A bright, poetic masterpiece: Our hands-on review of the Zhong Yi Optics Speedmaster 50mm T1 Cinema Lens for Micro Four Thirds

Released today, I got my hands on the super-fast Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm T1.0 Cinema Lens, and that surprised me with how good it is.

This new lens has joined the other three T/1 lenses they have in the stabilized Micro Four Thirds (MFT): 17mm, 25mm, and 35mm.

With more and more people turning to MFT for video, due to the explosion of short video reels on social media, the demand for cinema lenses is growing. Zhong Yi Optics gave a doozy.

If you don’t know about the T-stop on a lens, it is related to the f-stop but includes the measurement of light passing through the lens. So if you have a fast f/1.0 lens, the internal optics will reduce some of the light reaching the sensor. Therefore, it requires a wider aperture still to achieve the incomparable through f/1.0 lens. T-Stop is the F-stop divided by the lens transmittance.

Most T1.0 lenses are f/0.95. Although not published in their data, I think the widest aperture is around this.

It’s protected in a smart, padded, and stitched faux-leather hard case. The lens feels like a quality-made kit, reminiscent of the high-end pre-digital optics I got for my SLRs over the last century. It’s not a lens of light, but one wouldn’t expect it with its all-metal construction and large glass. On my scale, it weighs 700 g, even though the official weight is 720 g (1.59 lbs). It is about 100 g (3.5 oz) more than OM System Olympus OM-1 or one Panasonic Lumix G9. Even so, walking with a shoulder strap doesn’t feel cumbersome and doesn’t lose balance on a tripod.

The lines on the lens are bright yellow, which stands out against the black background of the lens body. I wasn’t sure about this at first until I tried shooting in low light. I can read the distance and aperture markings without having to reach for my flashlight or reading glasses.

Cinema lenses do not have step apertures like photographic lenses but rather smooth transitions across the aperture range. The lens is completely handmade, so they achieved the change from T1 to minimum aperture at T16 by rotating the control ring closest to the camera body. It takes less than a quarter of a turn to cover the entire aperture range. Similarly, the focus ring near the front of the lens will move from 2 feet (60 cm) to infinity in less than half a turn. That makes lens adjustments quick and achievable in one small movement. That’s important for filmmakers who want smooth and seamless transitions.

The lens adjustments are solid, providing just the right amount of torque. That drag is even across the entire travel length for both aperture and focus, meaning that one can easily find the correct adjustment without having to search for it again and again. Using focus assist in my camera has been invaluable in helping me figure out the correct focal length.

The aperture includes nine curved blades, so I expected this to give a nice look to out-of-focus areas of a scene. Indeed, the results that I get are very satisfying. The lens is capable of close-ups of only 60 cm (2 feet) and the close proximity to the subject allows for a shallower depth of field and pronounced out-of-focus areas in the image. The maximum focusing distance is infinity.

I took some still images using different settings for comparison purposes. All photos are sharp and pleasing to the eye, with minimal chromatic aberration visible on high-contrast edges in out-of-focus areas at some settings.

Here is the cropped image at T1.0 (straight from the camera). You can detect some fringing in the first image, but nothing that can’t be fixed in post-processing. The image is also sharp at an acceptable level.

When I reduced the aperture to T4.0, only the slightest hint was visible and the image was razor sharp. In the T8, there is no bezel.

At the smallest aperture, the T16, there is still no purple or green fringing, and there is a slight increase in softness compared to the T4.0 due to diffraction. Again, that’s easily rectified in post-processing in stills and video editing software.

With MFT, the 50mm gives an angle of view equivalent to that of a 100mm lens on a 35mm sensor camera; 25 degrees. For movie shooting, it’s a nice focal length for portraits and close-ups. That’s probably a narrower field of view than many people will use all the time, but because of the aperture adjustment at T-Stop, swapping with other lenses while shooting allows you to maintain a constant light level.

This lens produces lens flare that will make JJ Abrams fans squeal. I pointed the camera directly at the sun in the following image to increase the effect.

Shooting towards the sun but not including sunlight in the photo gives the image a very pleasant, dreamy feel, which is great for soft portraits. Whether you want to shoot continuous flare lenses is a subjective choice. This amount of flare is commonly seen on wide-angle lenses, but I have a 7-12mm f/2.8 lens that produces less lens flare than this. If that’s your thing, the flare produced by this lens is very appealing. If that’s something you avoid at all costs, you’ll want to keep this lens out of the sun when using it.

It has a different lens construction than its predecessors, and the communication I received from Zhong Yi Optics suggests it performs better than their 17mm, 25mm and 35mm T1 lenses. I don’t have these on hand, so I can’t put them to the test, but other reviews praise these lenses.

It’s primarily a video lens and I’m happy to shoot movies with it with superb results. Super-fast, however, it also has low-light applications that might appeal to astrophysicists and nighttimers.

What I like about this lens and what could be improved

This lens is a good product. It will be on my shopping list if I need it. It’s well made, the optics are clear and works well; I’ve tried lenses far worse than this one, including other super-fast T1.0 lenses and some consumer lenses on APS-C cameras.

Optically, I could see a pixel-peeping difference when I compared my OM System M.Zuiko PRO lens to this one, but that’s hardly surprising since they cost the least. double this lens. But it’s as good or better than many consumer optics I’ve tried on other systems. Like most lenses, it works best when stopped for a bit, but image quality is perfectly acceptable when shooting wide open. It’s sharpest between the T4 and T11. Furthermore, that super-wide aperture allows me to capture scenes and photos that would not have been possible.

Its maneuvers are smooth and easy to perform, even with gloves on, with just the right amount of torque.

It is a fully manual lens, so there is no electronic communication with the camera. I reverted to jotting down the T-Stop settings on a piece of paper for these tests, which I usually only have to do when filming. In most cases this will not be relevant. However, it may be necessary for those shooting longer videos with multiple lenses.

Manual focus on the spot isn’t easy with a lens with a very shallow depth of field, especially when shooting close-ups of subjects, so I’m grateful for the focus aids in my camera.

The lens is affordable and good value, at $399equal to 17 mm, 25 mmand 35 mm T1 lens. Those lenses are now available as a bundle and this lens will be added there soon.