Having a preference for the 50mm lens, it stands to reason I own a lot of lenses in this focal length. A lot of photographers find the focal length boring, preferring the 35mm view. Not me though, I prefer the 50mm.
Before I go on any further, if you are thinking of purchasing this lens, there are two versions. My version, “The Dark Knight” came out only 3 months after the original version.
| Old | New | |
| Weight | 720g | 780g |
| Size | 87mm x 68.5mm | 87mm x 72mm |
| Aperture | f0.95 - f16 | f0.95 - f16 |
| MFD | 50cm | 50cm |
| Filter | 58mm | 67mm |
I do believe however, the image quality of the second version is slightly better than the first but it’s nothing I can show here for the simple reason I don’t own or have tested the original version. The lens is manual focus only so those looking for AF should look elsewhere.
It comes in a case that’s well made, looks good and allows you to store the lens in a safe, clean and dry environment. Shame there’s no room for the lens hood. Seems to me they just forgot about it. It really is a nice case for the lens, unfortunately it doesn’t do much for my photography.
The first thing you notice about the lens is the weight. 780g doesn’t seem a lot but mounted on a Sony A7x series camera it feels very unbalanced. It’s front heavy but when you hold that lens in your left hand it really helps to keep the whole system steady. No IS in the lens of course but using a Sony camera (such as the A7II) which has IBIS helps. It’s well put together and it gives a feel of quality, being made entirely of metal which is where the 780g comes from. Aperture control is stepless so it makes the lens ideal for videographers too. Personally, I prefer a stepped aperture ring, that way I know exactly where I am without taking my eye away from the EVF.
I tend to use these 50mm lenses for practically everything not only for portraits so the images that I’ll post are a bit of everything. Most of the images were taken at f0.95 and focusing correctly is a real challenge. However when exact focus is achieved, the lens is quite sharp and gets better when stopped down. Needless to say DOF is very shallow so time needs to be taken when focusing.
This is only an initial post with some images to show what the lens can do. I expect to post a more extensive post with some low light images. That’s why I bought the lens in the first place after all.
f0.95
f1.4
f2.0
f2.8
Focus was on the pigeon. Looks like I nailed it here.
