I recently purchased a 12mm T1.6 Hyperprime from SLRMagic because I needed a fast wide angle lens for my GH2 and upcoming BlackMagic cinema cameras. While I haven’t tested this lens in the field yet, I’ve done some simple shooting with it to get a feel for it – and overall, my experience with this lens has been very positive.
The lens I purchased came with two additional accessories available; the lens gear and the 58mm to 77mm upgrade ring. I planned to use it for follow focus, so I knew immediately I needed lens gear. It’s really a must if you plan on using this lens with a FF system as the lens itself is very narrow so a lot of the follow focus gear may not work well with the lens. The gear is only $50 when you buy the lens (instead of $80 separately), so it’s well worth it. The lens gear itself is well built and feels quite heavy. The boost ring, like the rest of the lens, is made of metal. This ring may or may not be valuable to you, but since I own so many 77mm filters, it’s a no-brainer.
All in all, the lens is beautifully made. Even before seeing the images it captured, the construction and appearance of the lens alone made it seem film-worthy. The focus ring has hard stops and is super smooth, as does the clickless manual aperture control. This is truly a true cine lens, built for production. Its construction is almost reminiscent of old-school Bolex film cameras in that it feels like a precision mechanical part. Even the lens cap is great.
The lens mounted on the camera complements its beautiful appearance. This lens has a unique aesthetic. The images it produces are different from those produced by other lenses I own. The only drawbacks to this lens (which are few and far between) tend to end up being strengths in other areas. From a strictly technical standpoint, the lens does have some very minor quirks that some shooters may be put off by. For example, I tend to find that it flares relatively easily and has other minor flaws. But again, this is both a positive and a negative, depending on the type of shooter you are. I love the features of this lens. A big part of what makes this lens so great for me is those slight technical flaws that create a unique look. These flaws will be barely noticeable to many people and can be dealt with through lens hoods, color correction, etc., but for most people I think these minor flaws will make them grow to love this lens.
Compared to my 25mm Leica 1.4, the Leica’s image is more “perfect”. But that’s not always what I want (although it’s also one of my favorite shots). In fact, I find myself using this lens more than any other lens I own.
For the price of this lens, I don’t think any other lens can compete with it. If this lens were T0.95 like SLRMagic’s other lenses, it would be the perfect lens for me. At 1.6x focal length it’s a very fast lens, much better than most MFT mount focal lengths, but I still wish it was a little faster. There is a definite difference between this lens and my Leica 1.4, it feels noticeably brighter. I haven’t done any side-by-side comparisons, so this is purely subjective – but the Leica feels brighter overall, and considering it’s almost the same speed lens, it’s brighter than I expected. Still, the SLRMagic is a very large lens capable of excellent low-light shooting.
After shooting with this lens, I was very surprised that it actually functions as a macro lens. In the photo below, the lens is only about 1/4 inch from the Yashica. This will certainly lead to some very interesting, creative shots that are only possible when shooting macro.
All in all, this is one of my favorite lenses and is destined to be on my camera most of the time. It feels purely cinematic, and any imperfections it has only make the final image look more unique without being distracting in any way. It does feel as solid as a Zeiss prime, but at only 1/10 the price of a Zeiss prime, I highly recommend it if you’re looking for more cinematic imagery.
I’ll post some updates once I have some decent shots!
