KamLan 50mm f1.1 Mark II Review
For: Canon EOS M, Fujifilm X Mount, Micro Four Thirds, Sony E Mount
Price: $249 – Purchase at Adorama or KamLan Shop
Looking for the long version of the review? CLICK HERE
review date (June 02, 2020)
The Bee’s Knees:
- Vastly improved over previous version
- Fast-aperture lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras
- Creamy bokeh
- Good-enough image sharpness at f1.1 and excellent from f5.6 through f8
- Very-low vignetting for an f1.1 lens (about 1 stop in extreme corners)
- Well-controlled lateral chromatic aberrations
- Near-zero distortion
- Test copy has exceptional image centering (equally sharp in all 4 corners)
- Great quality for the price
- Nicely-damped control rings
- De-clicked aperture ring for video work
- Comes with Zomei ND4 filter for shots at f1.1 in bright conditions
- Good contrast with sun just out of frame
- 0.25x MFD magnification
- 180 degree focus throw
- Solid build
The Grandpa’s Knees:
- Soft corners from f1.1 through f2.8
- Longitudinal chromatic aberrations at widest apertures
- Moderate flare with sun in frame (actually bee’s knees for some)
- Strong coma in corners from f1.1 through f2.8
- Color shift at wide apertures
- Fully-manual focusing difficult to use at widest apertures
- De-clicked aperture ring not ideal for stills shooting
- Heavy focus-breathing
- Screw-on lens hood difficult to attach/detach compared to bayonet mount lens hoods
- Metal lens hood more likely to accidentally scratch lens element than plastic
- Sun stars a bit messy at f16
- Heavy for small cameras
- No electrical contacts for aperture and focus data
Table of Contents
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
- KamLan 50mm f1.1 lens
- Lens hood
- Lens caps
- Microfiber lens cleaning cloth
- Zomei ND4 62mm filter
IMAGE QUALITY
SHARPNESS
100% crop samples. (Note that the sharpness test has a default of +25 sharpness applied in Adobe Camera Raw in order to reduce the blurring effect of the anti-aliasing filter on the Sony a6300 sensor.)
BOKEH
Bokeh sample at f1.1. Click HERE for a full-resolution sample.
Bokeh at various apertures.
f1.4
f1.1
F1.1 compared to f1.4 bokeh.
Difficult scene for lens at f1.1 and longer focus distance.
Crop from upper-right corner showing worst-case bokeh for the lens at f1.1.
EFCS OFF
EFCS ON
The effect of EFCS at higher shutter speeds and f1.1.
DISTORTION
Tested at 10 feet away from lens at f8. Non-ideal test, but may show a meaningless amount of a barrel distortion at a fraction of a percent.
CHROMATIC ABERRATIONS
LoCA test at f1.1 behind and in front of focus plane with defringe-corrected examples.
100% crops of upper-left corner of frame testing CA levels.
FLARE + CONTRAST
Sample shots taken with the sun in different parts of the frame at f16.
???
???
Contrast test at f5.6 with sun just out of frame, comparing with and without a lens hood. 100% crop.
VIGNETTING
Roughly 1 stop vignetting at f1.1 in extreme, worst corner.
COMA
A nighttime scene with points of light in the far distance.
100% crop of coma test area at different apertures.
A night sky photo taken at f1.1. Full image, downscaled.
100% crop of upper-right corner coma.
CENTERING
200% crop of all four corners aligned. Excellent lens element centering on a 24MP sensor.
SUN STARS
F16, full image, downscaled.
MINIMUM FOCUS DISTANCE
0.25x magnification at 1.3 feet. Click HERE for a full-size sample. Mounted to a Sony a6300.
200% crop, no sharpening.
WITH ZOMEI ND4 FILTER
Zomei 62mm ND4 Filter removed and attached at f1.1 and max shutter speed of Sony a6300.
ND4 Filter OFF
ND4 Filter ON
Zomei ND4 filter color cast comparison to no filter. All settings and RAW processing identical except for shutter speed.
FOCUS BREATHING
Change in angle of view between MFD and Infinity.
Expected final output once cropped due to focus breathing in this test scene.
COLOR SHIFTING
f5.6
f1.1
Color shift comparison at f1.1 and f5.6. All other settings and RAW processing identical except for shutter speed.
BUILD QUALITY
All-metal construction with smooth focus rings.
HANDLING
Size compared to a Sony a6300.
Lens alignment marking for mounting to camera.
Barrel extension between MFD and infinity marking.
No access to focus ring when hood reversed.
Sideways in the Sony LCSU21 Soft carrying case mounted to a Sony a6300 with hood reversed.
SAMPLE SHOTS
The depth of field in this panorama is the equivalent of f0.31 on a 14mm full-frame lens by using 24 shots at 50mm f1.1 for a wider angle of view. Mounted to a Sony a6300.
Panorama of stitched images at f1.1.
Panorama of stitched images at f1.1.
Panorama of stitched images at f1.1.
Panorama of stitched images at f1.1.
LENS SPECS
| Focal Length | 50mm |
| Aperture Range | f1.1 – f16 |
| Aperture Blades | 11 Circular Blades |
| Minimum Focus Distance | 1.3 feet (0.4m) |
| Maximum Magnification | 0.25x |
| Focus Type | Manual |
| Optical Design | 8 Elements, 7 Groups |
| Size | 2.8″ x 2.6″ (72mm x 68mm) |
| Weight | 1.24 lb (563g) Without Hood |
| Filter Size | 62mm |
| Angle of View | 31° On APS-C |
| Camera Format | Mirrorless APS-C, Micro4/3 |