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SLR Magic 35mm t1.4
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:42 am    Post subject: SLR Magic 35mm t1.4 Reply with quote

Quite a while ago I made a blog post accusing SLR Magic of re-badging CCTV lenses for a quick profit and I eventually ended up in touch with Andrew from SLR Magic and he explained that while the toy lenses and the 35mm f/1.7 were indeed based on CCTV lenses there were differences in terms of coatings and quality control etc which was fair enough. But he also explained to me that he intended to make high quality lenses from scratch and that he was re investing profits in order to do this. The first was the 12mm F/1.6 and after that came the highly impressive hyperprime 50mm f/0.95 (not to be confused with the Noktor 50mm) and at Photokina this year they displayed prototypes 25mm T0.95, 35mm T0.95, 35mm T1.4, and 23mm F1.7 lenses.

I have just taken delivery of a pre production version of the 35mm t1.4 in Sony E mount and am going to be doing a rolling review on my blog.

The lens has been optimised for video used with geared focus and aperture rings but it's perfectly usable for still work too.

My initial impressions are positive. Wide open there is purple fringing and a slight contrast hit but overall it's pretty good, sharper than I expected and very much usable, it also flares in a similar way to the 12mm lens, it's pretty wild and can be used to great effect if you're careful. By T2 the flare goes and by T/2.8 the sharpness is very impressive.

It seems to be very well made too, it's quite heavy and all metal and best of all there's 12 aperture blades!

I haven't used it much yet but so far it seems to be a good lens, it's definitely a step up from the CCTV based lenses.

Here's a few shots I've taken so far, all wide open and using the black and white mode of the NEX-5n:









PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

impressive Dave, how much it cost?


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks good in B&W. I would like to see some color shots as well.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those b&w shots really look good!

Last edited by LucisPictor on Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:59 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

IAZA wrote:
impressive Dave, how much it cost?


Apparently it will be $349 with a $50 rebate and if you have their older 35mm F/1.7 you can trade it in and get an extra $90 off plus the rebate too.


Last edited by fatdeeman on Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:29 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have only used it a little so far but I will post some colour shots soon. There's definitely some purple fringing wide open which would be more obvious in colour shots but it doesn't seem to be bad enough to ruin things.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There has been quite some heated discussion going on about their f0.95 Noctilux rival (using the old Noctilux design) and their mechanical design, ending up SLRmagic pulling their product from the market.

I hope that won't happen here again...

So how's that one mechanically designed?


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kds315* wrote:
There has been quite some heated discussion going on about their f0.95 Noctilux rival (using the old Noctilux design) and their mechanical design, ending up SLRmagic pulling their product from the market.

I hope that won't happen here again...

So how's that one mechanically designed?


Well it seems to be fine, it's surprisingly heavy and it's all made of metal, I guess if anything it just feels like an old legacy lens. The focus and aperture rings are smooth and well damped. I guess time would tell if there was any inherent weakness.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those images look very promising.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am looking forward to seeing some color photos as well.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Well it seems to be fine, it's surprisingly heavy and it's all made of metal, I guess if anything it just feels like an old legacy lens.


That's what people said about their f0.95...until it fell apart in their hands...

The glass, however, is no doubt superb!


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok guys I'm hoping to go out a little later to get some more shots but I just wanted to show you this very crude image I took earlier, it's just to display what I think is pretty decent sharpness wide open, I took crops from the extreme edges of the frame. There's some purple fringing for sure but the actual resolution is really not bad (IMHO) considering it's right at the edges and that's as bad as it gets.




PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks very nice.

Apparently there were some crucial faults in the internal design of that Leica Noctilux copy lens, as far as I understood the discussions about that lens.

I tried some of the SLR Magic lenses at their Photokina booth, including the 35/1.4, but of course, you just could see and judge from the outside – they were like classic manual glass, the design felt rather "robust" than "elegant" but that's of course not a bad thing at all.

But on the other hand, e.g. the 12/1.6 is for some time on the market now and no one ever complained about the mechanics of that lens. So my impression is that the 50/0.95 is a single failure which has nothing to do with the way the other lenses are designed. It's of course a pity that their most expensive lens – by a huge margin – is the spoilt one.

I recall they are also going to make a 25/0.95 for Micro Four Thirds and a 35/0.95 for M43/NEX but we'll see how these will turn out, as these two lenses also have strong competition in form of the M43 Voigtländer 25 and the Leica M-mount Voigtländer 35/1.2.

Thomas


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm, the B&Ws look good, but it looks barely average and maybe a bit soft in the colour shot (missed focus?).


PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All wide open except the second to last colour one which is 2.8





















PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Matikon 35/0.95 for the NEx has been floating around on eBay but for a few bills more than I can afford right now.

