Mitakon Speedmaster II 50mm f/0.95 (M67) Part II

f/0.95 1/100 ISO 100 (5:18 PM)

I did a quick write-up in November about the 50mm f/0.95 lens that included samples of shots taken indoors and in color.  This is the follow-up to that post.

 

f/0.95 1/100 ISO 200 (5:37 PM) 

f/0.95 1/100 ISO 1600 (5:50 PM)

I bought the Speedmaster for the primary purpose of shooting in low light as fast as I can.  While this lens can certainly be capable of capturing great images at f/8 and f/11 I have other lenses that can do that however this is the only one that can be opened as wide as f/0.95.

 

f/0.95 1/125 ISO 1250 (5:57 PM)

 

 f/0.95 1/125 ISO 6450 (6:17 PM)

Sandy & I recently spend an overnight trip to Sedona last month and ended up eating outdoors in the downtown area.  The first sample image was taken at 5:18 (very close to sunset) with the last at 6:27 well after sunset. 

 

f/0.95 1/100 ISO 1600 (5:52 PM)

The camera used was the Sony A7r converted to capture full spectrum and since I had already decided I wanted to shoot black & white I used a 830nm filter attached to the lens.  All shots were wide open at f/0.95 with the ISO set to auto.  I normally set the ISO at auto when using the 830nm filter and in normal lighting conditions rarely shoot beyond 125; not so this evening.  The lowest ISO was at 100 for the first shot and the highest for the evening was at 6400.  All of these were captured handheld.

 

f/0.95 1/125 ISO 4000 (5:59 PM)

 

f/0.95 1/125 ISO 4000 (5:59 PM)

The files were all processed using a combination of Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC and in some cases a combination of NIK software.

 

f/0.95 1/80 ISO 4000 (6:27 PM)

 

The lens is heavy yet I never felt it too heavy.  That said, I feel it is subjective; like is the salsa too hot?  So subjectively while it is one of the heaviest (we also have a 150-500 that is longer and heavier) it feels good in my hands while shooting.  Focus is easy using the focus mask in camera.  While taking a little getting used to, the controls are smooth to use.  Overall I might not be using this lens everyday however if I'm in a low situation it's the first one I'm using.

 

 

Don