Fast prime lenses often command a premium price, keeping f/1.2 apertures out of reach for many budget-conscious photographers. Pergear is looking to shake up the entry-level market with its new Pergear 50mm f/1.2 APS-C lens, offering incredible speed and vintage aesthetics for just $99.
Lens Specifications and Features
The Pergear 50mm f/1.2 is a fully manual prime designed specifically for APS-C mirrorless systems. On a crop-sensor body, it provides an equivalent field of view of approximately 75mm, placing it comfortably in the short-telephoto portrait range.
Key specifications include:
- Optical formula: 7 elements in 5 groups
- Construction: rugged metal body
- Weight: 360 g
Pergear states that the design draws inspiration from the classic Nikon AI-S 50mm f/1.2 from the early 1980s, giving it a distinct retro look and feel.
One of the most unusual features of this lens is the inclusion of phosphorescent paint on the distance and aperture scales. These markings glow in the dark, which is intended to assist with manual adjustments in low-light environments without the need for an external light source.
The aperture diaphragm utilizes 11 rounded blades, which should help maintain circular bokeh highlights even when stopped down.
While the marketing materials point to a declicked aperture ring, which is generally preferred for video use to allow for smooth exposure changes, users should be aware that the ring does have clicks at the various stops.
The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 0.7 meters (about 2.3 feet) and features a 52mm front filter thread. Because this is a fully manual optic, there are no electronic contacts on the mount, meaning no EXIF data is transmitted to the camera and aperture priority or manual mode must be used. There’s also no weather-sealing visible. The rear mount is metal, however, and mounted smoothly on my Sony bodies.
Hands-On
I had a chance to try out this lens, and the spec sheet is definitely an attention-grabber. An f/1.2 aperture is unusual at this price point, and it will likely attract photographers seeking shallow depth of field and creamy background blur. However, I’ve tried out some of these inexpensive super-fast manual lenses in the past and always found that they just made too many compromises on image quality to really be useful outside of a gimmick.
The Pergear 50mm f/1.2, surprisingly, keeps image quality on the “usable” side of the scale even at f/1.2, with things improving even more as you stop down.
To be clear, the images at f/1.2 certainly prioritize character over technical perfection. I found that shooting wide open results in images with very little "bite," showing low contrast and a distinct "glow" around highlights and even high-contrast edges, along with noticeable vignetting in the corners. Still, the images were absolutely usable, and the lens was passing enough contrast along for focus peaking on my a7R V (an absolute necessity for consistent f/1.2 focusing, given the razor-thin depth of field).
All that isn't necessarily a negative if you understand the lens's purpose. It mirrors that retro style of rendering that substitutes clinical micro-contrast for a warmer, less analytical feel. Pair it with some halation and color grade in post-processing, and I think you’ve got a fun way to replicate a retro look with more authenticity than a purely digital post-process.
Once I stopped the lens down to f/1.4 or f/2, the image quality tightened up significantly, coming to a reasonable level of sharpness and contrast. It begins to behave like a normal modern lens at these apertures, though some longitudinal chromatic aberration is still visible on high-contrast subjects.
At the end of the day, with an MSRP of just $99, this is a fun lens to try out for portraits and low-light experimentation. It offers a unique look that differs from the perfect sharpness of modern glass, and for video shooters on APS-C, it can provide a unique creative aesthetic, assuming you are comfortable pulling that ultra-thin field of focus manually.
Availability
The Pergear 50mm f/1.2 APS-C lens is available now for $99 for most mounts, with Canon RF at $109. It is being produced for Sony E, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Micro Four Thirds mounts.
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