Sony A7R - full frame T0.95 with the SLR Magic HyperPrime (and special guest, Leica Noctilux 50mm F0.95)

[Andrew Reid]

EOSHD is launching a Shooter's Guide for lenses on the Sony A7R - pre-order it here to get $10 off the launch price

Currently the best (read expensive) full frame lenses for low light are the Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4 and the Leica M Noctilux 50mm F0.95.

How does the SLR Magic HyperPrime 50mm T0.95 rate as an alternative?

Read the full article here

[horshack]

Great article, thanks. Since the Leica is revered for its bokeh would love to see more comparisons of that apsect, with varying background/foreground content, subject distances, and apertures.

[So Sodderman]

ANDREW ,  hope you see this, you are a busy man

 

 

Just wondering can you please , please, make a shooters guide  on the CANON MAGIC LANTERN raw video,   looking over the web there is so much confusion, on if it is stable and whether or not if lcd produces false color,   its very intimidating,  i know 10 people in  a film class that would buy a manual on 7d A.S.A.P

 

Also can you possibly include something on how to extract sound or using sound with external recorder and syncing etc, while using MAGIC LANTERN,   trust if you do this, they would sell like hotcakes.

 

Currently there is no respectable guide on magic lantern 7d continious raw shooting , nor is there anything on getting and syncing sound,   but there are  thousands of  used 7ds and owners who want this info ,      please help us out,   h3ll  i will pay up $200 just for special one on one custom  7d magic lanter raw and sound syinching info

[andy lee]

f0.95 on any lens is just not really practically usable , its so soft with massive fringing , its ok for arty stuff but its limited

plus less than 1 inch depth of field is limiting , so limiting Stanley Kubrick had to keep is actors from moving when he shot Barry Lyndon on that fast f0.7 Zeiss lens for his candle light scene at the table, they litterally could not move an inch back or forward or they would go out of focus.

 

I rarely go past f1.4 for this reason

 

they all look like nice lenses with huge chunks of glass ..but I dont really have any use for them - yet!! haha!

[tony wilson]

tommy oshima on flikr and his old style leica noct is all one needs to see.

 

the noct is a legend by a great optical german man who lived in ontario canada.

the old models well kept are lovely the new versions i am sure are outstanding.

the build quality always supreme.

 

[Rob Bannister]

Andrew we could maybe put an Otus  on a Kineraw mini once I get an emount made up. Use the Fmount-emount speedbooster.

[D-76]

If you are going to make such bold claims at least provide accurate test results to back it up.

 

The Noctilux picture of the silver Leica M5 on red and black leather backgrounds, comparing Noctilux with Hyperprime is BACK FOCUSED.

 

This is evident comparing the very back, upper part of black leather in the background of the pic with the M5. The Noctilux picture has sharp background and soft subject and the the Hyperprime has a soft background and sharp subject.

 

It makes the whole article quite useless, no?  :unsure:

[OzNimbus]

Fwiw, I got my sony a7 last night & it's a joy to shoot with. My old Nikon 50mm f1.8 ais that I picked up for fifty bucks is a freakin' gem on this thing! "Razor sharp" comes to mind.

[Fred Flohrschutz]

All f:0.95 lenses have a very discrete plane of focus with a tiny depth of focus to either side.

 

I can see from your first shot comparison that the Leica lens is focused behind the point where SLR Magic lens is focused.

 

The pebbled leather and the screw head on the camera body behind the intended subject are both much better defined in the Noctilux shot than in the SLR Magic shot.

 

Consider a focus shot where a finely detailed machinest scale is photographed at a slight diagonal through the area of the plane of focus.

 

This is a good way to define the specific plane of focus on any lens and is less subject to interpretation.

 

I am VERY impressed with the SLR Magic lens by the way.

 

I have shot with the older 50mm f:1.2 Noctilux on film with a fluorescent tube in the picture at full aperture.

 

I was amazed at the way the lens could represent detail slightly outside the well-contained flare envelope.

[Andrew Reid]

All f:0.95 lenses have a very discrete plane of focus with a tiny depth of focus to either side.

 

I can see from your first shot comparison that the Leica lens is focused behind the point where SLR Magic lens is focused.

 

The pebbled leather and the screw head on the camera body behind the intended subject are both much better defined in the Noctilux shot than in the SLR Magic shot.

 

Consider a focus shot where a finely detailed machinest scale is photographed at a slight diagonal through the area of the plane of focus.

 

This is a good way to define the specific plane of focus on any lens and is less subject to interpretation.

 

I am VERY impressed with the SLR Magic lens by the way.

 

I have shot with the older 50mm f:1.2 Noctilux on film with a fluorescent tube in the picture at full aperture.

 

I was amazed at the way the lens could represent detail slightly outside the well-contained flare envelope.

 

Indeed focus is very tricky! But I checked very careful for focus issues and took several shots. In each one I found the same and had to rub my eyes in disbelief.

 

The Leica is not back focussed because if it was off by a tiny amount to the back the strap lugs of the M5 bodies would be sharper than the strap lugs on the SLR Magic shot. Also as you can see, the camera on the back row far left is blurrier on the Leica shot than on the SLR Magic shot. I think they just handle roll off from the focus plane differently, maybe depending on the part of the frame.

 

Also I have seen MTF charts from a leading photo blog, who did the same test between the two lenses. These will be published soon. Those show the SLR Magic as being better resolving wide open. So the MTF chart actually backs up my own samples.

