yukosteel

Couple of night B&W street shots, all on F0.95

I personally think the $5 PU-70 will fit great. I don't think separate leg will appear soon. Probably there is collar plate with bigger diameter that could be cut, drilled, and mounted. But it's also not best solution.

If you are ok with 18mm only, this lens is great, very compact even with lens hood (which I never used). It has slightly reduced performance in corners, but not dramatic. It can also be purchased from Hong Kong for less than $300. Very good option for street photography as well.

Few words about "magic" F0.95 number. Usually when photographers see that on the first time, they say (or think) "Wow! F0.95". Yes, there are old film lens like Canon 50mm f0.95, which are massive and huge lens with extremely narrow DOF wide open. But it's not something unusual in terms of APS-C or m4/3 frame coverage. I'm ex-Nikon shooter, and often used quite popular lens like 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4. With that lens + autofocus the narrow DOF on F1.4 is very usable for portraits. With Fuji system, its nice and lovely XF 56mm 1.2 replaces Nikkor 85mm 1.4 it terms of DOF. And using 1.2 there is almost the same. F0.95 35mm is just corresponding equivalent of Nikkor 50mm 1.4 So the main reason for me to try ZSM 35mm 0.95 - getting similar results I had with Nikon. From that perspective this "magic" 0.95 number is just regular F1.4 I got used to.

[F0.95] jpeg is PP a bit. Here you can see OOF "circles" in border areas that are not round, but also not much distractive.

One more observation on optical design. While focusing the rear lens remains on place, and when I look inside from the front it looks like most of front lens area move together. Zhongyi makes Focal Reducer adapters. So I believe most of their F0.95 lens are kind of combined combo of lens + adapter in single body. I personally think (but may be wrong) that first version of 35mm 0.95 lens was kind of 50mm 1.4 + speed booster. With this version 2, looks like the optical formula is improved by using different glass types. I don't know if elements/groups formula changed.

One thing noticed yesterday when comparing shots from Voigtlander 40mm and Zhongyi 35mm made under incandescent light. It looks like Fuji WB on X-E2 adds quite noticeable "red tint" with Zhongyi, comparing to well balanced WB on Voigtlander.

I'd say that coma is quite noticeable wide open, which is probably expected for so fast aperture value. When you have back light points in image borders in OOF area, they are not round, but more distorted in radial directions. I'd recommend to read review from Richard Wong - zhongyi-mitakon-speedmaster-35mm-f0-95-mark-ii-review He is pretty descriptive with optical performance of this lens. He reviews this lens on Sony, but I think that distortions, coma, aberrations etc. should be exact same on Fuji X. About DOF and focusing on F 0.95 , it's a good question. I'd agree with milandro - it's not easy at all, needs attention and practice. I had SLR Magic 50mm 0.95 , and that was very hard to take fast moving kids portraits on F 0.95. I only received good results when kids keep their position : ) Focus Peaking does not work well for me with 0.95, I use zoom to make precise focus. Saying about 35mm 0.95 - the 0.95 DOF is much wider and easier to use comparing to 50mm lens, but still needs practice. I have Voigtlander 40mm 1.4, and often use it at 1.4 for portraits. If you simply calculate DOF for e.g. portrait distance of 100cm, it will be: 40mm APS-C, F1.4 - DOF is about 3.5cm 35mm APS-C, F1 - DOF is about 3.1cm Taking that into account, if you can manually focus on 40mm F1.4, than it will not be a problem with 35mm 0.95. 50mm APS-C, F1 - DOF is about 1.5cm only - so yes, it's much harder to use. I also remember that SLR Magic 50mm 0.95 has star-looking aperture when closing down. Fortunately this Zhongyi 35mm has rounded blades, so it's better circle when stepped down. Concerning bokeh , I like lens that make OOF area calm and smooth looking, which is close to how our sight works. But I'd not specifically hunt for that. The OOF area on this ZSM lens looks good to me in most cases.

Zhongyi Speedmaster 35mm f0.95 version II released in Feb 2016, so there are almost no reviews online on this new interesting lens I've decided to try it, and ordered one sample directly from Hong Kong, attracted by 9% discounted price. It arrived yesterday, so posting some shots and first impressions. Feel free to ask questions if any. Out of the box (taken with ZSM 35mm on 0.95 + X-E2) Sample on F2.8 Sample on F0.95 Look on X-E2

I think it's always personal opinion, and often depends on image type you are taking. Just spend 30 days with single lens only to understand it's potential. I was taking portraits and general pictures with Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 on X-T1 for about month. Then I made few shots with XF 35mm 1.4 on F1.4. Comparing to Voigtlander results this lens is just ridiculously sharp wide open - it catches every skin pore. It took few days for me to get used again to that sharpness level : ) BTW, just make sure your NR is set to -2 to judge real sharpness of the lens. Fuji NR is a bit aggressive there. I'd recommend to choose 35mm f2 if you need faster focus, smaller size, and probably extra weather/dust protection. But if you like DOF of 1.4, take 35mm 1.4 then, it's one of the best Fuji lens, a real jem, and it's perfectly usable on that F1.4.

