Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f0.95 III Review

Want to get an ultra fast lens for your Canon RF mount camera without breaking the bank? Have a need for speed? The Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f0.95 III just may be the ticket for you with a current price of $699. Keep in mind that the competition for this lens is really the Nikon Noct 58mm, which has a price tag of around $6000.

CameraLabs completed their review of this lens and were generally positive about the lens.

Pros

One of only three full-frame lenses with a record f0.95 focal ratio.
Relatively low price.
Very good Bokeh at f0.95 with smooth transition zone and creamy background.
Distortions mostly corrected through lens profile.
Relatively little light fall-off for such a large aperture lens.

Cons

Light transmission around 0.4 EV lower than expected.
Soft center wide open with purple halos.
Mushy corners up to f2.8 with strong coma and astigmatism.
Straight aperture blades produce “edgy” Bokeh balls when stopped down.
Low resistance against flare and glare.
No weather sealing.
Manual focus only, hampered by soft rendering.
Manual aperture actuation only, no (EXIF) data transmission.
Visible focus breathing.

Conclusion;

The Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f0.95 III is an exotic and unusual lens: one of only three f0.95 models (all manual focus) available for full-frame bodies at the time of writing, and by far the cheapest too. Available in Sony E, Canon RF and Nikon Z-Mounts, it may not attain the optical heights of the considerably more expensive alternatives from Nikon and Leica, but it remains quite a likeable lens none-the-less. It offers a record f0.95 focal ratio in a much smaller and lighter package than the Z-Noct and much cheaper too at around 1000 EUR / 800 USD. The background Bokeh wide open is second only to the Nikon Z Noct and the light fall-off in the corners is astonishingly low for such a large aperture. But it has loads of optical aberrations: coma, astigmatism, spherical aberrations, haloing, low resistance against flare and glare, an ugly foreground Bokeh, not to mention almost half a stop lower light transmission than the Noct in my tests. This all makes it harder to nail focus manually wide open than with other, sharper lenses plus you have to operate the aperture manually too with no EXIF data transfer. But still: if you like the “look” of the Mitakon Speedmaster you can have a lot of fun with it, and again there’s no other full-frame lens with an f0.95 focal ratio anywhere near the price. Recommended.

Read the full review here