The Meyer Optic NOCTURNUS II has shown up, and what a beauty this lens is. In fact, it exceeded my expectations as I was expecting it to be like the Mitakon 50 0.95 but this lens is not the same (country to rumors, I clarify in the video below). With 15 aperture blades (vs 9 of the Mitakon) and a built quality that is much more Leica than anything, this lens is fantastic. It weighs less than the Mitakon, is sharper wide open, has a warm rich OOC color and nice contrast. The size is just about PERFECT for the A7RII I am testing it on, and while this is only my 1st hands on look, not my review! My full review will be coming soon but I have a feeling this will become a fave of mine. Much of the $11k Leica Noctilux but at $3000. Made in Germany. The build is astonishing in feel and finish. The design is unique and attractive. The focus and aperture rings are precision..smooth and silky and silent.
All three OOC color, with #2 in B&W. Click on them for much sharper versions to see how sharp the subject is at 0.95. Shot with the A7RII.
In the video below I go over my thoughts after my 1st use, show some samples and explain why this is not the Mitakon in disguise as some rumors suggested ; ) FULL REVIEW SOON!!!!
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I bought this lens from B&H, honestly, I am very disappointed. You emphasised that the lens is totally different with Mitakon, but through my test the performance is exactly the same. At f/.95 the image is very soft and the contrast is very low. The focus ring is slippery, if you have sweat in your hand, it is very difficult to operate. If this lens is sold for less than 1,000$, I have nothing to say. It is definitely not worth the price!
I AM HAVING THE OPPOSITE RESULT AS YOU. My lens is sharp at 0.95, contrasty and with wonderful smooth bokeh and color. No slippage issues, and it has beautiful construction. Working on my review now with a side by side of the Mitakon. Maybe you have a bum copy, and if so, that is not good regardless. I would return it ASAP to B&H for a refund. My review will be up soon but for me it is closer to the Noctilux than the Mitakon.
Hey guys, I have one of this for sale at the buy and sell section. Let me know if you’re interested. 🙂
f0.95… neeeed autofocus! (Says the happy owner of a canon dream lens f0.95). Seriously, give me a nice soft autofocus 0.95 and I’ll be in heaven. That or I’ll have to get an A7II and one of those techart autofocus adapters…
SO excited for your upcoming reviews Steve from your travels! Would love to see a review on that 35 f.95 sometime also if possible! Very curious about that also,
cheers!
It seems that the Meyer is a rebadged lens as it has the same optical design as the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 according to a post in PetaPixel.
AS STATED. I contacted Meyer, and they told me IT IS NOT a rebadged lens. They were very clear on this, and also frustrated that “:rumors” stated otherwise. I can tell you that this lens is performing better than the Mitakon. Sharper wide open and bokeh has a different signature, entirely. So it is not the same lens.
I apologize for not reading the part where you spoke to Meyer. Anyway, from the photographs I’ve seen, it seems like an amazing lens. I will try to do some informal testing on a Mitakon to see how it performs. What really bothers me is the similarity between the lens design of the Meyer and the Mitakon. Could it be that they are both using a lens design that’s in public domain or maybe they both bought the same lens design from the same designer. Subsequently, with Meyer’s higher level of workmanship, they were able to make a lens that is superior to the Mitakon.
Is this only for the Sony mount? No Leica M mount? This looks like it was meant to be on a Leica!
Sony E only
ouch ! i see MAGIC in this lens !
It has to be much better really than the Mitakon to justify the price. Also there is the CV 50 Nokton. Not quite as fast but close enough and well build also. I am looking forward to see more images and maybe a comparison whith the lenses mentioned.
I had a discussion with a friend of mine who refuses to accept that this is not the same lens as the latest Mitakon even when the specs are (slightly) different. I told him not to listen to rumour sites that bashed this lens way before it was in stock. Still i am curious if this lens is worth its money.
There is no Myer Nocturnus.
