April 2013 - Right after receiving Leica's new M camera I had the chance to use it for an insight into the world of fire artistry and juggling presented by two exceptionally charming and creative girls. Enjoy Caro and Kathleen from "Duo Flammenspuk":

(Please select HD 1080p and fullscreen in the player's button bar for best viewing experience. If you can not see the embedded video, please go to http://youtu.be/npIJ1OEz2Ic or http://vimeo.com/hhackbarth/flammenspuk. More photos can be seen in a Flickr-Album).

The stills and motion pictures were captured with a Leica M (Typ 240) and the following lenses (mostly at open aperture): Leica Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH, SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95, Nikon AFS-Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 G ED. Please note that the flabby sequences you may determine during motion video were not caused by the camera. Due to some shaky handheld recording the motion pictures had to be deshaked in post production.

For more information about "Flammenspuk", please see http://www.flammenspuk.de

Vibrant impressions from Southeast-Asia 2013.
This slideshow including some video snippets shows you enchanting moments of a trip through Singapore, Thailand (Bangkok), Cambodia (Sihanoukville), Vietnam (Saigon/Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hoi An, Halong Bay) and Hong Kong. Enjoy!

Best viewed in fullscreen-mode. In the video snippets, please activate the little "HD" symbol on the bottom bar of the player. Alternatively you may open this show in a seperate window.

Camera: Sony NEX-7; lenses: Sony 10-18mm F4 OSS, Zeiss 24mm F1.8, SLR Magic CINE 35mm T0.95, Sony 50mm F1.8

Thanks for watching!

March 2013 - Back in February I had another opportunity in Hong Kong to compare quite a unique collection of superfast 35mm prime lenses that - attached to a NEX-7 - provide you an equivalent angle of view to a classical 50mm lens on full frame. Three of them start at an amazing aperture of about f/0.95 that compares in terms of depth of field (DOF) to 50mm f/1.4 on a fullframe sensor.

One of the candidates, the SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 35mm T0.95 was compared already in December 2012 to a Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 ASPH (version I) and an AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 G on full frame (the  Nikon D800E) (here, in memory), thus triggering a discussion about onion rings ...

The shootout candidates (ordered by transmission / aperture):

• SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 35mm T0.95
  The final production version used in this comparison will start shipping in about May 2013 for an introductory price of US$ 1249. It is a very solid (about 800g) construction with 12 lens elements, circular aperture blades and an extractable lens hood. The aperture ring operates clickless and is calibrated in T-stops (a transmission of T0.95 usually requires an aperture of about f/0.9 to f/0.92) and has the same cogging like the focus ring to support video applications (follow focus) as well. It is shipped with M-mount and an adapter to E-/X-/EF-M-Mount depending on your order. It covers APS-H sensor size but with its large rear element (diameter 36mm) it does not fit into the throat of current Leica-M cameras or Ricohs GXR module. For more details please see this article.
  
• Mitakon 35mm f/0.95
  This lens is a very solid construction as well with 10 lens elements and a 10 blades aperture. It has good haptics, weighs about 680g and comes with E-mount. Prices I have seen so far varied between 700 (eBay auction) and 1000 US$ (private auction). The lens is manufactured in China and until now I did not see a dealer that offers it with warranty.
  
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens + Metabones Speed Booster (converting to a 35mm f/1.0 lens)
  This combination of a 50mm f/1.4 full frame lens and a focal converter provides you a lens with 35mm focal length and an aperture of f/1.0 still covering the size of an APS-C sensor. To understand that functional principle please see Metabone's white paper. The adapter is designed to transmit /convert also the electrical signals to the lens in order to control aperture setting and autofocus (on selected lenses) by the camera. The Canon EF 50/1.4 lens is about 400 US$, the adapter costs about 600 US$ when ordered in Hong Kong.
  
• Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH
  This lens is designed with 9 elements, one with aspherical surface and 9 aperture blades. It is very compact and weighs only about 320g. Some people say it is still the "35mm/1.4 reference". Prices are about 5000 US$ (new and about 4500 US$ used).
• Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC
  This lens is designed for fullframe DSLRs and constructed with 12 lens elements (some aspherical) in 10 groups and an aperture with 8 blades. It weighs about 712g. It is availabe with different mounts and has an attractive price of about 500 US$.
• Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2.0 ASPH
  This even more compact desgined lens is propably the smallest 35mm f/2.0 fullframe lens avaiilable today. It is designed with 7 elements (one aspherical surface), has an 8-bladed diaphragm and weighs 254g. Price is about 3200 US$.
  

