I LOVE ZOHA! There. Keep bringing her back. Having been involved/informed about the production process of another lens manufacturer cough * Tokina * cough, I can tell you that if a lens manufacturers expects to produce less than a thousand units a month it is cheaper to make the parts with metal instead of polycarbonate. The reason for this is the set-up and mould costs are prohibitive unless you plan to produce way more than 12,000 a year. CnC machining in China is extremely cheap vs having a set of moulds made for the parts.
Make sure you let people know in the description it's the MKII of this lens. Some places are still selling the original which isn't as good. And brand new this one sells for $200.
I got this lens after the first time I saw this video and was very pleased with the results, not only in respect of portraits but also general shots on a sunny day at 1/250@f8. The pictures produced lots of detail even when blown up to 7x and 10x. Also, I only paid £80 for it on eBay. Good stuff Jimmy.
I came here for the lens review (great!!) but am leaving with a need for more Zoha!!!!!!!! You have found the perfect partner!!!! Smart, funny, beautiful and photography aware!!!! 10 thumbs up!!!!!!!!
How lovely to see you shooting around Covent Garden - I do miss it sometimes! (Just round the corner from Aperture! 🙂) I have the Kamlan - I had the Mk1 which was lighter, smaller and super handy, but really not sharp. Waited ages for the Mk2 to import and it's way better, but seriously more than double the weight (and light/compact was the reason for my APS-C system) so I don't take it out very often. However, I agree completely - it does have that 'classic' look - and since that's been my own 'look' since the 90s, I'm happy. Nonetheless, I have the 7 Artisans 50mm f0.95 on order, and I suspect that's going to see much more action...
Another fun and informative review Jimmy! I have just bought the mark II , having previously owned the mark I. The Kamlan 50mm F1.1 mark 2 is around £180 and the mark 1 is around £100. I couldn't recommend the mark 1 as it is very soft anywhere but the very centre, even if you close it down, so I'm looking forward to receiving the mark 2 very soon.
Don't know why this video suddenly appeared but I am glad it did Jimmy. Usually I am wary when people say it has a vintage look but it looks fab esp B&W as you say. What a bargain, great pics. Fun video with Zoha as always.
Just add some advise if we using manual lens on Olympus, we can set the 5 axis. So that the manual lens can also have the benefit of it. First choose the menu (SCP = Super Control Panel) then choose S-IS Auto. Press info button then add the focal length of the manual lens. By the way for that price this lens really tempting Jimmy =D
You two have a great onscreen chemistry. And yes, I love Zoha; so please bring her back often. And thank you for your honest reviews. In this case, when you buy the lens yourself, you can really, really say what you think. So "punches above its weight" summed up a lot about how you felt about the lens.
Thanks for the Review Jimmy. I also had the Kamlan and your right, it has it´s own vintage look, but overall it was a litte bit too soft wide open and so i changed it against the Sigma 56mm1.4 which i am much more happy with. But for the Price of course its a great lense. I just heard that there is a Mark II Version out of the Kamlan, would be nice if you could review this one too! Greetings from Germany
spanksen This is the mark ii version, although I think Jimmy has the price wrong as it’s available for around £175 and not £100. Agree with regarding the the Sigma 56 1.4, that’s a lovely lens. Samyang also do a 50mm F1.2 fully manual and for around £249.
Great video!!! I just came across your channel. I have a quick question. Are the images in the video straight out of the camera or were they edited? Either way they are fantastic.!!
Hello Jimmy. I enjoyed your review, very good as you always do. I don't have this lens, but I do have the KamLan 28mm f1,4, which of course it's a quite different lens, but I'd say it has the same flavour of the 50 1,1. The 28 is quite sharper though, as you would expect from an high class normal lens. I am almost 60 years old, and in the 28 I found the character of older Olympus and Zeiss manual lenses, which of curse I love! I guess this brand will sell a lot of lenses in the close future, and I sincerely wish they will, as the good job result.
