Canon 50mm F0.95 “Dream lens” Review

January 21, 2018

I have done a review on the more accessible and affordable Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM lens. The Canon 50mm F0.95 also known as the “Dream Lens” was designed to replace the Canon 50mm F1.2 to become the fastest lens and offers superior optics.

The Canon 50mm F0.95 lens was made back in 1960s and 1970s for the Canon 7/7s Rangefinder and it held the crown for the fastest production lens in the world at the time.

Rendering

The “Dream Lens” is famous for its out-of-focus rendering that offers smooth bokeh and extremely shallow depth of field, which combines to produce the “Dreamy” effects.

Image Quality

The Lens offers great sharpness that is not clinical. It produces “magical” soft glow with smooth out-of-focus areas and extremely shallow depth of field at its maximum aperture of f0.95.

The lens has classic rendering with natural colours and great contrasts. It is excellent for portraits with its glowing effect and becomes very sharp when stepping down the aperture like every other Leica lenses.

This lens has minimum flare and chromatic aberration but it does have some vignetting.

Build Quality

The lens is very solidly built with full metal construction. The weight of the lens is towards the heavy side with similar weight to the Leica 50mm F0.95 Noctilux. However, the lens feels more compact in the hands due to the build construction consists of shorter length and larger diameter.

The focus ring feels very smooth when turning and the aperture ring clicks in place very nicely. It is a well-made lens overall.

Lens Specifications

Construction: 7 Elements / 5 Groups

Diaphragm: 10 Blades

Maximum / Minimum Aperture: F0.95 - F16

Closet Focusing Distance: 1m

Filter Size: 72mm

Weight: 605g

Production Versions

Standard Canon 50mm F0.95 Lens: Approximately 20000 units were produced. However, significantly less number of units remained today.

Cinematic Canon 50mm F0.95 “TV” Lens: Around 7000 units of “TV” version were made hence making this the even rarer lens. This version offers a different coating to create slightly cinematic renderings.

Lens Conversion

The Lens was originally designed for the Canon Rangefinders. However, if you find a clean copy of the lens without any optical issues then it is worthwhile to convert into M mount.

It is recommended this conversion process to be done through an experienced and highly skilled technician. This way the converted lens is likely to offer perfect rangefinder coupling and enjoyable experience on Leica M cameras.

For Conversion and Customisation, Please read my article on Camera Customisation.

Conclusion

The Canon 50mm F0.95 “Dream Lens” offers great userability and extremely shallow depth of field. If you are looking for a lens that has unique rendering with “dreamy and glowing” bokeh effects and don’t mind the size or weight then this will be the perfect lens for you.

Leica Monochrome + Canon 50mm F0.95Street Shot @F2 — *Leica Monochrome + Canon 50mm F0.95*
Street Shot @F2

Leica 75mm F1.25 Noctilux ASPH MLens Review — *Leica 75mm F1.25 Noctilux ASPH M*
***Lens Review***

Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux-M Lens

March 26, 2014

The Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux-M lens is probably the most interesting and intriguing telephoto lens made by Leica. Photographers who have used it previously claim it to possess “Dreamy and Magical” qualities. It is a special lens and all these intriguing opinions triggered curiosity and simply could not resist the temptation to try this lens. The quest to hunt for this lens at a reasonable price was not an easy task but managed to find a latter Canadian version of this lens from an overseas Leica dealer in good conditions. There are three versions of the Leica 75 F1.4 Summilux-M lens manufactured from the year 1980 until 2005 and then discontinued. This lens was either made in Germany or made in Canada but there is no variance in terms of quality. All three versions share the same optics as they are different only in terms of operating mechanics.

"A Blue Moment" Jerry Bei All Rights Reserved ® — "A Blue Moment" *Jerry Bei* All Rights Reserved ®

Perfect Lens Combo:

The “Holy Trinity” Combination for most Leica Photographers would be:

1. Wide Angle Lens (21mm/28mm or even the 15mm made by Zeiss reviewed here)

2. Standard Lens (35mm/50mm)

3. Telephoto Lens (75mm vs 90mm)

Build Quality

· The build quality is phenomenal and it is nothing short of the best Leica Standard, whether manufactured in Germany or Canada, the quality is second to none.

