Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Review

Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification

The Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 lens is a super-fast standard prime for the Micro 4/3 system cameras, with some important exceptions as noted later. It is fully manual, but very compact and very fast for a standard lens.

Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Handling and Features

The Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 is for Micro 4/3 cameras, but it is important to note that the protruding extension at the back of the lens precludes use on the Olympus E-PL6, E-PL5, EM-5 Mk I, E-PM1 and E-PM2 cameras. Attempting to use the lens on these bodies may cause damage to lens and/or camera, as detailed on the Mitakon website. The body supplied to test the lens with was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G6. The bayonet fit is smooth and positive, with no play in the mount.

The lens seems nicely made, is all metal, but still weighs in at an impressively light 230g. The focusing is manual and beautifully smooth in operation. The aperture ring is without click stops, which does have operational problems for judging the aperture set, but which no doubt will be welcomed by video makers.

Markings are surface printed, helping to keep costs down. The other economies are of course lack of AF and lack of auto diaphragm operation. The lens is set at its working aperture and there it stays until altered again. In practice, focusing at full aperture and then stopping down seems to work well. The lack of click stops does mean that we have to look at the markings to judge the aperture set – we are not able to count click stops. There are no electronic contacts, so no communication between lens and camera is possible. As a consequence of this there can be no in-camera compensation for distortion or CA.

The f/0.95 aperture does mean that focusing manually is very easy, but if we are to use that widest aperture then keeping that point of focus can be problematic if the camera or subject move even slightly. How often we actually need such a wide aperture, with its inevitable wafer thin depth of field, depends upon the photographer's shooting style. It does open up low light possibilities, but if the subject is moving then that DOF may well be a problem.

Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Performance

The centre of the lens returns good sharpness wide open, very good by f/1.4 and becoming excellent by f/5.6. This high standard only drops away slightly at f/16, where it can still be described as very good.

The edges start off quite soft, becoming fair by f/2 and improving until becoming very good around f/5.6. This level of sharpness is maintained well right up to f/16. It is a pity that no lens hood is supplied as the lens can be prone to flare. This appears as a purple area at the centre of some images.

MTF
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. 

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution as LW/PH. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Panasonic Lumix G6 using Imatest.

CA is well controlled at the centre of the lens and very reasonable at the edges. In any event, this can be tackled in software. Distortion is apparent, measuring at -1.78% barrel, actually a good figure for such a wide aperture lens.

CA
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Panasonic Lumix G6 using Imatest.

Bokeh is actually rather pleasant, as we might expect from an f/0.95 lens with an almost perfectly circular diaphragm. This is definitely a strong point and can be used creatively with the appropriate subject matter. The trade off is that the image at f/0.95 is actually quite soft at the edges. A lens in any event is a creative tool and this one is just that. This softness can usually be used to advantage and there is a good case for using this as a portrait lens, where it could yield very attractive results.

One problem with the wide aperture though will always be hitting the spot with focus. This can be quite difficult, and almost impossible with moving subjects. When we get it right the results can be impressive. Portraiture is one area where hitting the focus can be tricky, but as the hit rate improves with practice it does become much easier. Other more leisurely photography such as landscape allows for more precise focusing.

Zhongyi Optics Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Sample Photos

Value For Money

The Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 lens is available for $399 (£261 at current exchange rates), and there are a number of alternative manual focus 25mm lenses available for Micro Four Thirds, including the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 II (£742), and SLR-Magic 25mm T0.95 CINE lens (£579). If you want auto focus then the brightest alternative lens is the Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 (£370), followed by the Olympus 25mm f/1.8 lens (£280).

For more options have a look at to Top 5 Best Olympus Micro Four Thirds Lenses of 2015.

Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Verdict

This lens will appeal to those who see the lens as gelling with their particular style, be it portraits, dreamy landscapes or whatever creative use is seen for it. It handles very well indeed, and is a pleasure to use. It is easy to focus when the intention is to stop down afterwards, thus allowing the depth of field to cover any errors. It is hard to focus and hit the point required when used for shooting wide open.

Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Pros

f/0.95 aperture
Smooth controls
Aperture free of click stops for video use
Excellent central sharpness
Very compact
Well made

Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Cons

Soft edges wide open
Prone to flare
Accurate focus difficult when used wide open
Not compatible with some Olympus cameras

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

Zhongyi Optics Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Specifications

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