SLRmagic sent out a press release for the new 12mm f/1.6 Noktor lens.
PRESS RELEASE:
“Here are samples of the Noktor HyperPrime 12mm F1.6 by SLR Magic. For the first time ever we decided to design a lens based on a public vote. Many people helped us on this forum http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=36104678 . We would like to thank all who has participated in the thread on Aug 2010 by putting their “most wanted micro four thirds lens” into production.
We had requests such as:
1) 12mm Wide Angle Prime
2) Make the aperture as wide as you can for creative possibilities
3) Low distortion
4) Macro
5) Round aperture opening
6) Depth of field scale
7) $500- Budget
It sounded like a lens no one has ever seen before but here is what we have to offer!
1) 12mm Wide Angle
2) F1.6 Max Aperture (Best performance is at F4 but we were told to make this lens as wide aperture as possible)
3) ~2% distortion (optical distortion correction for natural perspective when taking photos of people)
4) 0.15m Minimum Focus Distance
5) 12 Step less Aperture Blades for always round aperture opening like a cinema lens for better compatibility with GH2 and AF-100
6) Depth of field scale included
7) $499 MSRP
Here are some sample photos to compare bokeh quality at different aperture openings. We have attached one full sized photo sample as well.
The Noktor HyperPrime 12mm F1.6 by SLR Magic will ship around the end of October 2011.
Kind rgds.,
Andrew Chan
SLR Magic Product Manager”
And those are the full size image samples at different apertures (Click on it to enlarge):
There are no available preorders yet but you will find them soon on eBay. These are the links to the other current lenses:
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens you can preorder on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Noktor 50mm f/0.95 lens on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
43 Responses
Wow, I have a feeling they’re going to sell a lot of these!
Kudos to them for really listening to the consumers. It’s exciting to see where m4/3 is going with all these new lenses popping up very soon.
wow, specs sound like a dream and IQ looks to be there! I think I’ll get one
Admin, you may want to change the title. The lens is f1.6, not f1.4.
Could you show us the full size sample?
Wow, what a neat little lens! Micro 4/3 is really getting some cool MF lenses. The system just keeps getting better and better every day.
Good job SLR Magic! For you next lens, how about a 70 or 75mm f.1.4? That would be awesome! 🙂
– Olympius
It seems like SLRMagic is building up their name and line-up in a very positive way. While at first they just put a m4/3 mount on CCTV lenses, they now have a custom designed bright m4/3 UWA prime. Pretty cool development for them and I hope it will be a success.
In terms of price, this is quite a bit cheaper than the Olympus 12mm f/2. I’m very curious about the IQ comparison between the two…
My Dream lens is a Leica 35mm f2.0.
that is all i need. and possibly power OIS, from panasonic, if that were possible.
That Lens on my GF7(which doesnt exist yet) would be enough reason to not need to save up for the M9.
….. a guy can dream.
Sorry to burry your dream, but search for comparison between native Zeiss E 24mm lens and similar Leica M lens. Found it, it was on luminouslandscape: http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/new-nex-7-preview-at-luminous-landscape-zeiss-versus-leica-test/
The conclusion is: nex7 sensor is not build to properly accept leica glasses. The problem exist because of mirrorlenses in sensor (or lack of them), and that rays from lens doesn’t hit sensor rectangularly. So, nex7 is not a poor’s man leica M9, and even not Epson R1-D :(( We still have to wait for such camera.
Edit: Oh no, I am blind, I read nex7 but you writing about GF7 :)) my mistake 🙂
Anyway, m43 with it’s 2x crop it’s.. crap if you want have bright legacy wide lenses… nex7 would be much better but as I wrote above..
yeah man… what are you talking about? i said GF7… not Nex 7.
Nex 7 is a sweet camera. but…. well see what this GF7 has to offer….
Another overrated, overpriced CCTV lens glued on an adapter.
glued on? you don’t like glue? overpriced? find other, me SAME, not better quality & price lens (can be with CCTV). Good luck spending hours on google.
Better think before you write.
It doesn’t look very sharp at 1.6, but apart from that, nice lens. SLRMagic will only get better at what they do, so I hope they use their potential.
