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No love for the Mitakon 50 f0.95?

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Ah, okay got it. Agree the ART is special on it's own, has that great 3D look, very sharp and great color too; and if you are only going to own one 50, the ART should be it. (Unless you already own an ASPH or even pre-asph Summilux M :ROTFL:!)

But the Mitakon is more of a classic old school "Mandler-esque" on steroids rendering -- actually very similar to the original f1.0 Noctilux -- with the spherical aberrations artistically blurring the frame edge and speculars. It and the brass-lantern Petzval 85 are both representative of the unique look lenses I like to dork around with and will be relegated to the A7r's bag.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
The next question for me takes this thread a little off topic, but since I'm using the A7r for "look" lenses, do I go ahead and have it converted to full spectrum?

:D
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
Jack,
I did not convert my A7r to full spectrum, but I'm thinking of it. I converted my A6000 to full spectrum and am happy that I did. You have to be willing to fiddle with filters, like we did when we were shooting M8's. Now that I have a pretty good assortment of filters, I don't even think twice about using them. I shoot a lot of IR, so I guess you have to ask yourself how much you will use IR.

The next question for me takes this thread a little off topic, but since I'm using the A7r for "look" lenses, do I go ahead and have it converted to full spectrum?

:D
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Filters don't bother me, and of course one of the huge advantages of the EVF is how it adapts to filtration. But the issue of how often I'd shoot IR is relevant -- not sure I'd do very much, though I liked it before when I had it.
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
Filters don't bother me, and of course one of the huge advantages of the EVF is how it adapts to filtration. But the issue of how often I'd shoot IR is relevant -- not sure I'd do very much, though I liked it before when I had it.
Jack, I converted my A7r shortly after getting it to shoot 665nm and found I wanted more latitude in shooting so had it re-converted to full spectrum. Glad I did too. I've got filters for all my lens ranging from color to 590, 720 and 830 and routinely shoot with either the 16-35, 24-70 and Hartblei 45mm and in limited (so far) 50 f/0.95. I've enjoyed the flexibility full spectrum give me and can credit Cindy for the push.

While they aren't sponsors here (too bad they aren't) I do recommend Life Pixels and ask that if you decide to do a conversion you click on their link on my blog.

Don

One other thought of full spectrum is that you end up with a camera with the ability to capture just about anything you want from color to IR and beautiful black & white.
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
I would say that the only downside is that you always have to have the CC1 on the front when you are shooting regular light (I don't like the IR contamination). Also, it might make re-sale a little trickier.


The A6000 is my backup in my bag. It fits in my purse for times when I'm not carrying a camera bag. It has the extra reach of a crop sensor and super-fast AF. I figure I wasn't risking much money on this conversion, so I'm glad that I did it.

Like Don, I recommend LifePixel.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I took advantage of the 20% off Winter Sale at LifePixel but I'm waiting until after the Holiday travels to actually send it in to them because I wanted to use the camera while traveling just in case. I look forward to shooting it and I will probably stick to 590nm and 830nm+ filters myself.
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Just adding a bit to the digression on IR filters. I just got back from scouting Lake Tahoe. I had both the Cambo and my newly converted A7r full spectrum along. I really like the flexibility of simply changing filters on the A7r. This is the filter case that I use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009UTQD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It really makes carrying filters easy. There is a strong velcro belt tab that makes it easy to quickly slide it onto your belt. Compact and easy.

I also used Life Pixel on my A7r conversion to IR and then again to full spectrum.

ken
 
You hooked another one. I picked up demo copy from Popflash from their ebay store. So far I am liking it quite well. Still early but I'm enjoying it more that I was the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2.

Thanks for the review.

Cheers, Bill
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
You hooked another one. I picked up demo copy from Popflash from their ebay store. So far I am liking it quite well. Still early but I'm enjoying it more that I was the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2.

Thanks for the review.

Cheers, Bill

What do you like about that lens? TIA.