In this article we will cover

- overall comparison
- center-sharpness of the f/0.95 and f/1.4 candidates at open aperture and F1.4 as well as edge sharpness (of the 0.95 candidates)
- bokeh (rendering of the out-of-focus areas and the shape of the circles of confusion of highlights) at F0.95, F1.4 and F2.0
- conclusion
- further sample shots

Acting as a good subject for real world photos, we met Bertille Tabourot, who is a stylist and fashion designer from Paris, living currently in Hong Kong. She used this opportunity to present some of her fancy creations acting as a freelance model.

Overall Picture Comparison at F0.95 / T0.95

The following pictures were all shot from the same position (with about 3m distance to the model) on a cloudy afternoon at a time, where already the first lights on building arcades started providing a nice "available light" mood. The images were developed from RAW with identical settings for sharpness, contrast, clearness etc. You can click on the images in order to open higher resolutions (including the original 24 MP resolution) and from there you can also navigate to the EXIF-data but we will also discuss 100% crops with actual pixels in the next paragraph.

Let us start with the SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 35mm T0.95 at open aperture:

28 Feb. 2013 - Last week was one of the highlights of my trip through Southeast Asia as I had the chance and pleasure to compare the upcoming SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 25mm T0.95 to three other highly adorable, wide open 25mm F0.95 lenses. Let us see how they perform on the latest mFT camera, the Lumix GH3!

This little shootout was more a kind of spontaneous incident as we had some daylight remaining at the end of an "Adorable 35s" session planned for that day in Hong Kong with Andrew Chan and some friends. Andrew is the driving force of SLR Magic and very passionate about great lenses - not only those he builds by himself. But let me state that I am not affiliated with SLR Magic and payed for all lenses I got from them. We got some kind support from Bertille Tabourot, who is a stylist and fashion designer from France, living currently in Hong Kong. For this comparison shooting she took the chance to present one of her fancy creations acting as a freelance model.

But now let's talk about the principal performers of this shootout ordered by "age":

• P. Angenieux Paris 25mm Type M1 f/0.95
  This very compact and beautyful lens was developed in 1953 and at that time the fastest 25mm design. One of the early copies was used by NASA to take the first photographs of the moon from a lunar probe. It is said to have a very cinematic look, a nice bokeh when used wide open and sharp look when stopped down. It is quite hard to find and prices may be around 1500 US$ when in good condition.
  
• Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 25mm F/0.95
  Schneider Xenon designs have their origin already in 1925 when Tronnier derived it as an asymmetrical derivative of the classical double-Gauss design. The Xenon 25mm f/0.95 became available in the 1960s. The particular copy used in this test was manufactured in late 1978 or 1979 and was equipped with a built-in center spot ND filter that could be ordered for special applications. Current versions do not have that filter and look a bit different, see here. Used prices will vary between 800 and 1500 US$ depending on condition and type.
  
• Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95
  This lens was developed by Cosina Voigtlander and became available for the MicroFourThirds mount in 2010. It is known to be already pretty sharp wide open with increased sharpness when stopped down to F1.4 to F2.0. Price is about 1200 US$.
  
• SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 25mm T0.95
  Production version will become likely available in April 2013 and will start at a price of 799 US$. It has cinema lens gears and aperture keeps round even when stopped down. In this comparison we used a pre-production (step 2) sample. For a rating of sharpness and bokeh please see my conclusion at the end of this article.
  

Overall Picture Comparison (F0.95 / T0.95)

The following pictures were all shot from the same postion between 6:19 and 6:27 p.m. on a cloudy day already after sunset in order to get a nice light mood with some point shaped highlights in the background. To avoid motion blur, exposure times were kept at 1/125s which results in ISO settings already between 400 and 1000 (due to differences in transmission/vignetting and sligthly dimming light) and of course we used a tripod.

Let us start with the Angenieux 25/0.95 at open aperture:

Hamburg is not only known as a town with more bridges than Venice, it also celebrates a Venetian carnival since 12 years now. It's an enchanting event for every visitor and a "must see" for every photographer.

This time I decided to catch the magic moments with a SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 35mm T0.95 mounted to a Sony NEX7 to get that perfect melange of sharpness and bokeh in order to keep that mood of light and poetic noblesse. But pictures speak louder than words...

