Mitakon 35mm f0.95

From what I’ve heard, my Panasonic GH4 body will be shipping out sometime next week and I’m still on the hunt for lenses. I’ve been looking into the Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f/0.95 as a good fast manual prime for the GH4 but the new price is a little steep at around $1000. I might still end up with a Nokton as I’m scheduled for one of those shifty Craigslist coffee shop meetups later today, if the price is right, I’ll take it home.

My research into the Voigtlander Nokton ended up leading me to the Mitakon 35mm f0.95 above. At a price of $664 on ebay, the Mitakon 35mm f0.95 seems reasonably when compared to the $1000 Nokton 42.5mm f0.95. Sure you loose a little reach as the Mitakon is a 70mm equivalent and the Voigtlander is an 85mm equivalent, but for a $300+ price difference I think I could live with it. Also the Mitakon appears to be a bit heavier at 1.5 lbs (680g) vs 1.26 lbs (571g). The weight difference actually makes sense because the Mitakon is designed to cover a APS-C sensor which means the glass elements have to be a little bigger. This also means there wont be much if any vignetting wide open on a m4/3 body.

I’ve done some hunting and haven’t found any conclusive reviews on the Mitakon 35mm f0.95. There are a lot of statements like “it’s very solid” and “image quality is good” but those aren’t exactly comprehensive reviews. Have any of you Panasonic shooters given this lens a try?

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