I picked up a Syoptic 50mm f/1.1 (E-mount version) from the B&S last week. I had been keeping the Syoptic on my radar for about a year now after seeing BastainK's review. (https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-syoptic-50mm-1-1/)
I've had fast 50's in the past, but none with the super smooth bokeh of the Syoptic. The Syoptic truly "obliterates" the background. I was planning to get the newer "Mr. Ding" version from eBay, but the (indecipherable) manufacturing delays and higher price put me off.
Then a copy turned up on the FM B&S last week. It was the E-Mount version, which focuses closer (.35m vs .70m for the M mount) so I had to give it a go!
These samples are PP'ed to taste, but not sharpened more than default LR settings. The E-Mount version is pretty sharp in the center. Not crazy sharp and there's some glow at close focusing distances, but it's as good or better than similar vintage glass. The star of the show is the bokeh. Amazing. So smooth! I could achieve similar bokeh (and sharper) results from my Rokinon 135/2, but 135 is hard to shoot in close Brooklyn quarters, and the magnification is not as good as the Syoptic.
Anyway. Super happy! A few examples:
Citibikes. Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Citibikes. Close to MFD focus point.
Magnolia. Columbia Heights, Brooklyn.
Eye Spy. Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn.
Fish cleaning station. Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5.
Activatedfx wrote:
I picked up a Syoptic 50mm f/1.1 (E-mount version) from the B&S last week. I had been keeping the Syoptic on my radar for about a year now after seeing BastainK's review. (https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-syoptic-50mm-1-1/)
I've had fast 50's in the past, but none with the super smooth bokeh of the Syoptic. The Syoptic truly "obliterates" the background. I was planning to get the newer "Mr. Ding" version from eBay, but the (indecipherable) manufacturing delays and higher price put me off.
Then a copy turned up on the FM B&S last week. It was the E-Mount version, which focuses closer (.35m vs .70m for the M mount) so I had to give it a go!
These samples are PP'ed to taste, but not sharpened more than default LR settings. The E-Mount version is pretty sharp in the center. Not crazy sharp and there's some glow at close focusing distances, but it's as good or better than similar vintage glass. The star of the show is the bokeh. Amazing. So smooth! I could achieve similar bokeh (and sharper) results from my Rokinon 135/2, but 135 is hard to shoot in close Brooklyn quarters, and the magnification is not as good as the Syoptic.
A few from a trip to a nature reserve I some 120kms north me and a colleague made this weekend. We overnighted, hoping to see grouse in the wee hours. The weather was a sunny 19C on the Saturday and there were even gnats. Once the sun dropped below the horizon all the gnats disappeared and it felt as if the temp fell by 10C in the span of twenty minutes. I tried a new sleeping bag (comfort temp 1C) that worked pretty well but woke up early and sometime during the night the wind picked up, coming unimpeded from the north and, well, it was a cold morning, the weather had shifted.
We only heard grouse before sunup but it was a nice time out. Even scenery that isn't traditionally picturesque can seem so lovely.