What is the point of this lens, when there is the 12mm f/2 that is better in every respect, you don’t need f/1.6 at such a wide angle when you can shoot at low shutter speed and still be sharp. No point in having 1.6 if it’s soft and doesnt do well until f/4.
thank you for writing it for me, was my thought exactly…
the only advantage is the price but comeon…
+1
Considering that the Olympus just came out. SLRmagic did the poll last year and now have it done.
Yes Olympus may have scooped them. But they still did what people wanted and cheaper.
+1
The sharpness is decent, but specular highlights seem rather harsh. It’s not that cheap either.
Looks very promising. The only thing we now need is focus peaking.
Thanks for reading my comment Panasonic/Olympus.
Great, Now, we need that on the NEX system.
It’s not just “Another overrated, overpriced CCTV lens glued on an adapter.” it also has a glued on wide angle WA converter too! The Oly AF lens looks a better bet although more expensive. The Panny 14mm is also great (sharper, cheaper, lighter, AF) if you can live with 28mm equivalent FOV and one stop less.
haha that is funny what you said. when you use a WA converter you loose 1-2 stops of light and distortion is like crazy. you will not end up with a f/1.6 with low distortion. 4/3 CCTV all cost around a grand too. in fact i think it looks like the 21mm distagon
Are you sure this is F1.6 and i doubt even if it is 12mm. show us the report of optical testing ok?
It says it is a 12mm. So what do you suggest it is? a 24mm? LOL
they have history on marking an CCTV 25mm F1.4 lens to 26mm F1.4. so, what do you suggest? LoL x2
Alright. you win then. tell us which lens this is? I dont think there is any c-mount lens as wide as 12mm that does not vignette on 43. So you suggest this is a 25mm lens plus x0.45 WA converter as Brod1er said?
For what it’s worth, adding a wide-angle attachment to a f/1.4 lens isn’t going to slow it down (much). In this case f/1.6 is probably not only correct, but charitable. It means they may have even measured actual light loss instead of just going with the design specs.
(No, I don’t remember the math that shows front end wide-angle attachments don’t slow lenses down, but I’ll assert it anyway.)
Personally, I’d love to see a 12mm or 14mm with an integrated tilt mechanism, to do the classic “looming foreground” landscapes that Ansel Adams popularized. I might end up getting the Samyang 14mm Nikon F-mount lens for just that reason.
I think that is a good guess. But also, I think it is f2.0 or slower. Lol x 3
NEXT STOP Noktor 25mm f0.95 at 1/3 price of the Voigtlander please !!!
am I the only one that thinks the bokeh is unpleasing?
I think the Bokeh is creamy. Leaves usually has the worst wokeh. It looks better than many Sigma and Canon lenses that I own
Hey c’mon guys, this is a cheap chinese CCTV lens for 1/2″, rebranded and OVERPRICED!! Don’t believe the hype! It’s not a quality lens – in my opinion- neither a cometition to the zuiko 12f2
what 1/2″ lens do you suggest? it is at least a 43rds lens and the cheapest one runs for over 1000
I dunno. Even at F16, it looks mighty soft to me…
Besides, the photos did not tell us anything except the dof. so, is that all for what it could do?
Diffraction Limits kick in at around f/5.6 for micro four thirds. Seeing this is the GH2 it makes sense Diffraction kicks in at around f/4. Softness beyond totally makes sense. My Oly 12 is soft at smaller apertures. Distortion is terrible with the Oly 12 as well. This could be an interesting lens
IMHO, they need to try harder for taking better photo. The color ain’t right, the focus were wrong. It simply a joke for showing the ability of the lens.
How is the focus wrong? Bokeh looks good to me. Lens is pretty sharp
even at F11, you can’t see the focus. if the focus point is just like that, would you choose to buy this len? Hey man, it is a wide lens. I hope you really need to think about the purpose of a wide lens. To create creamy bokeh??? LoL.
Why are people trying to look for sharpness in compressed photos in photobucket?
The point is why people trying to put those on photobucket? trying make the photos no focus and showing how bad the new product perform?
admin any Full Size photos?