Zhongyi (Mitakon) Super Macro Lens (1 - 5x)

dhmiller · Post by **dhmiller** » Tue Nov 12, 2019 6:14 pm

The current Mitakon 2.5 - 5x 20mm is a very good budget option..

jeremylavine wrote:Did Zhong Yi give any estimated release date?

I have been considering the Laowa 25mm 2.5-5x, possibly in combination with the Laowa or Oshiro 60mm 2x or new Loawa 100mm 2x, for Sony APS-C E-Mount, to dip my toes into super-macro. This Mitakon lens seems like an attractive alternative. Obviously it would be nicer to have one lens covering the 1-5x range rather than two, and further up in the thread, someone mentioned that this Mitakon seemed to have less chromatic aberation than the Laowa 25mm 2.5-5x. Any thoughts on this?

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:45 pm

I'm using my Laowa 2.5x-5x a lot these last few days on a full frame camera for a project, and I like it very much. It is sharp all the way into the full frame corners. I don't see significant CA, and I love the convenience of changing the magnification easily. Specific lens combos can beat it at specific magnifications, but if you have to work fast and change magnification often, the ease of operation is worth the tradeoff.

mjkzz · Post by **mjkzz** » Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:54 pm

I think it is out already, but I do have some reservations. Here is the story: When I received the first copy of pre-production (after the engineering copy), I was happy because one key issue, haziness, was "resolved" and I was actually very optimistic about it. Then I received a private message here from a highly reputed lens expert, the PM was not related to this lens at all, but it ringed a bell -- why not arrange a copy to be sent to him, and since he got so many other high quality lenses and is an expert on this? I was also looking for another gentleman (from Europe, I think) here who presented very impressive lens reviews/tests, unfortunately, I could not remember his (handle) name here, then I was so tied up at work, so busy, I did not have a chance to find this person.

Long story short, when I received a comparison, I was shocked, it was below par with MP-E, let alone other high quality optics. So I sent result back to Zhongyi, two weeks later, they send me another copy, but this time I did a quick test and I did not see too much of improvement over the one sent to US.

Disclosure: I do not have any financial ties with Zhongyi, nor would I carry it, but I do have good relationship with them, so please take this into consideration for the following.

The major issue is haziness, I think I have pointed it out in this thread with the engineering copy. The solution Zhongyi did was to flock the internals of the lens with some clothe. It worked well (engineering copy vs pre-production one) except when you stack it up against MP-E and the like, it shows. I did not notice it because I do not have a MP-E to compare. I believe this haziness reduce sharpness, too.

On the other hand, it still has long working distance, even at 5x (90+mm), this can be advantage in some situation and lighting. With the engineering copy, it has a very good characteristic -- near telecentric, I believe it is still so (I am still burnt out over work, so no time to test it yet). In terms of CA, I think it has some, but bearable and it is gone by stopping down. I will continue to use it as focus stacking hobbyist (vs professional).

lothman · Post by **lothman** » Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:42 pm

lothman wrote:any update when this lens will be available?

seems to get available now 499$

https://zyoptics.net/product/mitakon-cr ... per-macro/

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Fri Dec 06, 2019 5:03 pm

I normally hate Youtube lens reviews but this one by Richard Wong was decent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2OBA2hQOs

He says that at both 1x and 5x, on his copy of the lens, the sharpest aperture is f/8 (nominal). That's very bad (though he may be conflating sharpness with contrast here). The sharpest aperture of the Laowa is around f/3.2 (nominal); some users say f/2.8. That means the Laowa will have at least twice the resolution of the Mitakon, if both lenses are using the same definition of "aperture". As discussed earlier in this thread, the meaning of these aperture numbers is a bit ambiguous, and so it may not be the same definition between the two lenses.

MarkSturtevant · Post by **MarkSturtevant** » Sun Dec 08, 2019 9:24 am

Lou Jost wrote:I normally hate Youtube lens reviews but this one by Richard Wong was decent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2OBA2hQOs

He says that at both 1x and 5x, on his copy of the lens, the sharpest aperture is f/8 (nominal). That's very bad ...

A good point. I would wish to see a more detailed description of the image quality from full production copies of this lens. This review seemed mainly aimed at more novice macrophotographers, although parts of it were useful.

lothman · Post by **lothman** » Mon Dec 09, 2019 11:54 am

MarkSturtevant wrote: A good point. I would wish to see a more detailed description of the image quality from full production copies of this lens....

some pictures on dpreview
https://www.dpreview.com/news/602133050 ... macro-lens

Elivood · Post by **Elivood** » Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:25 am

I tried ordering a copy from my local seller. Looks like Zhong yi has some problem with manufacturing the lense. It's good to see they are keeping up the standard but on the other hand it's bit alarming their first shipment is not performing well.

"IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION (11th Dec): We have recently found that the first shipment of our 85mm f/2.8 is not performing to our design specifications. We are now investigating the issue and its not available to order now. For all purchased customers, we will send out official notice on the refund/return/exchange process in 7 days. Sorry for all inconvenience caused."

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:04 am

That's actually quite impressive.

rolsen · Post by **rolsen** » Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:34 pm

That's an honorable thing to do!

Macro_Cosmos · Post by **Macro_Cosmos** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:52 am

Christopher Frost also did kind of a preview of this lens which deterred me. Seems like Zhongyi has addressed the issue according to recent posts. The lens was and I'd put it nicely, quite disappointing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_GCNHdA3cY

I hope they fix the issues and we see a real winner. Laowa's 25mm while being a lot smaller and $100 cheaper, does have some LoCA and the tripod foot is a big afterthought. Zhongyi's tripod foot looks great and needed! The Laowa is small enough and doesn't need such a thing.

Elivood · Post by **Elivood** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 9:51 pm

Apparently Micael Widell got an explanation about the problem from Zhong yi. I don't have nearly enough knowledge to assess if the explanation is plausible. Maybe someone here can give their thoughts about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLH9AVELIEo

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 10:15 pm

Elivood wrote:Maybe someone here can give their thoughts about it.

3:58, "miscalculation of [uh] numerical aperture" makes no sense at all in terms of explaining bad image quality. But I'm not very worried about that because very brief explanations often get scrambled in transmission. I'll be very interested to see full review of the revised product.

--Rik

Macro_Cosmos · Post by **Macro_Cosmos** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 12:51 am

Elivood wrote:Apparently Micael Widell got an explanation about the problem from Zhong yi. I don't have nearly enough knowledge to assess if the explanation is plausible. Maybe someone here can give their thoughts about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLH9AVELIEo

They said NA was miscalculated. Whatever that's supposed to mean.
Hope to see a refined review soon.

Someone on Nikon Rumours pointed out that the ring light has very shiny metal parts exposed which could mean stray light is going into the lens thereby messing up the contrast. That does make sense, we saw a lot of haze. But that still doesn't explain the lack of resolution.

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 6:05 am

Micael tried the illuminator and it broke on his first attempt, so his test results have nothing to do with the lack of flocking of the illuminator.

Still, the lack of flocking in the illuminator (and the fact that it broke on first use) says a lot about the lack of care taken in the design and construction of this lens.

The Laowa 2.5x-5x is in a completely different league. It is fast becoming one of my favorite lenses.