Mitakon 50mm 1.0 Cine PL/EF - Opinions?

[Zack Birlew]

Hey, everybody, has anybody tried out the Mitakon 50mm 1.0 Cine PL/EF lens? I had always had it under consideration but it is $1,000 and I was just looking up B&H reviews and the reports were pretty bad with DOA reports regarding infinity focus, aperture ring, and focus ring issues. Duclos Lenses sells these and that makes me feel a little more relaxed as far as future service if something turns up down the line but buying a bad one doesn't sound fun. Is this just a bad set of reviews and I'm worrying about nothing? Personally I wouldn't mind the PL version so it can work on my RED One MX and maybe a Sony F35 if I decide to pick one up for HD kicks. It's a bummer if there's problems as it is the most affordable 50mm 1.0 option right now so has anybody put these to work with maybe some examples and long term feedback?

 

[M Harvey]

I think your obvious solution is to buy it from Duclos, who offer more personal sales support than B&H can. Let them know about your concerns when you order, I'm pretty sure they'll happily check the lens before they ship it to you. For professional users, where your work is more than a hobby, this kind of care and expertise is one of the values of an independent shop.

 

[Zack Birlew]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, M, that seems to be the better way to go if I'm going to get one. I was hoping to nab one on sale but the extra couple hundred dollars will probably be better spent getting it from Duclos instead. I still wouldn't mind seeing more samples and user feedback though, specialty lenses like the Mitakon and even odd ones out like the Samyang XP 1.2 line just don't have a lot of reviews and articles written about them, very strange.