Most of us have used an f/1.4 or f/1.8 lens at some point and seen the crazy bokeh you can get once you start getting into those really wide apertures. But f/0.95 is more than a stop wider than even f/1.4, and the light-gathering power and bokeh you can get from such a lens is on an entirely different level. Check out this look at the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 III lens.
Coming to you from Manny Ortiz, this fun video takes a look at the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 III, which is the latest version of the company's ultra-wide aperture 50mm lens for mirrorless cameras. I've owned the first version for a few years and can say it's a lot of fun to shoot with. The build is quite solid, the focus throw makes it easier to dial in precise focus even with the thin depth of field, and of course, shooting at f/0.95 is just fun. If you're worried about the fact that it's a manual focus lens, I personally have never been bothered by it. Of course, you won't use it to shoot fast action, but for portrait work, the manual focus aids of modern mirrorless cameras (I personally prefer the focus zoom feature) have always made it perfectly fine to work with in my opinion. Check out the video above for Ortiz' full thoughts.
I get anxiety thinking about how often I'd miss focus haha.
I really like this lens.
It's rather odd, this obsession with bokeh. Once you're around f/2.8 you already have all the bokeh you need. People go crazy with this shit.
Yup. I once read in an article that when shooting big budget movies they always use long lenses (85mm, 135mm) and they always use apertures like f/4 and f/3.5 to get the shallow DOF.
I actually feel that the whole obsession with DOF somehow started with the DSLR revolution, because up until then it was virtually impossible to get any DOF in video (excluding maybe those crazy expensive and not very convenient ground glass adapters) the big chips became accessible and everyone just wanted hair thin focus when in reality using fast aperture lenses in cinema, unless it is for creative reasons, was more of a sign of not having enough budget to afford enough lights to properly light the set...