Roger Cicala tests the 40mm f/0.85 Ibelux and says it’s an “excellent lens”.

Image courtesy: Fujirumors

Well, I really didn’t expect this. Roger Cicala from Lensrentals tested that super expensive and crazy fast 40mm f/0.85 lens which is available in E-mount at BHphoto (Click here). And well, he actually said that lens is “excellent“:

Let’s face it, everyone. Right in the center, even at f/0.85, the Ibelux 40mm is as good as, or a bit better than, the Canon 50mm f/1.2. Stopped down to f/1.4 (there’s no f/1.2 click on the Ibelux) it’s clearly better in the center. Away from center, the Canon is clearly better. This is an amazing optical performance, though, and for an f/0.85 lens, simply amazing. In my expectations at the beginning of this article, I never expected this lens to do this well in the center. I didn’t even consider it a possibility.

So maybe now I know why they charge what they charge for it. This is a unique bit of glass. Okay, it’s not a “bit,” it’s a huge chunk of glass. My negative expectations have been completely discounted by a little objective testing. It’s built better than I expected. It’s optically better than I expected. It has far less variation than I expected. My hat is off to the designers at IB/E Optics and the manufacturers at Shanghai Transvision. Very nicely played, gentleman. Very nicely played, indeed.

I can’t tell you that it’s worth $2,000 to you, but I can certainly say it’s not overpriced for what it offers. This is an excellent lens.

The lens costs a bit over $2,000 in US at BHphoto and around 2000 Euro in Europe (here on eBay). Well, that’s the price you have to pay to get that extra bit of crazy aperture!

from sonyalpharumors