Zhong Yi Optics has released information about an 85mm f/1.2 lens it intends to make available in May. The Mitakon Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2, which the company is calling ‘The Dream’, is aimed at still photographers as well as videographers, and has a covering circle suitable for full frame sensors. Click through for more information
Tag: f/1.2
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The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM lens — One of the Fastest Canon Primes You Can Buy
It doesn’t get any more bokeh than f/1.2.
The first thing you notice when you hold the EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens for the first time is how significant the weight of this lens is over the less expensive EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens or EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens(both also excellent 50mms lenses). You can feel the quality as you weigh it in your hand. A big, solid, piece of glass allows this super fast f/1.2L lens to get the shallowest depth of field possible.
If you are going to be shooting in the darkest of environments, this is the lens for you. I use this lens a lot at night time parties or indoor events, where getting closer than you need with the EF 135mm lens is not a problem. I use this lens to take amazing photographs of paintings in museums and other places where you want a near perfect technical image at closer range. It’s a wonderful portrait lens of course.
I like to take this lens with me if I’m going out to dinner at a restaurant or out for cocktails as it does a remarkable job at capturing food/cocktails in low light. As an aside, the cocktail in this post that I photographed with it is called the verbena and is a secret drink off the menu at the Cosmopolitan Chandelier bar in Las Vegas. The cocktail contains an edible flower called a Szechuan button that you chew before drinking the cocktail. It actually alters your tastebuds and feels like an explosion of pop rocks in your mouth as your entire mouth goes numb. As you sip your cocktail after chewing the flower you taste it in a whole different way. I’d definitely recommend checking it out at the Cosmopolitan on your next trip to Vegas.
Back to photography, the only drawback of this lens is the price. You do pay up a bit for quality here. It’s not that this lens is not worth the money (a little over $ 1,500), it is, it’s just that the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens is such a fantastic value when you compare the two (at around $ 400). While I like this lens much more than my EF 50mm f/1.4, if you are on more of a budget, you may find that the EF 50mm f/1.4 lens is the better 50mm lens for you to buy. On the other hand, if you really must own the best at 50mm lens, this is it.
It should be noted that at f/1.2 this is currently the fastest (lowest aperture) lens in production by Canon but that it shares this distinction with the EF 85mm f/1.2 USM lens, another excellent Canon portrait lens that I do not own yet, but that is on my list to consider soon.
There is another f/1.0 lens that Canon made, but that lens is no longer in production that I’ve never tried.
As a reminder, my analysis of my Canon gear is being done in partnership with Canon and I am receiving compensation for this work with them. More on Canon prime lenses here.
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Budget Mitakon 42.5mm f/1.2 offered by ZY optics for M43, Sony E and Fuji X systems
Chinese lens designer and manufacturer Shenyang ZhongYi Optical and Electrical Company has launched a new 42.5mm f/1.2 lens that is capable of covering an APS-C imaging sensor. Priced $ 359, and available initially in the Micro Four Thirds mount, the Mitakon 42.5mm f/1.2 appears to be aimed squarely at competing with Panasonic’s Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 for its Lumix G bodies. Read more
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Fujifilm introduces XF 56mm F1.2 R APD with apodization filter
Gearing up for Photokina, Fujifilm has announced the XF 56mm F1.2 R APD – APD standing for apodization. The lens is a variant of the existing XF56mm F1.2 R, utilizing the same underlying design of 11 elements in 8 groups but it adds an apodization filter. Essentially a radial gradient filter, it aims to produce better-looking highlights and more pleasant bokeh. Read more
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Fujifilm XF 56mm F1.2 R real-world samples gallery
We’ve been shooting with the Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R – the fast 85mm equivalent prime lens for Fujifilm’s X mount mirrorless cameras. Its F1.2 aperture means it gives similarly shallow depth-of-field to an 85mm F1.8 lens on a full frame body, making it an ideal portrait or low light lens. We also spent time using the X-E2 with an advance version of firmware v2.0 while putting this gallery together. See gallery and read about our experience with the update
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Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 samples gallery
CES 2014: We got our hands on the recently announced Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH OIS at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. It’s an ultra-fast portrait prime for Micro Four Thirds that offers an 85mm equivalent field of view. We shot some quick samples mounted on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3, including an aperture progression series. See gallery
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UPDATED: Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 samples gallery
CES 2014: We got our hands on the recently announced Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH OIS at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. It’s an ultra-fast portrait prime for Micro Four Thirds that offers an 85mm equivalent field of view. We shot some quick samples mounted on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3, including an aperture progression series. We’ve just added 16 more images to our previously-published gallery, taken with the new lens attached to an Olympus OM-D E-M5. See gallery
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Panasonic formally launches Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH
CES 2014: Panasonic has formally announced the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH fast portrait prime for Micro Four Thirds. The lens, first revealed in prototype form back at the Photokina trade show in September 2012, offers an 85mm equivalent field of view and the brightest aperture of any autofocus lens on the system. As with the announcement in August 2013, no details of price or availability have been given.
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Fujifilm unveils XF 56mm F1.2 R portrait lens for X system
CES 2014: Fujifilm has announced the XF 56mm F1.2 R, a fast short telephoto ‘portrait’ lens for its X system mirrorless cameras. With an angle of view equivalent to an 85mm lens on full frame, it uses an internal focus design for fast, silent autofocus. It has an aperture ring, but unlike the company’s wide angle primes, no distance or depth of field scales. It’ll be available in February, with a suggested retail price of $ 999.99 / £999.99.
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Panasonic announces Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 (again)
Alongside the enthusiast-oriented DMC-GX7, Panasonic has announced the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 – the fastest autofocus lens ever created for the Micro Four Thirds system. If you’re getting a sense of deja vu that’s because Panasonic actually announced this lens already (sort of) at last year’s Photokina tradeshow in Cologne, Germany. But what was then a dummy lens behind glass now appears to be a real product, albeit one without any firm availability date or pricing information.