:worthless:
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Blue and Mike, be sure to post some pics here as soon as you get the hang of the lens. I hope to have more to share next week ;)

K-Ha -- just trust us, and get one :D
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Blue and Mike, be sure to post some pics here as soon as you get the hang of the lens. I hope to have more to share next week ;)

K-Ha -- just trust us, and get one :D

Well Jack thanks, Guy seems pretty skeptical!
And he seems to have generally excellent judgment!
 

cam

Active member
Ah, okay got it. Agree the ART is special on it's own, has that great 3D look, very sharp and great color too; and if you are only going to own one 50, the ART should be it. (Unless you already own an ASPH or even pre-asph Summilux M :ROTFL:!)

But the Mitakon is more of a classic old school "Mandler-esque" on steroids rendering -- actually very similar to the original f1.0 Noctilux -- with the spherical aberrations artistically blurring the frame edge and speculars. It and the brass-lantern Petzval 85 are both representative of the unique look lenses I like to dork around with and will be relegated to the A7r's bag.
You talkin' to me?
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Okay, here it is, all laid out in a direct fashion.

Lux M: Not all Lux's are good -- pre or ASPH -- you need to test them for your application on your camera at the aperture you want to use it at. If you have a good one for you, you're done. If not, then it may be time to look elsewhere.

ART: It's a great lens, But even wide open it cannot render the same look as a Noctilux or the Mitakon does wide open.

Mitakon: No offense to Guy, but he's only seen my posts of the ART and Mitoakon and made his choice from those; he does not own either and I own both. Moreover, Guy is not a huge fan of the 50 to begin with -- he'll get one if it suits him, and the ART is more to his style than the Noct/Mitakon look is. Plus the ART is unarguably a more versatile 50 than the Mitakon. For me, I got the Mitakon to shoot wide open with PERIOD. If you want an AF 50 lens to use at f1.4 or smaller, buy the ART; if you want a lens to use at f0.95, your choices become pretty limited pretty fast: buy a Noct at ~$9000 depending; buy an SLR cine-magic at ~~$3000; or buy a Mitakon at under $800...

Conclusion: I own and love the ART and use it as my main lens on my Nikon D810. And I use it wide open to stopped down depending on my needs at the time. If I could only own 1 50mm lens, this would be it, hands down, end of discussion. However... For the purpose *I* wanted an f0.95 50 for and for the amount *I* planned to use it, the Mitakon plus a used A7r body at about $2200 total was a no-brainer *for me* -- YMMV.

Enjoy and Happy shooting in 2015!
 

cam

Active member
Jack, I was just teasing you! Seriously, you have described everything (excellent description!) that rings my bell with the Mitakon :p

If I want to shoot f/1 or f/0.95, it's likely not at a distance nor am I fussed about perfection. I shoot that fast because there's no light and I want to capture the moment, the essence.

So, whilst I appreciate all your elbow grease, go out and shoot this the way it's meant to be! :worthless:
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
For me its like a Noctilux and a Leica R 85 1.4. Nocti looks nice sometimes but can also look horrible with nervous bokeh. The 85 lux wide open is loaded with lens aberrations it looks great on certain things but needs corrections also for other types of shots. The Mistakon looks really nice and I know it will work with a lot of subjects but don't foul yourself either it has lens aberrations wide open. know that going in and you can use that to your creative advantage. Now its seems you may have to carry 2 50mm to get certain things sometimes. Not sure I want to do that. Im not a shooter looking for dreamy images all the time, to me that gets old. I do favor very sharp wide open with a ton of falloff which gives that 3D effect. I lean more to the separation. So if it sounds like Im not convinced that is partially true as I do not want to carry 2 50mm, which that focal length is not my favorite anyway. I also want to test this lens against my ZA 50 1.4

Honestly I would not mind having something like this is the 85mm range because that is far more useful for people and that wide angle look. Depends a lot on what your shooting and what effect you have. Sometimes that wide open booked heaving gets looking pretty damn old fast. Its like buying a fisheye, great sometimes and other sometimes the lens sits in the bag. Maybe not to that extreme but you get the point.
 
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