· That big chuck of front glass element sucks in all the available light and the built-in hood comes in handy when encounter strong sunlight, which helps to reduce flare problems and this lens can be prone to flare issues.

Practical Use

· Focusing can be challenging due to the issues caused by the Focus Shift, which is common for the Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux lens.

· Recommendation: It is best to test out the focus prior to buying so that you will assess the degree of focus shift issue and keep in mind if the lens is either front-focused or back-focused so that you can adjust the focus manually for compensation.

Advantages:

· Superior Fast lens – The lens allows the Photographer to shoot wide-open at F1.4 hence the ability to generate creamy bokeh and shoot under low-light conditions.

· Unique Rendering - It is claimed to be a Dream lens with magical Qualities, just like the Noctilux F1 lens.

· Perfection for Portraits – Desired rendering for shooting portraits, its unique rendering combined with less-than clinically sharpness are what makes the portraits stand out.

Disadvantages:

· Size and Weight – The Leica 75 F1.4 Summilux lens is big and heavy when compared to most other Leica M lenses, but you would expect this if you love fast lenses with large chuck of glass element that absorbs all the available light of the surroundings.

· Long Focus Throw – The focus throw is long and this can cause the focusing process to be slow but it is not a bad thing when you consider such a thin DOF for this lens.

· Focus Shift – This lens is prone to focus shift, so precise focus can be difficult with this lens. However, If you are lucky then you might find a rare one without this issue.

Jerry Bei All Rights Reserved ® — *Jerry Bei* All Rights Reserved ®

Battle of the Leica 75mm versus 90mm

1. Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux vs Leica 75mm F2 Summicron APO

Leica 75mm Summicron is comparatively:

{C}· Small & Compact –The Leica 75mm Summicron coming at dimensions of 67mm/58mm vs 80mm/69mm and the weight of 430g vs 560g when compared to the smallest version of the 75mm Summilux.

{C}· Clinically Sharp – This lens has similar rendering to the 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH lens but it is quite different to the “dreamy” rendering of the 75mm Summilux, which is sharp but not as clinical as the 75mm Summicron.

{C}· Slower Speed – The 75mm Summicron is about a stop slower than the 75mm Summilux, coming at F-stop of 2 compared to the F-stop of 1.4 of the Summilux. This may be a problem under low-light situations.

2. Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux vs Leica 90mm F2 Summicron APO

Leica 90mm Summicron is comparatively:

· Weight – Both lenses weight about the same, in particular the heavier Chrome version of the Leica 90mm Summicron. The Size of both lenses is also similar as the front element of the lenses is large with the ability to absorb light increases.

· Chrome Finish – The Leica 90mm Summicron comes in an attractive chrome version, whilst the 75mm Summilux only comes in black. However, there is a limited edition of the 75mm Summilux available that came as the “Black Paint” version.

· Slower Speed – The 90mm Summicron is about a stop slower than the 75mm Summilux, coming at F-stop of 2 compared to the F-stop of 1.4. This may be a problem under low-light situations.

· Focal Length – 75mm provides a perspective of the person from shoulder to head and the 90mm provides a narrower scope, which is more suitable for head portraits.

Fun Fact:

Summilux-M 75/1.4 (in production for 27 years, from 1980 until 2007. This was the favourite design of Mandler himself, based on the design of the second version Summilux-M 50mm.

