px; height: 534px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50mm_095_distortion.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50mm_095_distortion_corrected.jpg\"\/><\/div><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #666666;\">Distortion without (before) and with correction (after)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>There is some (uniform) <strong>barrel distortion<\/strong> which can easily be corrected by the use of the lens specific profile in Lightroom.<\/p>\n<h1>Bokeh<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5100\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5100\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5100 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_indoor.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_indoor.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_indoor-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_indoor-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5100\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bastian_k\/22236882073\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">higher resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-image-5095 size-full\"><strong>Bokeh is the reason you are buying this lens, simple as that.<\/strong> Many older fast lenses have a quite busy bokeh wide open with visible outlining. The <a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/meyer-trioplan-100mm-28-review-sony-a7\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trioplan<\/a> is the worst in this regard, but you can also see this effect with the <a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-jupiter-3-50mm-1-5\/\">Jupiter-3 50mm 1.5<\/a> or the Nikon Ai-s 50mm 1.2 to only name a few. Bokeh is also a <strong>very subjective aspect<\/strong> which is why you sometimes can find vastly <strong>different opinions<\/strong> on this for the same exact lens. I absolutely don&#8217;t like these outlinings and <strong>prefer evenly lit light circles<\/strong>, so keep that in mind if your opinion is different as we might draw completely different conclusions. To my surprise I found the <strong>Bokeh<\/strong> of the 50mm 0.95 Mitakon to be <strong>damn good wide open<\/strong>. <strong>Very smooth<\/strong>, rarely visible outlining, even at distances of ~1-3 m and with difficult backgrounds, where many other lenses struggle. <strong>The backgrounds just melt away<\/strong> and the <strong>transition zone has a soft glow to it<\/strong> (see photo above) I haven&#8217;t yet seen in any other lens.&nbsp; Due to 9 rounded aperture blades light circles stay pretty much round even on stopping down. There is a <strong>quite pronounced cat&#8217;s eye effect<\/strong> though, which is to be expected from a lens with these parameters. Otherwise I have nothing to complain.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5127\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5127\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5127 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_bokeh_full.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_bokeh_full.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_bokeh_full-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_bokeh_full-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5127\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><div class=\"twentytwenty\" class=\"twentytwenty-container\" style=\"display: none; max-width: 100%; width: 800px; height: 533px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50mm_095_crop50.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon50mm_2.8_crop.jpg\"\/><\/div><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #666666;\">Bokeh, 50% crop of upper right corner, f0.95 (before) \/ f2.8 (after)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Sunstars<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5124\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5124\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5124 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sunstars_mitankon50_095.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sunstars_mitankon50_095.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sunstars_mitankon50_095-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sunstars_mitankon50_095-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5124\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7 |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/8.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite the 9 rounded aperture blades sunstars can look <strong>quite good stopped down.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1>Chromatic aberrations<\/h1>\n<p><em>longitudinal<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5180 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/loCA_mitakon50_095.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"1670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/loCA_mitakon50_095.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/loCA_mitakon50_095-144x300.jpg 144w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/loCA_mitakon50_095-768x1603.jpg 768w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/loCA_mitakon50_095-613x1280.jpg 613w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is a<strong> very fast lens<\/strong> and therefore <strong>purple fringing wide open was to be expected<\/strong>. Stop down to<strong> f\/2.8<\/strong> and <strong>most of it goes away<\/strong>. For me this is still an acceptable performance, there are many other lenses which are not as fast with worse results.<\/p>\n<p><em>lateral<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Near the corners you can spot <strong>some slight<\/strong> <strong>lateral&nbsp;CAs <\/strong>which can be easily corrected in post, as can be seen in the example below (100% crop of extreme corner).<br \/>\n<div class=\"twentytwenty\" class=\"twentytwenty-container\" style=\"display: none; max-width: 100%; width: 800px; height: 534px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50_ca.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50_ca_corrected.jpg\"\/><\/div><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #666666;\">Sony A7rII | Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/11 | CA 100% crop before\/after corner<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Alternatives<\/h1>\n<p>When it comes to 50mm lenses there are so many to choose from, so the following list is far from being comprehensive in any way.