SLR Magic 50mm 0.95 on M9 daylight samples

(Leica M9,  1/750th, F0.95 @ ISO 400) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

So, I've been using the SLR Magic 50mm 0.95 lens for about a week now, mostly in low light situations in with plenty of neon and street light, and it performed really well so far, however, I wanted to try it out in daylight also to see how it looks.

The weather in Hong Kong has been pretty bland the last week, so i didn't need to use an ND filter with this lens, even wide open during the day (its really that dark here!), so I could shoot at ISO 160 or 200 during the middle of the day without a problem and still get 0.95 at around 1/1000 or 1/2000th of a second.

(Leica M9,  1/200th, F0.95 @ ISO 400) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

I have posted links to larger size files below the images this time (as I've just figured out how to do it on wordpress), so feel free to click the links and download a higher resolution file to check out the details if you so desire.

Again, as stressed in my other posts, I don't care for technical details, when I use any lens or camera I just care what the files look like coming out the other end, and in this case, I can honestly say, I have a new found love for bokeh!....I haven't used a Noctilux 50mm, but I know several people who have and who own them and we have compared some of the files, and in my opinion, for the price that this lens will sell for, there is ZERO competition, this thing just performs, plain and simple.  I am not sponsored by SLR Magic, nor am I paid to say these things, I will tell you how it is, good or bad.  I have used the Voigtlander 50mm 1.1 lens, and as nice as it can be for the price, the way it renders out of focus areas is not comparable to this lens, it looks like paintbrush bokeh, where as this looks like 'cream'!

(Leica M9,  1/4000th, F0.95 @ ISO 200 - no adjustments whatsoever to this image, straight from RAW) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

I have noticed shooting at night a few issues with colour fringing when shooting directly into artificial light, in my experience, this is completely normal for a fast lens, and I had worse issues with my Canon 85mm 1.2 lens wide open.  I have noticed more issues on the Fuji XPro1 with this lens than with the Leica M9, the M9 has been quite minimal, and these daytime shots show that there is no problem, the above shot was taken around midday, and this one in particular I was really lucky enough to nail the focus bang on, if you look at the full size file, this has been untouched, just exported from RAW to full size JPEG, and really it shows the capability of this lens well in my opinion.

I have also put a few lower light shots from either inside a shop or at dusk so you can really see that fringing is not a big problem at all with this lens, again these images have had no manipulation.

(Leica M9,  1/1500th, F0.95 @ ISO 400 - no adjustments whatsoever to this image, straight from RAW) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

(Leica M9,  1/350th, F0.95 @ ISO 400 - no adjustments whatsoever to this image, straight from RAW) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

(Leica M9,  1/180th, F0.95 @ ISO 600 - no adjustments whatsoever to this image, straight from RAW) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

Shooting directly into the sun at the 'golden hour' can be a problem with any lens, so i thought I would try that also with this one and see how it performed, the following 2 files were shot that way, were very hard to focus for me due to using a rangefinder shooting into the light, but these particular 2 were pretty much there i thought, i love the combination of this lens and the M9...the colour rendition was superb and especially in the light at this time of the day, they looked great to me straight from camera.

(Leica M9, shooting directly into backlit sun, 1/2000, F0.95 @ ISO 400) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

(Leica M9, shooting directly into backlit sun, 1/1500, F0.95 @ ISO 200) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

The remainder of shots here were shot just before the sun went down, so there was a great light around the area I was shooting.

(Leica M9, 1/1500, F0.95 @ ISO 640) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

(Leica M9, 1/2000, F0.95 @ ISO 400) (click here to open large size image, or right click 'save as' to download)

Of course the focussing is very difficult to get right every time with such a fast lens, but I feel I am well practiced with a rangefinder so I am not struggling too much with it so far and have had no backfocus or front focus issues as yet to speak of.  All I can say if you are considering this lens, especially if you intend to use it on an M9, then download the large size images, I think they speak for themselves, its really a great piece of kit that I am very much enjoying, and looking forward to more shooting with it, no matter how little light is available!

We did an initial review on this lens last week, the link to that is here.

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