The SLR magic 35/1.4 results look very promising. Not sure if its my sleep deprived eyes but those bookshelf corner crops look better than a Nikkor 35/1.4 can scratch wide open! Confused


PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Even if it were only "average", it's not that bad a result from a lens with that specs and rather low price point. However, I'd personally take a very close look at the Olympus 45/1.8 with AF, if I were to use that lens on M43, or at the Sony 35/1.8 with AF and stabilisation for Sony NEX.

The real specialty of the SLR Magic 35 lenses, at least to my eyes, is that they are very well suited for video use. Or, of course, if you are REALLY into manual lenses.... Thomas


PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I now also had the chance to test that lens as a µ4/3 version adapted to NEX.









On first sight, it feels very rugged and solid, really well built.
After a while you see that it is not on par with Leica, Zeiss or Voigtländer. But it's pretty close.
Much better than the first SLR Magic lenses which basically were cheap rebadged and adapted C-mount lenses.

The aperture ring is stepless which is good for video recording. This and the gear wheel like design shows that this lens is originally constructed for videographers rather than photographers. But it can equally well be used for stills.

The aperture closes down to f/16 and closest focus distance is about 35cm.

Let me show you some photos that were taken with it on my NEX-7:





Narrow DoF is possible:


And still it is sharp! 100% crop:


Some more proof:


100% crop


Mated with a 24 MPix sensor, you almost have a macro lens. Wink

Any drawbacks?

Yes, there can be some flare under disadvantageous conditions:

And there is some vignetting.

At high contrast edges you might find some CAs:

(100% crop)

My result?

Built & feel: pretty good
Mechanical function: ok
Sharpness: very good
Bokeh: kind of pleasant but not as creamy as I would have wished for, swirl at open apertures
Optical flaws: some CAs, vignetting, some tendency to flares
Size: a tad too big for a NEX (and µ4/3) lens
Price: pretty affordable!


PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Does m4/3 version fully cover NEX sensor? What's the price?


PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fermy wrote:
Does m4/3 version fully cover NEX sensor? What's the price?


It's the same lens, just with another bayonet.
I don't know about the price. The website does not offer it yet.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 1:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LucisPictor wrote:
fermy wrote:
Does m4/3 version fully cover NEX sensor? What's the price?


It's the same lens, just with another bayonet.
I don't know about the price. The website does not offer it yet.

$399 for M4/3 and $349 for Sony E and Fuji X at Adorama.

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=itemlist&cat1=Cameras%20%26%20Lenses&cat2=&cat3=&feature1=SLR%20Magic


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not posting this to make myself a sympathy case, I just thought it would be interesting to give a little perspective.

I can tell you all now that back when Andrew offered to send me the lens to review, it was less than a week after my wife and partner of 7 years announced she was leaving me, we had a daughter who had just turned one!

Looking back I have no idea how I managed to take any of those photos, I remember wandering around aimlessly feeling like my world was collapsing around me. I had gotten really enthusiastic about my blog and that's how I had initially gotten in touch with Andrew, any other time in my life it would have been totally awesome to get a lens to review but I remember thinking "why now?" it seemed like the worst timing ever.

I'm really surprised the photos are as decent as they are, I know some people reach for the camera to de-stress and to distract themselves but I vividly remember having to force myself with all my will to go out and take those photos and I was really worried I wouldn't do it justice and that Andrew would be disappointed. Just like my blog totally ground to a halt at the same time too. I never did hear from him again.

Anyway, sorry for the rather random post, I just thought it might offer a little insight and perhaps be interesting. I'm glad I bounced back from that situation! My daughter just turned 5 in August and she is without doubt the only thing that kept me going through those hard times.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fatdeeman wrote:
I'm glad I bounced back from that situation!

That is a well known avatar again!
Your horrible time lived through I can imagine too well.
I hope you can get now enough positive feelings to come back here?
Welcome back!


PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Minolfan wrote:
fatdeeman wrote:
I'm glad I bounced back from that situation!

That is a well known avatar again!
Your horrible time lived through I can imagine too well.
I hope you can get now enough positive feelings to come back here?
Welcome back!


And 3.5 years later here is my reply Laugh 1

I still visit the forum a lot but I've become a bit or a lurker lol

I have been more into my RC cars the past few years so photography has taken a bit of a back seat. Ironically, I had just started to combine the two things by simply taking a camera with me whenever I went out with an RC car whether to take photos of the car or just of the scenery and then the Covid thing struck and it all ground to a halt!

I have taken a camera out a few times recently though whilst exercising.

I was a bit rusty at first but muscle memory started to kick and I have gotten some pretty nice shots. Nothing amazing but then I've only ever been an OK photographer, never an amazing one.




I won't make any big claims about returning to the forum full time but I still have my cameras and a lot of manual lenses and I seem to be taking photos more these days so hopefully I will at least show my face a little more often!


PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome back, Dave! Like 1