GH2 SLR Magic 25mm CINE T0.95

[stoneinapond]

Had the lens now for about a month. The majority of the time was spent photographing, and the lens performs beautifully in that context (GH2 raw). Sharp, great color rendition, shallow depth of field if required. Really brought new life to the camera.

Video wise I have only done this low-light test. Other than the two opening shots and the last one, lens was set wide open, with ISO ranging from 200 to 800. The last shot I went to 1250 and set the aperture to f/2 to see if flaring and reflections changed. They don’t appear to.

I have to stress that this was done in a particularly dark part of the neighborhood with very little light. Apart from the opening shots, all were taken at dusk and beyond. In other words no daylight left in the sky. Despite evidence to the contrary, it was very dark, with the sky in the first handheld shot capturing the lights of Kennedy Airport and Manhattan further west.

While there is much that can be pulled apart in these images (feel free to do so), the main focus of the test was just to see how much (or little) light allowed for decent images. In that context, I feel the lens also excels. Yes it flares, sometimes annoyingly; bright lights can cause stray reflections. But sometimes they can add to the atmosphere, and the lens definitely delivers gobs of character.

With better planning and set up, good image capture is absolutely possible in even the lowest of light. Focusing is a challenge in the dark but I am very happy with the lens and can easily recommend it as a versatile and well crafted bit of optics. Hasn’t left the camera since it arrived. 1080p, H.264 version is available for download.

 

[stoneinapond]

For reference, I went back today to the area where this was filmed to see how many lights there were. In most locations there was barely one street light, sometimes two at most. And none except the intersection lights in the last clip.

Also I had to up the resolution to HD on Vimeo because the 720 compression was largely destroying the very dark areas. So apologies to those that have "stuttery" playback (I do on my older Macbook). If possible, those interested should download the 1080p version.

And I did mention on Vimeo that all of the clips were straight out of the camera - no post processing whatsoever.

 

[OldCorpse]

I tell you what would make people worship you as their personal jesus - if you could go back to the very same locations at the same time as this footage was shot, and shoot it again, except this time with the voigtlander 25mm 0.95

Thank you for this - it's interesting, and I didn't find any outrageous flares. But seriously, the question becomes what do you buy by paying twice as much or so for the voigt.

 

[stoneinapond]

I tell you what would make people worship you as their personal jesus - if you could go back to the very same locations at the same time as this footage was shot, and shoot it again, except this time with the voigtlander 25mm 0.95

Thank you for this - it's interesting, and I didn't find any outrageous flares. But seriously, the question becomes what do you buy by paying twice as much or so for the voigt.

Thanks for the comments. Yes it would be interesting to compare the two, but unfortunately I don't have the Voigt.

There were some clips where a car's headlights would cause a "Close Encounters" kind of effect. I didn't want to include them in case people got the wrong impression, but I thought it should be noted.

I think what you do get from the Vogt is a slightly better build. Not that the SLR is bad, but there is a slight amount of slop in the focus ring, something others have observed. Again, it's not terrible by any means and I can certainly overlook the issue even without considering the price. I know from spending some time with the 17.5 that the Voigts are super smooth.

Otherwise, it's quite possible that the SLR is actually sharper and the click-less aperture is smooth and a joy.

 

[Per Lichtman]

Thank you for this - it's interesting, and I didn't find any outrageous flares. But seriously, the question becomes what do you buy by paying twice as much or so for the voigt.

SLR Magic: $799
http://www.adorama.com/SLR2595MF.html?gclid=CL3lw--mibcCFQ_ZQgodMQsAZg

Voigtlander Nokton 25mm: $1,199
http://www.adorama.com/VT25095.html

1,199-799 = 400
400/799 = 50.06%

So, no - it is not even close to twice as much. Only about 50% more.

Anyway, if you want to compare them, here is some footage Seb Farges put up.

 

[funkytwig]

Thanks for reminding me of Portishead, Dummy is a great album. I actually live around 20 miles from there.

What was the noise like, vimeo seems very good at removing noise so would be good if you could comment.

Ben

 

[J.F.R.]

I own the Slr Magic 25mm and my friend lets me borrow his Voigtlander 25mm. The Voigtlander is a better lens "technically". Hardly no flares, better build and an overall solid consistent image. What I Do Not like from the Voigtlander is at times a very sharp lens and I feel lacks a little character when compared to the Slr lenses.

The Slr Magic lenses Flare a lot and you need to know how to control them, that is their negative. If you want a perfect controlled non artistic scene I would NOT use or buy the Slr Magic lenses. The Slr lenses flare, naturally causes light leaks and are just very artistic lenses that provide a unique look. Personally I love the Slr lenses, but sometimes you need that perfect Voigtlander lens or Panasonic 25mm f/1.4.

 

[Kholi]

I own the Slr Magic 25mm and my friend lets me borrow his Voigtlander 25mm. The Voigtlander is a better lens "technically". Hardly no flares, better build and an overall solid consistent image. What I Do Not like from the Voigtlander is at times a very sharp lens and I feel lacks a little character when compared to the Slr lenses.

The Slr Magic lenses Flare a lot and you need to know how to control them, that is their negative. If you want a perfect controlled non artistic scene I would NOT use or buy the Slr Magic lenses. The Slr lenses flare, naturally causes light leaks and are just very artistic lenses that provide a unique look. Personally I love the Slr lenses, but sometimes you need that perfect Voigtlander lens or Panasonic 25mm f/1.4.

The Voigt is actually not sharper between 0.95 and 2. SLR Hyperprime is definitely sharper, but beyond 2 the Voigt is sharper.

Just wanted to clarify that, as I've had both side by side on my BV1-MFT (Blackmagic Version 1 M4/3 Mount) and it's very obvious wide open which one is sharper.

I do agree that the Voigt is a better built lens, no flares wide open, less CA. If I can't use it at 0.95 (doesn't look good to me) then there's no point in owning it, IMO. It would be fine for still images, but moving images, not for me. The SLR tops if you're looking for a lens with: gears, sharp wide open, great at all apertures, warmer cast (Voigt is much more neutral at all apertures).

On the topic of CA: easy to fix in Resolve, so it hasn't been an issue for me.

 

[stoneinapond]

Thanks for reminding me of Portishead, Dummy is a great album. I actually live around 20 miles from there.

What was the noise like, vimeo seems very good at removing noise so would be good if you could comment.

Ben

Hey Ben,

Lived in Bath for around 12 years in the 70s. Great area and a very fertile time for bands and music (which I was part of).

In the original files there is virtually no noise. The last clip shows a little if you look for it, because I had upped the ISO to 1200, but nothing that Neat Video couldn't deal with.

 

[Per Lichtman]

Just a quick comment on the "warmer is better" idea. It really depends on what you are shooting and when. If you are shooting primarily by streetlight at night, you are already having to see you WB at a pretty low color temperature so a warmer lens might be the opposite of what you want. Not that it's a big deal, but it is a very real and frequent situation where it is no longer an asset for many.