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

Review: Fuzhou Feihua F&H 50mm F/1.4 CCTV Lens FH5014MC

This lens is made by Fuzhou Feihua Optoelectronic Technology (F&H), the company behind the Fujian branded 25mm F/1.4 and 35mm F/1.7 lenses. They make a large selection of cctv lenses including two 50mm F/1.4 lenses that are of interest to users of mirrorless cameras. One of the lenses is visually very similar to the 35mm and the other which I am reviewing here is of a different design and has been likened to a flashlight or a trumpet thanks to it's very large front element.

 

 

 

Build quality and finish:

It's pretty well put together considering the price, it's all metal which is a good start and while the finish isn't perfect there's only so much you can expect from such a cheap lens and it certainly feels more solid than some of the plastic kit lenses the big companies bundle with cameras these days! The lens will fit an C-mount to NEX adapter fine and gives moderate vignetting on an APS-C sensor. On micro four thirds the image circle covers the sensor but the rear of the lens is slightly too large to screw fully into an adapter and the lens will require modification. On some lenses the entire rear of the lens needs attention but with this lens it's just the focus ring which should simplify matters, I haven't attempted to modify the lens yet but the focus ring appears to be held in place with some small screws so it may even detach entirely in which case it could either be left off or certainly trimmed much more easily.

Image Quality:

The lens is similar to the F&H 35mm in a lot of ways, it has the same small circle of focus in the central portion of the frame giving way to much swirliness around the edges. With the 35mm lens I found it was extreme field curvature causing this and that the lens could be focused with some degree of sharpness towards the edges but never at the same time as the centre. With this lens I find the edges are soft even if you attempt to focus specifically at the edge so you could say it was somewhat inferior in this aspect.

The lens has very nice bokeh and highlights are rendered in a more neutral fashion than with the 35mm which tended to have rings around circular highlights, a quality I found appealing but I can understand that some will prefer the smoother look this lens provides. The lens is very prone to flare and loss of contrast when the sun is in or near the frame so a hood might be something to consider if this bothers you. The colours from this lens are very vivid and well saturated but the contrast can be somewhat weak at times especially when flare rears it's head.

Overall the images this lens delivers are very imperfect but very fun, the more I use lenses like this the more I realise that they are tools that have much creative potential, you can achieve a look to images with theses lenses that you just cannot match with more expensive conventional optics so a direct comparison is not only unfair but also inappropriate, there are relatively mundane objects that you can make interesting with a lens like this, in fact I find that I look at everything differently when I use this lens and other similar lenses because I know that subjects that would often look plain if captured with a normal lens suddenly look interesting or have something to offer that they didn't before. You see the world differently through these kind of lenses and that is a good thing, don't look at them as a cheap alternative to conventional glass but as something different and fun but not necessarily less worthy of being on the front of your camera!

Conclusion?:

Compared to a conventional photographic lens this lens is very poor or even pathetic but that would be missing the point and this lens can do things no expensive conventional lens can do. The images it makes are different and fun and distinctive and that helps to fuel creativity and for that reason I think it's a great buy! Never approach these lenses as a rival to a conventional lens but instead see them as something entirely different that can live alongside your conventional glass and not compete with it!

NEX-7......Now I'm not so sure...

I was really excited about the Sony NEX-7, it seemed to be the perfect camera for using legacy glass, lots of external controls, EVF, great body and what I hoped was going to be an excellent sensor but I can't help but feel the NEX-5N would be a better choice in some ways.

There's some differing of opinion about the NEX-7 sensor vs the NEX-5N sensor. The 5N has a cleaner chip, there's no doubting it but many are quick to argue that downscaling an image from the 7 to the size of a 5N yields similar noise performance but then what's the point of buying a camera with a 24mp chip? Obviously you can potentially make larger prints from an image from the 7 but 16mp should be enough for most people anyway, a 20x30 inch print from that chip would look fine as long as you didn't press your nose against it!

The other disappointment is that the offset microlenses on the NEX-5N sensor appear to be absent on the 7!

This feature is desirable because it goes some way to fixing the major problems when using wide angle lenses with short registration mounts such as rangefinder lenses. Because the rear of the lens is so close to the sensor the light rays hitting the edge are at a very oblique angle and this causes optical defects, offset microlenses account for this and cause the light rays to hit the photosites at a less oblique angle which improves resolution and reduces colour casts. This is the main thing that makes me no longer want this camera!

Obviously the 7 is better made than the 5N and has better external controls and is more sophisticated and has more features but it seems for someone who has an interest in using adapted lenses that the 5N is the better choice, it has the potential to deliver better image quality with legacy glass!


I have an NEX-5 and I want an NEX-5N but I cannot afford one for the foreseeable future! Babies are expensive so I guess I'll have to start saving!


I have considered adding some small ads to this site but let's be honest, I'm not exactly world famous and I think finding out my annual advertising commission is £5 would just be a depressing reflection of how little my blog gets seen!