Take the Meyer instead….
Hi folks, that last comment marked Anonymous was me – always put my name to my comments.
Forgot to look at the name and email fields – silly me !
In our era of accelerating built in obsolescence and super short product upgrade cycles -iinformation on new lenses are more than ever relevant to photographers.
These are things of beauty and creative possibilities and will last you well into the future and will unlike your digital camera computer will be an investment ! Enjoy.
Hi Steve,
hope you will also compare this lens with Canon Dream Lens. look forward to your review!
Hi Steve,
Hope you will also compare this lens with Canon ‘Dream Lens’
Does it have automatic focus magnification like the Loxia lenses ?
i dont see electronic contacs so the answer is no. assign the magnification function to a c button.
Oh god I need this.
The only problem is I have the Sony/Zeiss 50/1.4 which is so freakin good that it’s hard to justify 3k for a lens of the same length.
But do want the 0.95 🙂 Enjoy the road trip, look forward to seeing some more samples.
Holy S**T! what a gorgeous rendering. Gotta get me one of those 😉
Hi Steve, can you share your thoughts as to how this compares to the SLRMagic Hyperprime T0.95? Thanks!
It’s similar in quality (to the GOOD RF coupled SLR Magic). If you have the SLR Magic that was released AFTER, this beats it. The $5k SLR Magic may eek this one out but the $1000 SLR Magic? No contest. This one would win.
Awesome! I have the CINE (non RF coupled) version of the 50mm T0.95 Hyperprime, and I think I have the good version since I got my copy before Andrew finalized the production packaging. Andrew was nice enough to give me the option of waiting for the packaging or receiving the lens in a plain box, and I opted for the plain box.
I love how it draws – so thank you for the recommendation.
The corners always performed terribly on my Sony A7, but I tested it yesterday on my Leica M10 and at 0.95 the corners look almost as sharp as the center. Stunning.
I’m sorry to hear that Andrew couldn’t keep the quality this high for his later production run.
Looking forward to the full review on this. Do you still have the Mitakon and if so I hope you’ll do a comparison between the two, especially wide open. I own the Mitakon and it’s extremely soft up until 2.8, but that price tag on this Nocturnus at $3.000 though. Two questions: Is there a lense hood included, and is there a chip in it so exif data is recorded?
Hi Steve, Is it for sale yet?
Yes, link to IN STOCK AT B&H is right there in the post, twice ; )
Hi Steve, what finger grip is that ?
Jerry
Cosyspeed. Cheap, simple, very effective. $7.50
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1100820-REG/cosyspeed_cs0011_fingercamstrap_10_finger_strap.html/BI/4399/KBID/4837
I bought this lens from B&H, honestly, I am very disappointed. You emphasised that the lens is totally different with Mitakon, but through my test the performance is exactly the same. At f/.95 the image is very soft and the contrast is very low. The focus ring is slippery, if you have sweat in your hand, it is very difficult to operate. If this lens is sold for less than 1,000$, I have nothing to say. It is definitely not worth the price!
I AM HAVING THE OPPOSITE RESULT AS YOU. My lens is sharp at 0.95, contrasty and with wonderful smooth bokeh and color. No slippage issues, and it has beautiful construction. Working on my review now with a side by side of the Mitakon. Maybe you have a bum copy, and if so, that is not good regardless. I would return it ASAP to B&H for a refund. My review will be up soon but for me it is closer to the Noctilux than the Mitakon.
Hey guys, I have one of this for sale at the buy and sell section. Let me know if you’re interested. 🙂
f0.95… neeeed autofocus! (Says the happy owner of a canon dream lens f0.95). Seriously, give me a nice soft autofocus 0.95 and I’ll be in heaven. That or I’ll have to get an A7II and one of those techart autofocus adapters…
SO excited for your upcoming reviews Steve from your travels! Would love to see a review on that 35 f.95 sometime also if possible! Very curious about that also,
cheers!