Walter Mandler (May 10, 1922 – April 21, 2005) was a famous lens designer ofErnst Leitz Canada (Leica Camera) in Midland, Ontario. Mandler was born into a German farmer's family. In 1947 he joined Ernst Leitz at Wetzlar as a lens designer, working with Max Berek

Dr. Walter Mandler's chief contribution to the optical engineering was his pioneering works in application of computer aided design in optical engineering. Midland optical department was specialized in the research of retrofocus designs and apochromatic corrections. Mandler employed sophisticated combinations of special glasses in his APO and high-speed designs, and many of these glasses were original Leitz formulas manufactured by Schott or Corning. Mandler was a master in optimizing Double-Gauss designs by means of the computer and a particular method developed by him and explained in his doctoral dissertation.

Walter Mandler is credited with the design of more than 45 high performance Leica lenses for the Leica rangefinder cameras and Leica SLR cameras, including many landmark designs, Please see the entire list of Leica lenses designed by Dr.Walter on Wikipedia.

Specifications:

Leica Order No. - 11 814 - 11 815 - 11 810 LLC - 165
Production era - 1980-2007 < 14,752 lenses
Variants - Black, titanium, ELC, ELW, 1913-1983 anniversary edition; after 1982 built-in hood version 11 815
Lens mount - Leica M-bayonet
Number of lenses /groups - 7 /5
F stop range - f/1.4-f/16
Closest focusing distance - 0.75 m /2.46 ft
Smallest object field - 192 mm x 288 mm /1:8
Diaphragm setting /type - with clickstops from serial No. 2048701 onwards including half values / 10-blade
Angle of view diagonal, horizontal, vertical - 32°, 27°, 18°
Filter type - E60
Accessories - Hood for 1st version: 12539
Dimensions (length x diameter) - 80 x 69 mm /3.15 x 2.72 in
Weight - 560 g /19.75

Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux-M Serial Numbers Overview:

Serial Number started from 3063301 to 3988718 (Last Known SN)
The Lens Production Years started from 1980 until 2005.
The Total Assigned Serial Numbers is 14,752.
The Built-In Hood has a Model No. 11 814.

Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM lens Review (compared with Canon 50mm F0.95 lens)

March 2, 2013

Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM lens Review

Click Here to See the Latest Review on Canon 50mm F0.95 “Dream Lens”

I am a big fan of large aperture lens and bokehliciousness images. Since I already have possession of the Schneider Xenon 50mm F0.95 lens that I could not justify spending another 3k on the Canon 50mm F0.95 lens. Alternatively, I had my eye on a similar Canon offering: the Canon 50 F1.2 lens. This is was introduced by Canon in 1956 and it was the fastest mass market lens available in Leica Thread Mount at that time. This lens is less than a stop slower than the Canon's famous big brother and the prices is only about a quarter of the F0.95 lens.

Size and Build Quality

There are two chrome versions of this lens and also a limited completely black version made specifically for Black rangefinders. The lens in this review is the version one of this lens imprinted "CANON CAMERA CO. Japan" on the front of filter thread.
The Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM lens is much smaller and lighter than the Canon 50mm F0.95 lens, it weights at 323grams compared to 605grams of the F0.95 lens. The Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM has similar build quality to the F0.95 lens and built with Canon's signature black and satin chrome finish. Overall, the lens feels well built and feels solid in the hands.

Image Quality and Rendering

The Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM lens is comprised of 7 elements in 5 groups and with aperture range from f/1.2 to f/22. There are 11 aperture blades with a minimum focusing distance of 1 meter. The filter size thread on this lens is 55mm and filters may be applied accordingly.
The rendering of images is very similar to the Canon 50mm F0.95 lens. Certain photographers buy that lens because they love the bokeh produced by it. In this case, the Canon 50mm F1.2 lens does not disappoint in this regard and offers that typical Canon bokeh. The Canon 50mm F0.95 is also well-known for its "softness" when shot wide open, which has the reputation for been a "perfect" portrait lens. In terms of wide open performance, the F1.2 lens surpasses its bigger brother and offers higher resolution and sharper images when shot at F1.2. When stopped down, the sharpness of image progressively increases and peaks at F8. The best resolution is provided at F4 and in terms of sharpness this Canon lens can compete with other lens brands in Leica LTM mount to produce very detailed images when stopped down.