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-voigtlander-nokton-50mm-1-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Voigl\u00e4nder Nokton 50mm 1.5 Asph VM<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><br \/>\nThis is also a <strong>very modern design<\/strong> with an aspherical element as well as <strong>high contrast<\/strong> throughout the whole aperture range. As many rangefinder lenses this one also struggles with the thick filter stack (see <a href=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/rangefinder-wide-angle-lenses-on-a7-cameras-problems-and-solutions\/\">this article<\/a>) but all in all this is a <strong>nice combination of fastness, compactness, pleasant bokeh, sunstars, sharpness and price.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-jupiter-3-50mm-1-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Jupiter-3 50mm 1.5<\/strong><strong>;<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><br \/>\nThe Jupiter-3 is the <strong>&#8220;lowcost&#8221; option<\/strong> when it comes to fast yet very small 50mm lenses. The optical Sonnar design dates back more than 70 years now and in many categories the lens is<strong> not exactly up to today&#8217;s standards<\/strong>. But in case you are looking for a <strong>vintage lens<\/strong> with <strong>vintage rendering<\/strong> this may be worth a look, especially considering the low used prices.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Leica 50mm lenses:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><br \/>\nIf you want a fast small 50mm lens you can also take a look at one of the many versions of the <strong>Summilux 50mm 1.4,<\/strong> I haven&#8217;t used any and they are all <strong>very expensive<\/strong>. If you can get by with a maximum aperture of f\/2.0 you may also take a look at one of the different<strong> Summicron-M 50mm 2.0<\/strong> lenses but most of them will also be more expensive and I am certainly no expert on these lenses either.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>Other ultra fast 50mm lenses I didn&#8217;t yet get the chance to test:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.1<\/strong>: I prefer to have the even faster Mitakon and the small and lightweight Nokton 50mm 1.5 to choose from, but this might be a nice one-lens compromise.<br \/>\n<strong>MS-Optical Sonnetar 50mm 1.1<\/strong>: Very rare and expensive but also very small, rendering more &#8220;classic&#8221; (means: I don&#8217;t like the bokeh).<br \/>\n<strong>SLR Magic Hyperprime 50mm T0.95<\/strong>: From what I have seen so far not really a better lens than the Mitakon but way more expensive.<br \/>\n<strong>Leica Noctilux 50mm 0.95<\/strong>: bloody expensive.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>DSLR 50mm lenses:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><br \/>\nOne can find <strong>very cheap<\/strong> lenses here with <strong>good optical qualities<\/strong>, but most of them won&#8217;t be smaller and not as fast and the really good ones ain&#8217;t as cheap anymore as well. You can of course take a look at <a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?s=50+review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">some of the other 50mm reviews on this blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Conclusion<\/h1>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>good<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\">f\/0.95<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\">bokeh<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\">good center sharpness already wide open (not at minimum focus distance)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\">correction of lateral CA<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\">sunstars<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td><strong>average<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>size<\/li>\n<li>price<\/li>\n<li>correction of longitudinal CA<\/li>\n<li>distortion<\/li>\n<li>vignetting<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">build quality and handling<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td><strong>not good<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">flare resistance<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">coma correction<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">weight<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">sharpness at minimum focus distance (below f\/2.8)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>To me this lens was<\/strong> somehow <strong>a system seller<\/strong>, as it was one of the two lenses that made me really interested in the A7 cameras. <strong>I had used the Nikon Ai-s 50mm 1.2 before<\/strong> on my D800 <strong>but this lens was a total let down<\/strong> for me. Not only was achieving critical focus with such a fast lens on a DSLR a pain (even with a better focusing screen installed), but the optical performance was not something for me to write home about either. Therefore <strong>my hopes for a new 50mm 0.95<\/strong> from a manufacturer you never heard about before for a decent price <strong>weren&#8217;t all that high<\/strong>. But<strong> to my suprise this lens ticked the right boxes for me: bokeh is mostly wonderful<\/strong> and <strong>sharpness is<\/strong> &#8211; to say the least &#8211;<strong> absolutely sufficient<\/strong> for portraiture. This is <strong>not<\/strong> so say this is <strong>a lens without flaws:<\/strong> it is more on the <strong>heavy<\/strong> side and the <strong>flare resistance is very bad.<\/strong> Due to the <strong>mediocre coma correction<\/strong> this also isn&#8217;t a lens you would want to use wide open for some astrophotography. Nevertheless<strong> it earned itself a place in my bag when I am out shooting portraits<\/strong> (alongside the <a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-canon-ef-135mm-2-0l\/\">Canon 135mm 2.0L<\/a>), especially under available light.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So, who is this lens for?<\/strong> Anyone, who looks for a <strong>super fast yet affordable 50mm lens<\/strong>, and can overcome the <strong>lens flare issues<\/strong> and the rather <strong>high weight<\/strong>.<br \/>\nThis is not a lens scoring high at DXOMark, this is a lens that will give you wonderful results in the real world.