 

Click to enlarge -

 

[Ergo Zjeci]

Andrew, does this guide come in consider for canon 5D mark III users like myself, because of the FF sensor or is it meant  just for sony A7R users.   Thank you

[horshack]

f0.95 on any lens is just not really practically usable , its so soft with massive fringing , its ok for arty stuff but its limited

plus less than 1 inch depth of field is limiting , so limiting Stanley Kubrick had to keep is actors from moving when he shot Barry Lyndon on that fast f0.7 Zeiss lens for his candle light scene at the table, they litterally could not move an inch back or forward or they would go out of focus.

 

I rarely go past f1.4 for this reason

 

they all look like nice lenses with huge chunks of glass ..but I dont really have any use for them - yet!! haha!

 

There are post-processing challenges but the results are worth it the effort. Here are some of my images with an A7R + Noctilux, all at f/0.95:

 

Train

Restaurant Kitchen #1

Restaurant Kitchen #2

Piano Player

Apple Store

Bokeh Globe

Eye Contact

Buffalo

Chihuly

Escalator

Sporting Goods

Candle

[hmcindie]

If you are going to make such bold claims at least provide accurate test results to back it up.

 

The Noctilux picture of the silver Leica M5 on red and black leather backgrounds, comparing Noctilux with Hyperprime is BACK FOCUSED.

 

This is evident comparing the very back, upper part of black leather in the background of the pic with the M5. The Noctilux picture has sharp background and soft subject and the the Hyperprime has a soft background and sharp subject.

 

It makes the whole article quite useless, no?  :unsure:

 

Also the Canon 85mm shot looks like it has motion blur. One of the blurry dots is sideways blurred which is quite impossible to happen by just default. So the camera probably jerked a bit and the A7R with it's huge sensor is quite sensitive to movement.

[richg101]

There are post-processing challenges but the results are worth it the effort. Here are some of my images with an A7R + Noctilux, all at f/0.95:

 

Train

Restaurant Kitchen #1

Restaurant Kitchen #2

Piano Player

Apple Store

Bokeh Globe

Eye Contact

Buffalo

Chihuly

Escalator

Sporting Goods

Candle

 

i was going to make a similar comment but you nailed it.  the piano player image is the best example IMO.  you have the width of a 50mm, but the dof of a 85mm at f2.  it means you can get portrait beuty style shots from further away.  a very large aperture allows siginificant separation between in and out of focus subjects - normally only possible with a longer lens and bigger image plane.

 

i guess the only way to beat/match the piano player shot from the same distance would be to use medium format and a 80mm lens for the same fov and dof

[jojo]

There are post-processing challenges but the results are worth it the effort. Here are some of my images with an A7R + Noctilux, all at f/0.95:

 
nice images, compositions...

[Andrew Reid]

i was going to make a similar comment but you nailed it.  the piano player image is the best example IMO.  you have the width of a 50mm, but the dof of a 85mm at f2.  it means you can get portrait beuty style shots from further away.  a very large aperture allows siginificant separation between in and out of focus subjects - normally only possible with a longer lens and bigger image plane.

 

i guess the only way to beat/match the piano player shot from the same distance would be to use medium format and a 80mm lens for the same fov and dof

 

Good point.

 

By the way Rich I have been shooting with your FF58 this weekend. The golden cast light rope photos of Susanna are with the FF58 here 

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I had the 85mm F1.2L with me but the FF58 is the one that gave me the best feel.

[Rudolf]

As far as I understood this was more about which lens is best for the Sony. Both lenses have been compared a few times last year and I am sure Andrew has read on or the other blog... The bloggers/testers come to similar results even on other cameras! Only downside of the Noktor seems to be less contrast and more barrel distortion (don't care: I hate portraits).

I think that is absolutely astonishing!!! Actually the Noktor is F 0.92 (T 0.95) which means it is faster then the Noctilux!

Also it is only little bit bigger!

And has... NO (!) aspherical element (Noctilux has two and should therefore be better regarding ca ...)

WHAT has SLR Magic done with the laws of physics? These dumb Leica designers just can charge money from the snobs... 

 

This is epic: They used to make toy-lenses and now they are at the peak within a couple of years. :)

 

 

[Brian Brown]

Andrew, you should get your hands on a Canon EF 50mm/f1L  They quit making it, but it's of the same vintage as your 85mm/1.2L Mk I. Ken Rockwell recently reviewed it, and it looks fantastic. http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/50mm-f1.htm  I think it would blow these two lenses away.

[alanpoiuyt]

Hey Andrew - was shooting stills last Saturday night at a Christmas party with the classic Nikkor "Noct" 58mm f1.2 and getting incredible 3d-like renderings with the A7r. Some guys started jamming in the garage so I shot one song down and dirty, hand-held one take - faked some inserts - but look at the 3D quality of the frame grab. All shot wide open.

[Fred Flohrschutz]

If you look at the screw head on the camera above and behind the subject camera in the "Top right corner" crops it is significantly better defined in the Noctilux shot than the same screw head in the SLR Magic shot.

In addition the flare from the satin finish at the top of the wind and shutter speed knob indicates possible decentering (double imaging) in the SLR Magic shot. (This could be camera shake, but it appears to worsen as the corner of the image is approached.

Photographing a subject such as a metal scale placed diagonally across the point of focus is one method used in tuning the exact point of focus in DSLRS and leaves much less to subjective interpretation.

Thank You For This Test.