Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 Review

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.

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