On this review photographer, Christopher Frost looks at one of the fastest lens you can buy on the market today (surely as a new lens) for a full frame camera. The Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 is designed specifically for full frame Sony E-mount cameras and Frost takes a look at how it performs on the A7RII (as well as on a Sony APS-C body).
If you want a super fast prime lens for your Sony and you don’t mind shooting with a fully manual lens than the Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 might be an appealing proposition, with its high built quality and metal body, but how does this lens perform in the real world?
Well, there are good and bad news here. The good news is that even wide open – the center of the frame is pretty decent (although lacking in contrast and with some visible chromatic aberration).
As for the not so great new – the corners are very soft and you will need to stop down a LOT to get some decent sharpness (with the center f/1.4 looks good and f/2.8 looks excellent). The lens does have some barrel distortion (strange for a 50mm actually) and pretty visible darkening of the corners wide open which goes away somewhere between f/2-f/2.8. Flare is also not really controlled and you would better off using a hood (which you will need to buy separately).
Finally the Bokeh which according to Frost looks fairly nice (we find these things to be more a matter of personal taste, to be honest).
If you can live with all these drawbacks and can spend $800 – you might be able to enjoy some crazy out of focus backgrounds.
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