Feb 28

Feb 28 Shooting the SLR Magic 50mm t/0.95 prototype

Trying out the SLR Magix 50mm f/095 Protype

Andrew Chan from SLR Magic joined my Hong Kong photowalk and brought along the widely discussed SLR Magic 50mm t/0.95 prototype for me and the attendees to try out...

If you are not familiar with the lens is a 3rd party M mount 50mm prime f/0.95 being offered for $4,200 when it comes out this fall. It is significantly more affordable than Leica's $10,000+ Noctilux (if you can even find it).

We did a test with two Leica M9s both set on aperture priority, set to ISO 320, auto white balance and 1/125 of a second. We put a SLR Magic on one and a Leica Noctilux on the other, both set to f/0.95. The first in each image set below is shot with the Noctilux and the second is shot with the SLR Magic.

Some people liked the rendering of the SLR Magic and others the Noctilux. I personally prefer the colors that the Noctilux produces but was also honestly impressed with the images produced by the SLR Magic. I am not ready to trade in my Noctilux but if I was (more) budget conscious and shopping for a lens I would stop to give this some consideration.

I am cautiously optimistic about the lens but need to remember that it is a prototype. They have clearly made a prototype that can compete with the Noctilux but the question that remains open is can they mass produce and sustain the quality, calibration and sharpness in volume production. I did appreciate the opportunity to shoot with it. The guys at SLR Magic are working hard to bring a good product to market.