Today Zhongyi also released more details on this lens on their main page. There are full specs now, and full size photo samples. "The new optical design incorporates a 11 elements in 8 groups structure, including 1pc of Extra-low disperson elements, 2 pcs of Extra-high Refractive Index elements and 3pcs of High Refractive Index elements. This structure effectively improved the image resolution by 30% compared to the previous version from corners to corners. This also controls the chromatic abberations very well and deliver excellent image sharpness even at f/0.95. "

Found new interesting 35mm f0.95 lens in Fuji X mount. It's Ver II of ZhongYi Mitakon Speedmaster 35mm 0.95 Not it's smaller, lighter, and should have better optical performance. But didn't see any reviews yet. Only few sellers on eBay, and serial numbers on theirs pictures are within first 30 samples. Specs: 440g weight 55mm filter size 11 elements in 8 groups 35mm min focus distance F0.95-F11 aperture, 9 blades better pictures saw on eBay here

I've added only X-T1. But I've ordered X-E2, and read mostly all updated PDF manual. Looks like X-E2 will have mostly same settings, except at least: - don't see ability to turn off BLUR WARNING : ( - No LOCK function. However partial workaround is to set "NONE" to Fn button that need to be disabled - X-E2 has different AutoISO I'm impressed how close X-E2 now adopts most of X-T1 customizations and features. It's significant changes, ant totally different camera now.

If you are asking about X-E2 - set setting of Command Dial to control shutter ( page 106 of manual)

Electronic Shutter of X-E2 has longest time of 1s only.

Exactly, X-E2 improved so much and have so little differences that I've decided to buy it, and sell the X-T1 ! : )

You can try aftermarket screw-in 62mm petal hood. It does not perfectly matches shape of genuine 23mm 1.4 hood, but should not add vignetting and still protect lens from similar impact.

Yes, I can do that for X-T1 in copy of your file, and send you tonight. Update: here is temporary shared GDoc with X-T only part: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tVADWdLi5pGgnGQOo4zkXvJG_9ZgOmMrQ4pEwQFOoOE/edit?usp=sharing Please copy it and use content for your file, so I'll delete share later.

My change to X-T1 is - removed eyepiece : ) I like to use it in that way. Also I've locked most of external controls that I don't use to prevent accidental switch. Instead of using Fuji strap, I've made more simple looking neck strap from special strong leather.

Great comparison. I think it would be useful to add also following sections: Items that can be saved in Custom Settings preset (in X-E1 i includes ISO, don't know about X-E2) Functions that can be assigned to FN buttons Buttons/menu items that can be Locked Items that can NOT be disabled in Custom Screen mode (e.g. yellow blur warning in X-E1, hope it's configurable in X-E2) Physical remote shutter slot on shutter button Customization of Q menu - any differences?

That's impressive attention to details of image tech information. I personally don't care what focus length is stored in my EXIF, and even don't switch that value in camera when changing manual lens. One suggestion for your "+Focal Reducer" option - you can also declare reduced aperture value there. In particular case it's 35mm f1.2. Basically such lens even exists and is adaptable for Fuji-X, it's Voigtlander 35mm f1.2. And it has the similar size to Nikon 50mm 1.8 + FocalReducer.

Sounds like it's battery grip related. I never saw that issue on X-T1 with FW4.30

So, one more vote for mechanic check. I'd contact Fuji to clarify if it sounds like a problem.

Wow, it's a very interesting problem. I'm wonder if it's some factory defect - shutter release is quite close inside to the front dial. I've also took a look into X-T10 manual, and tried to simulate that on X-T1, but no luck. I see some icon above focus distance scale on your screen, what's there? Can you take one more video with LCD flipped up to see all information? .... Update. I've recognized what I was initially thinking is distance scale - is actually Information Bar : ) From the video it looks like you are shutting in Drive: S , Shutter 1/250 , AUTO mode, F5.6. Any specific non-default settings ? Did you try to Reset the settings to default values?

Nice shots, you are well skilled to use it handheld on 1/500. I've also tried Nikkor AF 300mm f4 on X-E1 before sold all Nikon equipment. Though the major cons for me was position of the focus ring. I'd say it's good adaptation for it's price once you know how to master the lens and ok with the size and weight.