SLR Magic, manufacturer of (among other things) manual prime lenses for Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX, are asking users via Twitter if they would like to see a 50mm f/1.0 lens. Here’s what I replied to them:

Dear SLRmagic team,

first, I want to say that it is a great job you’re doing supplying MFT and NEX users with manual prime lenses. Keep going!

You asked on Twitter if we would like a 50mm f/1.0 lens. Personally, while I think ANY fast prime lens is good, I think a 50mm is not necessarily needed for MFT. (But it might be nice for NEX, where it equals 75mm). There is already the Noktor 50/0.95 (while not available most of the time), and there are many legacy C-mount lenses with that specification to be found. Then again, if your 50/1.0 lens could outperform the Noktor in terms of colour rendition, contrast and sharpness wide open, it might be a serious option to consider.

What I personally think is needed for MFT is a portrait lens shorter than 50mm – say 40, 42, or 45mm, equivalent to the classic 80, 84 or 90mm portraiture focal lengths on film. An f/1.4 specification would suffice in my opinion. (Examples: There’s a 40mm f/1.4 for the original Olympus PEN, as well as a 42/1.2, there’s the 40/1.4 Nokton for Leica M and the 45/2 Zeiss Planar for Contax G. But a dedicated MFT lens in that focal length/speed range would be great!) Also nice would be a 17 or 18mm prime with an initial f/1.4 or faster aperture. 35mm on film is the classical focal length for street shooting and photojournalism, and also very versatile in neither being too wide nor too narrow (like 50mm). The 35mm lenses sell like hot cakes for Leica M rangefinders. It would be great to have such a lens for MFT.

Sincerely,

Felix Esser, enthusiast amateur photographer

What is your opinion on this topic? What kind of MFT/NEX lens would you like to see from SLR Magic?