KamLan 28mm f/1.4 (The Best KamLan Lens? Probably.) | Round Glass Review

[@Infragelb]

Totally agreed, this 28mm lives on my Fuji for over three years now. It is pretty heavy for its size, but focussing manually and being able to trust the perspective so very similar to the human eye makes it an exceptional lens. For me, this lens and another longer portrait prime around 56mm cover all photography needs.

[@DavidHancock]

You might like their 70mm f/1.1. Blurry areas aren't great, but it's a fast portrait lens.

[@JHurrenPhotography]

Come on David, so modest. That's pretty incredible you can even haphazardly pick out lens design by looking at the grouping. The possibility never occurred to me. Goals 😂

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! Yeah, the Sonnar design is usually strongly negative in the back (behind the aperture) with a center, or center-ish, maybe, positive element. The front group should also be negative. I'm not 100% certain, but this design looks like a central positive with negative arrangements on either side. In this design, the third element from the left looks like a positive meniscus and the front pair and everything behind the aperture appear negative.

[@seoulrydr]

Thanks for the vid. Prior to moving to full frame, I purchased the Kamlan 21mm f1.8 and the Zonlai 22mm f1.8 along with a few cctv lenses for my A6500. If I recall correctly (I probably don't) the Zonlai was sharper in the center. Lately I've been messing around with my Topcor 28mm f2.8 on FF and really enjoying the flares from it. If I want sharp, I go with my Sony lenses. If I want to not care about sharp, I use vintage, though I'm beginning to hate the word. Now I'm curious about the Kamlan 28mm 1.4. Maybe if I find one cheap enough...

[@DavidHancock]

The KamLan 21mm was also pretty interesting to me, too. I would think that these 28mm lenses can be found pretty cheaply with a bit of watching.

[@theflavourist1985]

Would love to see something like a fast, bright 200mm from that company...would be very interesting how this company would do that and how it would perform.

[@DavidHancock]

They just released the 70mm 1.1, which isn't quite 200, but in full frame terms is about a 105mm.

[@theflavourist1985]

@@DavidHancock thx a lot. But thats not enough for what im looking for :-/

[@cecilsharps]

well i like your chicom glass reviews even if no one else watches em

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I honestly enjoy some of these lenses a lot, too.

[@cecilsharps]

@@DavidHancock my favorite lens on the fuji is the ttartisan 50 1.2. Somewhere packed up in my kit is the 4mm 7 artisans. It's still the box. I'll play with it this year. I got that cult tokina with agenieux heritage and paired it with a their 90's 70-200 and got distracted. Those were the lenses i wanted as broke college kid. I finished my darkroom this morning. Just waiting on the contrast filters to show up and i'll start printing for the first time in 25 years. Going to start the nephew off with photograms. Prolly should get a blue tooth speaker.

[@DavidHancock]

@@cecilsharps Nice! Having a darkroom is fantastic. Are you getting in-lamp or under-lens contrast filters?

[@zhecloud1]

I was looking to buy this lens as kind of everyday carry lens. Im interested to know if F1.4 is good enough to take some portraits or the center sharpness is not that good. Thanks!

[@DavidHancock]

I think the sample photos in this video provide the best idea I can provide for that. A bigger question for portraits is if this focal length is suitable on your format for portraits

[@marochruiz1019]

Pictures look very nice thanks for the information 👍

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@boxoweasels]

I've had 2 copies of this lens. The first, e-mount version was great, the only thing I didn't really like about it was how long it is. But after I sold off my sony gear, I eventually picked up an x-mount copy I've never been satisfied with it. I think it's softer than my e-mount version, and it does flare easily. Not sure if it's just a bad copy or the difference in sensor stack thickness is an issue or what. I do have the 50 1.1 Mark II for fuji and it's fantastic. I'm not sure what happened to the company. They had announced a 32mm at one point but I never saw it available to order anywhere.

[@DavidHancock]

I would totally believe that there is a large amount of quality variation in third-party lenses. I've seen some reviews of their 50mm f/1.1 that showed performance FAR better than I got from it.

[@DavidHancock]

The 32mm 1.1 is available on AliExpress for $160. I just found it there, and there are a handful of reviews about it on here, too.

[@DavidHancock]

P.S., I just bought the 32mm f/1.1. I'm a bit too curious about it not to.