LTM mount

The Canon 50mm F1.2 lens is in Leica Thread Mount (LTM) and can be mounted on
any traditional Leica Screw Mount camera. To use this lens on the Leica M mount then an adapter is required to convert from LTM to Leica M mount. It is a simple type of adapter and there are many offerings but to allow the lens work flawlessly with great calibration then a well-machined adapter is necessary. I highly recommend buying the genuine Voigtlander or Novoflex LTM to M adapter as they are extremely well-built and will not incur any "loose play" like the cheaper eBay adapters.

Conclusion

It is an amazing lens that can be had for a relatively cheap price that works like a charm on any Leica rangefinder camera. Most importantly, it is a fun lens to shoot withand offers a very unique rendering.

Schneider Kreuznach Xenon 50mm F0.95 lens Review

February 13, 2013

Schneider Kreuznach Xenon 50mm F0.95 lens Review

I was searching for an ultra large aperture lens on the Internet and have found this very special lens. It is extremely rare and I can hardly find any samples online, so I decided to share some knowledge I learnt and experiences from using this unique lens.

Build Quality and Size

The Schneider Xenon 50mm F0.95 is made in Germany and Schneider is a highly reputable optics manufacturer. The weight and size is similar to the famous Leica Noctilux 50mm F0.95, it feels heavy and solid in the hands. It is densely made with all metal and built like a tank. The weight of the lens is about 700grams so it is a bit front heavy when you mount on a camera, which is the similar case with the Noctilux.

Lens Mount

The Schneider 50mm F0.95 lens is a C-mount lens which is designed for cinematic usage and that is why it has very special characteristics. I bought a C-to-E mount adapter to allow the lens to be used on the Sony NEX-7. The angle of view of the Schneider 50mm F0.95 is about 33 degrees, although it does not cover full frame but close enough for APSC size sensors. I was very tempted to send this lens to a highly skilled Japanese technician who can modify this lens into the M mount, which can be used on my Leica M9 and MP but decided to hold off the modification for now. You may notice some vignetting on some photos but this can be a positive thing, which all depends on personal preferences.

Image quality

The lens design is made of 6 elements in 8 groups and it contains 6 aperture blades. The closest focusing distance is 0.8 meters, which is not too far and not too close. The aperture range varies from F0.95 to F11 (as indicated on my lens barrel) and there are 3 versions of this lens. My lens is the latter version with the distance scale indication.

The Schnedier 50mm F0.95 is capable of shooting in super lowlight conditions, as it sucks in all the light available and it is perfect for night scene usage.

The rendering is very unique as defined by its bokeh, some people may not like the bokeh it produces but it has lots of characteristics. You can get extremely bokehlicious images and it has that “swirly” bokeh can almost sucks you! When shooting portrait with this lens, it provides almost painting-like quality that is very pleasing to the eye. Also when using it for Black and white photography, it offers that “film look”, which makes it very attractive for b&w purist shooters.

I have found the images are adequately sharp when shot wide open and the sharpness improves when stopped down.

Practical use

The lens is very useful in low light conditions, which makes a big difference in practical use compared to my F1.4 summilux at night and it is all you need on a Sony Nex-7. It is useful for street photography when combined with the tilt shift screen on the Nex-7 that can be used like a waist-level finder; F0.95 allows a very fast shutter speed thus making the combination fast and discrete for street use. The rendering is very special with swirly bokeh that can almost sucks you in, which can even make boring subjects look very interesting. It is the perfect lens for portraits as it renders the image with painting-like characteristics that makes the background melts away. The Schneider 50mm F0.95 is also great for black and white shooting since it provides that almost “film look” on today’s digital bodies.

This lens is full of surprises and I am still discovering more characteristics each time I use it. It is a very pleasant lens to use both on streets and for portraits, I would recommend anyone that likes the images produced from this lens to hunt one down as it is quite rare!

For my Flickr Set by the Schnedier Xenon 50mm F/0.95 can be viewed here.