<\/p>\n<p><em>You can get this lens on <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2tc4Z5m\">amazon.com<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2lcDS6x\">amazon.de<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/bhpho.to\/2JIyuXA\">B&amp;H<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.com\/sch\/i.html?LH_CAds=&amp;_ex_kw=&amp;_fpos=&amp;_fspt=1&amp;_mPrRngCbx=1&amp;_nkw=mitakon+50mm+0.95&amp;_sacat=625&amp;_sadis=&amp;_sop=12&amp;_udhi=&amp;_udlo=&amp;_fosrp=1&amp;mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&amp;siteid=0&amp;mkcid=1&amp;campid=5337820268&amp;toolid=10001&amp;customid=&amp;mkevt=1\">ebay.com<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.de\/sch\/i.html?_ex_kw=&amp;_mPrRngCbx=1&amp;_nkw=mitakon+50mm+0.95&amp;_sacat=625&amp;_sop=12&amp;_udhi=&amp;_udlo=&amp;_fosrp=1&amp;mkrid=707-53477-19255-0&amp;siteid=77&amp;mkcid=1&amp;campid=5337820268&amp;toolid=10001&amp;customid=&amp;mkevt=1\">ebay.de<\/a> (advertisement\/affiliate links) for <strong>$799\/850\u20ac (new)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Sample Images<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5099\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5099\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5099 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_forest.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_forest.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_forest-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_forest-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5099\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5098\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5098 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_detail.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_detail.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_detail-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_potrait_detail-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bastian_k\/17524460005\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">higher resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5103\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5103\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5103 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_blacklight.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_blacklight.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_blacklight-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_blacklight-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5103\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/140854680@N04\/29229215524\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5095\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5095\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5095 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bokeh_city.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bokeh_city.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bokeh_city-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bokeh_city-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7s |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5105\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5105\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5105 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bench.jpg\" alt=\"mitakon 50mm 0.95 zhong yi optical dark knight speedmaster a7 series a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 a7s sony e-mount fe\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bench.jpg 800w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bench-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mitakon_50mm_0.95_darkknight_bench-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sony A7 |Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 | f\/0.95 | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/140854680@N04\/29856600185\/sizes\/l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full resolution<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You can find some additional photos I took with this lens here on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/groups\/2674636@N21\/pool\/bastian_k\">flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Further Reading<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/lenses\/\">Our reviews of mostly manual lenses on the Sony a7 series<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/comparison-minolta-mc-1-258-vs-canon-fd-1-255\/\">Comparison: Minolta MC 1.2\/58 vs Canon FD 1.2\/55<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/tripods-mirrorless-cameras\/\">Tripods for mirrorless cameras<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Support Us<\/h1>\n<p>Did you find this article useful or just liked reading it? Treat us to a coffee!<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=3K9EJRRQVXT4J\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-40345 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/donate2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"103\" height=\"29\"><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/en_SE\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"> <span style=\"color: #999999;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/en_SE\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"><em>via Paypal<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This site contains advertisement\/affiliate links. If you make a purchase using any of the links marked as advertisement\/affiliate links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support the creation of future content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction The Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Speedmaster &#8220;Dark Knight&#8221; is a very fast 50mm lens with the staggering maximum aperture of 0.95. Compared to the Leica Noctilux this lens is very cheap, on absolute terms it isn&#8217;t, so find out whether this lens is worth the asking price! Sample Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4708,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,18,21,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lenses","category-review","category-sony-e-mount","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Review: Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Dark Knight - phillipreeve.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Dark Knight is one of the fastest lenses available, read of to find out more about bokeh, sharpness...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-zhong-yi-mitakon-50mm-0-95-dark-knight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Zhong Yi Mitakon 50mm 0.95 Dark Knight - 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