It seems that the Meyer is a rebadged lens as it has the same optical design as the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 according to a post in PetaPixel.
AS STATED. I contacted Meyer, and they told me IT IS NOT a rebadged lens. They were very clear on this, and also frustrated that “:rumors” stated otherwise. I can tell you that this lens is performing better than the Mitakon. Sharper wide open and bokeh has a different signature, entirely. So it is not the same lens.
I apologize for not reading the part where you spoke to Meyer. Anyway, from the photographs I’ve seen, it seems like an amazing lens. I will try to do some informal testing on a Mitakon to see how it performs. What really bothers me is the similarity between the lens design of the Meyer and the Mitakon. Could it be that they are both using a lens design that’s in public domain or maybe they both bought the same lens design from the same designer. Subsequently, with Meyer’s higher level of workmanship, they were able to make a lens that is superior to the Mitakon.
Is this only for the Sony mount? No Leica M mount? This looks like it was meant to be on a Leica!
Sony E only
ouch ! i see MAGIC in this lens !
It has to be much better really than the Mitakon to justify the price. Also there is the CV 50 Nokton. Not quite as fast but close enough and well build also. I am looking forward to see more images and maybe a comparison whith the lenses mentioned.
I had a discussion with a friend of mine who refuses to accept that this is not the same lens as the latest Mitakon even when the specs are (slightly) different. I told him not to listen to rumour sites that bashed this lens way before it was in stock. Still i am curious if this lens is worth its money.
There is no Myer Nocturnus.
Take the Meyer instead….
Hi folks, that last comment marked Anonymous was me – always put my name to my comments.
Forgot to look at the name and email fields – silly me !
In our era of accelerating built in obsolescence and super short product upgrade cycles -iinformation on new lenses are more than ever relevant to photographers.
These are things of beauty and creative possibilities and will last you well into the future and will unlike your digital camera computer will be an investment ! Enjoy.
Hi Steve,
hope you will also compare this lens with Canon Dream Lens. look forward to your review!
Hi Steve,
Hope you will also compare this lens with Canon ‘Dream Lens’
Does it have automatic focus magnification like the Loxia lenses ?
i dont see electronic contacs so the answer is no. assign the magnification function to a c button.
Oh god I need this.
The only problem is I have the Sony/Zeiss 50/1.4 which is so freakin good that it’s hard to justify 3k for a lens of the same length.
But do want the 0.95 🙂 Enjoy the road trip, look forward to seeing some more samples.
Holy S**T! what a gorgeous rendering. Gotta get me one of those 😉
Hi Steve, can you share your thoughts as to how this compares to the SLRMagic Hyperprime T0.95? Thanks!
It’s similar in quality (to the GOOD RF coupled SLR Magic). If you have the SLR Magic that was released AFTER, this beats it. The $5k SLR Magic may eek this one out but the $1000 SLR Magic? No contest. This one would win.
Awesome! I have the CINE (non RF coupled) version of the 50mm T0.95 Hyperprime, and I think I have the good version since I got my copy before Andrew finalized the production packaging. Andrew was nice enough to give me the option of waiting for the packaging or receiving the lens in a plain box, and I opted for the plain box.
I love how it draws – so thank you for the recommendation.
The corners always performed terribly on my Sony A7, but I tested it yesterday on my Leica M10 and at 0.95 the corners look almost as sharp as the center. Stunning.
I’m sorry to hear that Andrew couldn’t keep the quality this high for his later production run.
Looking forward to the full review on this. Do you still have the Mitakon and if so I hope you’ll do a comparison between the two, especially wide open. I own the Mitakon and it’s extremely soft up until 2.8, but that price tag on this Nocturnus at $3.000 though. Two questions: Is there a lense hood included, and is there a chip in it so exif data is recorded?
Hi Steve, Is it for sale yet?
Yes, link to IN STOCK AT B&H is right there in the post, twice ; )