(Switching to fullscreen mode (rightmost button on the bottom icon bar) is highly recommended)

In order to be able to see the single images (also in full resolution), please follow the link to my Flickr-Album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hhackbarth/sets/72157632617122420/

A Venetian ballroom night was celebrated at the enchanting "Lola Rogge Schule" in even more fascinating historical costumes:

Finally there was also a chance to take some impressive 3D-shots:

You find an album with the 3D images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hhackbarth/sets/72157632646619067/

Please use red/cyan filterglasses to see the 3D effect. You can download the stereoscopic 3D images in MPO-format for your 3D device here:

MPO-File #1
MPO-File #2

All images copyright by 3D-Kraft.com.

Right on time for Xmas, the latest masterpiece from SLR Magic - the HyperPrime CINE 35mm T0.95 - arrived here in Germany. If you have seen my article about the first prototype that was presented in September on the "Photokina 2012" exhibition in Cologne, you can imagine my enthusiasm, when the box was delivered by the postman. Here we compare that exceptional piece of glass & metal to a 50mm F1.4 lens on a fullframe camera (Nikon D800E) and to a Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.2 ASPH (version I), that was - up to now - the fastest 35mm lens that you could get with Leica M mount.

First let us take a look at the lens and its box. After some discussion about the packaging of its "big brother", the HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 (see my review here), SLR Magic created a high quality box for that lens and wrapped it for shipment into another shock absorbing foam box, that makes already the unboxing a nice experience:

After NEX users had to go for such a long time without a good ultra wide angle, now Sony is on target with its new E 10-18mm F4 OSS (SEL1018). We were very curious to see how it performs especially on the NEX-7, which is very challenging as many short focal lengths adapted from Leica M mount produced strong color shifts.

The zoom lens starts at a viewing angle of 109° comparable to a 15mm UWA lens on a fullframe camera allowing dramatic perspectives for close ups as well as for architecture and landscape photography. The lens is constructed with 10 elements (some with ED glass) in 8 groups, has 7 circular aperture blades, provides a fast autofocus and optical stabilization supporting shooting at low light and video. It weighs only 225g and comes with a seperate lens shade.

Looking for an ultrawide angle lens covering fullformat image circle? We compared the new Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15 mm f/2.8 with the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical and the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24 MM F/2.8G ED. With an angle of view of 110° (114° at 14mm), a fast F2.8 aperture and a minimum distance of about 25-28 cm they allow dramatic perspectives for close ups and are suitable for architecture and landscape photography as well.

During this review we will compare resolution/contrast, chromatic aberration, distortion, vignetting and bokeh on typical real world examples as in my opinion this is more meaningful than just comparing technical data and charts. The shots were taken with the "pixel monster" Nikon D800E who's 36 MP sensor currently provides the highest resolution for full frame cameras and with the Sony NEX-7 using an adapter from Novoflex. If you ask yourself "why putting such a lens on the NEX-7 ?", her is my motivation: With it's APS-C sized sensor it provides the same crop factor than the D800 in DX mode or a Nikon D7000 but with 24 mega pixels and so it challenges the lenses regarding resolution even more than the D800E (that provides about 15 MP in DX mode). With it's currently unrivaled EVF and 11.7x magnification it is much easier to precisely adjust the focus to it's optimum compared to the D800E's liveview - especially at bright outdoor light conditions. Last but not least, the NEX system still lacks of sharp and fast super wideangle lenses and adapting ultra wide angles designed for Leica M-mount at the NEX-7 usually produces colorshift on the borders.

Size / weight / build / operation

A first review for the Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/15 you can find already here so let's just sum up the most important technical data before we go into the image comparison. The different sizes are visible above and the weight you will have to carry (with Nikon F-mount) is about proportional to their sizes: ~550g for the 14mm Samyang, ~730g for the 15mm Zeiss and approx. 1000g for the 14-24mm Nikon. All three candidates are equipped with a chip delivering focal length and aperture information to the camera and allowing aperture control also through the camera. Filters (92mm thread) can only be screwed to the Zeiss. All are of good build quality, the Zeiss provides the best haptic and focus operation and comes with a metal lens hood. The Samyang has the longest focus throw - for my taste too long. You may find the Samyang also in identical construction under different names like Walimex Pro, Rokinon, Vivitar, Bower etc. My sample of the Samyang had a problem with the focus adjustment that is quite often reported by other users as well for that lens: Infinite focus is reached when the focus ring showed about 0.8m on the distance scale. In that aspect my point goes clearly to the Zeiss Distagon.