Thanks Robert. Yeah, I do like Kamlan and definitely a characterful lens. We are blessed with so many options these days and it will take time to test and look at all of them hahah! One recent lens that I reviewed is the Artralab, which is pretty good and unique, slightly more expensive than Kamlan but build is better.
@@Red35Photography of course: reviews are a part of your job, and I think that it's almost impossible to keep up to date with the overall excellent and huge production of Chinese lens manufacturers. I have a general opinion about Chinese lenses: in China nowadays they are doing what Japan and Germany used to do back in the days of analog photography (I am old, yes) and that is to give to us photographers great and reliable tools for our work. I think that Japanese and German brands, in general, are now more concerned about film-makers and to produce the lens with the quicker autofocus, with more custom buttons and so on. With some exceptions, they are not focused on the working photographer as they used to be. What do think?
@@robertoorru5191 I wouldn't disagree, in fact, I spoke to Laowa about this and unfortunately, with any business, they follow the trend and currently any video stuff sells, better than photography. it's economy of scale, companies make things that sell. I would like to see more good Chinese lenses but worry not, there are some new companies around these days.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the output you've show of this lens! I do agree that it seems that everything today looks too digital/modern and too sharp. The dreamy smooth quality of this lens seems very desirable to me. I'd never heard of it before this video, thanks for sharing it with me...looks like it would balance just fine on an em-1ii. 🤔
I feel like this lens gives a nice effect like old manual focus film cameras. I would love to see Zoha in your videos monthly...she has the best energy.
Jimmy, I'd love one of these but where can you buy this for £100 - nearly double that price on ebay unless you settle for the mk 1 version - and is that any good?
I have this lens. I also purchased a SLR Magic t.95 for £450 because I enjoyed the Kamlan and I wanted something a lot better. I could not sell the Kamlan. I sold the SLR Magic. Kamlan bang for buck is a keeper. Nice Video..
Nice video! :) I may have to look for one of these. I just have an OM-D EM-10 Mk III -- think this would work OK with it? It could give me some more experience with manual focus, and I guess focus peaking. And, Jimmy, I need some pro-tips on how to shoot in the clouds and rain like this, I don't know how you do it! My photos always look drab and depressing with the gray skies. :| Thanks for joining us, Zoha. :)
I had the same problem. I have the E-M10 II. You have to learn how to edit your pictures so that they don't look drab. That's what I did. A good editor is Luminar. Check out what you can do with it
I can see purple fringing on the back bottom line of the umbrella 7:24 and at 7:30 on top area of hair at forehead and above level as well as a bit over the fingers, not mentioned in this video. Good price for what it is
Poor Zoha, having to compete with pigeons! Seems like a nice lens! Wonder how it compares to the first version? Any big differences? Don't think I will buy it though. Between my 20mm 1.7 and 75mm 1.8 I don't think I will use it much...
There is a version l., which is cheaper, smaller and much lighter.. and a little bit less sharp at 1,1. But it has great bokeh, and even more “vintage characteristics”. Fun lens, and very usable in low light.
It's shot at 1.1 in most cases. I didn't think it was difficult. You just need to be fairly quick after acquiring focus, because any drift will make it soft. Preset your magnify box at the right place before clicking, if that makes it easier.
hello and sorry my english. I would like to ask since you know very well the optics and the m4 / 3 machines. For my Pen F and Om1 I would like to combine a very open fixed for strong bokeh effects. I noticed the Kamlan 50 f1.1 but it doesn't look that good wide open. also the 7artisan 50 f0.95 makes me interested. which of the two do you think is better in image quality, sharpness, bokeh and with fewer lens defects? thank you very much
I don't think the Mark II would cost 100 pounds. Maybe through the kickstarter, but it's close to 300 now. I paid a month ago 100 £ for the mark I. Great work. I like the vibes on your vids, a new SUB won indeed!
