SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 rolling review part 2

Time for the next instalment of the SLR Magic 35mm review!

I used this lens quite a lot yesterday and once again I was pleased with the images I got. I have started to realise the lens has two personalities in a way, when the lens is wide open you can coax the type of flare from it that is fitting of a blog entitled lens porn, In my humble opinion it's some of the most awesome looking flare I've ever seen and the really great thing is you can eliminate it quickly by stopping down just a TINY amount, I'm talking before you even get to T2, it's like having a switch for the flare.

Taken at T1.4


There's some aspects of shooting wide open such as the flare and purple fringing that are somewhat "lo fi" but on the other hand I find the lens to be reasonably sharp at this setting and consistent across the frame, I would have expected the resolution at T1.4 to drop off severely towards the edges but it doesn't. The bokeh wide open is very nice too, it's mostly relatively neutral apart from some types of light sources such as xmas decorations where the light discs have an outline effect which I find quite cool but most of the time the bokeh is just nice and smooth.

The following shots are taken at T1.4






The sharpness gradually increases as you stop down and by T2.8 things are already bitingly sharp, certainly enough to provoke some moire here and there with my Sony NEX-5n which is usually a clear sign of high resolution.

Current thoughts:

The more I use this lens the more I like it, when it's wide open you can use the shallow depth of field and crazy flare to get some funky looking effects but that's not to say it can't be used seriously wide open, with some care you can get shots from the lens that belie it's relatively modest price tag. Don't forget this lens with it's T1.4 maximum aperture will be available for around $349 with a $50 rebate and additionally owners of the SLR Magic 35mm F/1.7 will be able to trade there lens in and get an additional $90 discount. Consider that a Zeiss 35mm F/1.4 will set you back $1800 or a Leica Summilux $5000 and you begin to realise how reasonably priced this lens is, obviously the SLR Magic isn't going to be as good optically, to claim that would be foolish but proportionately I would have to say it offers much better value.

First shot taken at T2.8, the rest taken at T1.4








You can now find the final part of this review here

SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 rolling review part 1

Let me start by apologising for the suspense! I have had some serious marriage problems recently and am currently separated so depression has been rearing it's head of late. It also doesn't help that I am currently sick as a dog fighting the terrible illness known as "man flu"! But alas, finally I have gotten my hands on a pre production copy of the SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 and this will be the first part of a rolling review!

Initial impressions:

I have to say I was immediately impressed as soon as I handled the lens, it's reassuringly heavy and solid, it's made of metal and it feels substantial and well made. The (stepless) aperture and focus rings are both smooth and well damped contributing to the impression of quality. Both the focus and aperture rings are geared for easy use with a follow focus, this is a nice touch for movie makers! One major bonus for those familiar with using old preset legacy lenses will be the fact that the number of aperture blades reaches into two figure territory, that means smooth circular highlight bokeh even when the lens is stopped down, that's a very unusual feature on new lenses nowadays but one that can be very useful creatively. Overall the construction and appearance of this lens are very much old school and that can only be a good thing because we all know they used to build lenses better back in the day!

In terms of image quality what I have seen so far impresses me, even wide open sharpness appears to be more than usable and that goes right to the edges of the frame, there seems to be a little less contrast at maximum aperture but this can very easily be restored in software and it can be beneficial when making video on lower end cameras as it can help to improve gradients when you're battling with a limited codec.

This lens is very much usable wide open and that's important because people tend to buy a fast aperture lens with the intention of using them wide open and so far the lens really does not disappoint in this department.

The bokeh I have seen so far appears to be very smooth for the most part with highlights being a bit more distinctive but not in a bad way, taste in bokeh is a subjective matter but for me this lens really delivers and gives a very cinematic look. I am looking forward to experimenting more.

Here are some shots I took today whilst I was familiarising myself with the lens, they are all taken with the lens wide open and I used the black and white mode built in to the Sony NEX-5n:








Click here for part two of the review!

Click here for part three of the review!