Hey can you review the Sigma 16mm 1.4 for mft vs the olympus 17mm 1.2 pro? As well as the olympus 45mm 1.2 Pro vs the Sigma 56mm 1.4 mft? I shoot with the Pen F for street photography and shoot video with the GH5 . I just want to know if the sigma is just as good as the olympus for half the price since they are both weather sealed. Thanks love your channel. Its kept me in the MFT world
Nice relaxed feel to the video Jimmy. Your right, love Zoha. Somewhere in this shoot you summed up this lens with the comment on it being a great bargain Black and White lens. Good value with the right shots in mind.
I purchased on kickstarter as well and thrilled with price / performance ... thanks for doing the video and review. Hard to complain about being heavy as I would rather have heavy than light and cheap plastic
I wonder what olympus are going to say when they hear you saying how good it is for the money being fully metal and Olympus’s 50 f1.8 is all plastic and costing more (I have actually broken an Oly 50 f1.8 by sitting on it when in my coat pocket) so as a Olympus Visionary WHAT lens are you going to recommend that I buy to replace my broken plastic Oly 50 f1.8 for portraits ?
thank you for a lovely video!! I just bought that lens due to your presentation....if it goes wrong i blame you!! lol thank you for your great and funny work
I love ZOHA ..... , if its possible place f numbers next to the lucky lady 🤣 , so we can determine which f numbers are best to use with this cheap thrill 🙏🏼 . B.t.w i have got both the KamLan lenses from Kickstarter ...excelent build.
Another comment: if one is truly interested in finding good lenses with great bokeh, there really is no reason to go to manufacturers like Kamlan for something like this focal length and (lack) of quality (the single most common focal length in lens history). Get yourself a Asahi Super-Takumar f1.4 50mm. Even the most expensive of the three generations (including the adapter) is equal to or less than the cost of this lens, and it's widely considered one of the best lenses ever made (yes, even compared to modern, digital lenses). Honestly, you don't even need to spend that much: there are a number of great lenses, at much better quality, below the cost of this one at f1.4. There are even a few vintage f1.2 that are similar in cost to the Mark II of this lens that are much better.
She looks just like a girl who was on an American kids' show in the 1980s, called "3-2-1 Contact". You can find it on RU-vid. Here's a link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VMoWO5rMSRs.html Well, maybe not exactly, but it's been a long time since I've seen it. But she does certainly remind me of the girl - from 40 years ago.
Leptospirosi by comparison, it’s not bad at 1.1, it won’t have the same contrast and saturations as high end lenses but better than something like 7Artisan or SLR Magic.
Tough choice, for sheer convenience, 45mm 1.8, mainly due to AF. But Kamlan has 1.1 bright aperture, good for low light stuff and for videos, it's magic!
It doesn't have a modern image; well then it gets my vote. When I find I have got a lens with a modern image I pack it up and sell it. I love all my classic film Nikkors and Voightlander lenses. This 50mm lens doesn't fit any niche in my bag alas, because its manual focus. I don't take portraits; if I did I would use my Nikkor 85mm f1.8D on my Nikon D700. I use this focal length for animals at the Zoo and have the wonderful Olympus 45mm f1.8 which enables me to follow the little buggers as they scamper around their enclosures. I would have no chance with a manual focus lens; I didnt even manage any sharp shots with my new Sony 50mm f1.8, it was way too slow and by the time it was in focus the animals were long gone. But I do like classic lenses even if they are a bit softer. What I most prize in a lens is the ability to resolve objects in space in front of a sharp background (best seen in low glass primes like my Leica 23mm f1.7 Summilux which gives images dripping in microtones); I find over sharp flat field images lifeless and dump such "modern" lenses quickly. Have fun with your new lens ;-)
I have that lens, for the price it's amazing and as you said, the look is very unique. It's a little front heavy but is a manual focus lens, so you will be shooting using both hands so that's not a huge deal breaker. By the way, very nice shots that you got with Zoha! Here an album that I have with some shots with the Kamlan 50mm f/1.1ii : www.flickr.com/photos/axelrivera/albums/72157711637277666
