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Kamlan 50mm F1.1 II (Fuji X / M43 / E Mount / EF-M Mount) $239 Delivered (HK) @ TobyDeals

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Kamlan 50mm F1.1 II (Fuji X / M43 / E Mount / EF-M Mount) $239 Delivered (HK) @ TobyDeals
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snep on 21/10/2020 - 20:00 tobydealsau.com (402 clicks)
Last edited 21/10/2020 - 23:15 by 1 other user

Seems to be quite well regarded for a cheap Chinese third-party lens. Supposed to come pretty close to the Fuji 56mm for 5x less money.

Not that many places seem to stock the mkii model which is vastly improved over the first. There are a few on eBay for ~$400 and Kamlan sells them direct for US$250 + shipping/tax, so $239 with free metro shipping seems pretty good. I think this is probably better than the Kickstarter price on release even. I very nearly bought one but I'm happy with my current Fuji lenses for now.

Review

M43 mount
E mount
EF-M Mount (actually $1 cheaper for some reason)

Electrical & Electronics Camera Lens Kamlan

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closed Comments

  • b0mbar on 21/10/2020 - 20:14
    +3

    F1.1 manual without stabilisation is a nightmare

  • gozyla86 on 21/10/2020 - 20:26
    +1

    Made a pull. Cheap enough for a little experimental…..
    Love the look of it too

  • hforhun on 21/10/2020 - 20:27
    -7

    Pretty sure kamlan meant suck d*** in a specific language.

    • El Psy Kongroo on 22/10/2020 - 04:41

      Pretty sure that's what it's specifically telling you to do.

  • Allsum on 21/10/2020 - 20:31
    +1

    The build quality is not bad, much better than some of the more expensive Sony APSC lens at well under half the cost.

    However shooting this with no tripod at F1.1 is almost impossible to nail the focus.

    Otherwise this has mostly replaced my F1.8 35mm for outdoor shoot

  • xaykogeki on 21/10/2020 - 20:46
    +1

    The m43 version is $200 sold and shipped by Amazon UK
    https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0756X5WR2/

    EF-M $214
    https://www.amazon.com.au/SainSonic-Kamlan-Aperture-Standard…

    • viewfinder on 21/10/2020 - 22:42
      +3

      FYI - OP's listing is for Mk2/newer - 8 elements in 7 groups, 62mm filter thread.

      Whereas your amazon links appear to be for the Mk1/older - 5 elements in 5 groups, 52mm filter thread.

  • adrianhughes1998 on 21/10/2020 - 21:19

    Would this be any good with an Olympus EM-5 that already has body stabilisation 🤔🤔

    • snep on 22/10/2020 - 09:22

      It's certainly not a bad option if you think you'll use the fast aperture, but it is worth remembering you're carrying around a bunch of glass you don't need because of the smaller image circle, which kind of detracts from the point of m43 (small size and weight) in my mind at least. Even the massive (for m43) Olympus 45mm f1.2 weighs 400g to this 600g, while a Panasonic 42.5mm f1.7 is 130g!

      But you are getting a lot of lens for the money here so depends on your priorities.

  • plentifoo on 21/10/2020 - 21:22
    +1

    wonder why any chinese company would brand themselves 'kamlan' - surely they know what it means in one of their dialects.

    • langitbiru on 21/10/2020 - 23:03

      It also came into my mind, but the "dirty" meaning is mainly valid for south east Asia region only

      If u read it in Cantonese, it is "golden basket"

      But again, I didn't bother to search for the correct writing on 5he characters

    • El Psy Kongroo on 22/10/2020 - 04:52

      Perhaps they do from an urban dictionary. That said, Kamlan is also an Arabic name for boys that means “whole”, “without flaws”, “perfect”. Do you have any question about Islamic baby names?

  • bboT on 21/10/2020 - 21:55

    APS-C lens. For those with a full frame camera - equivalent to ~F1.65.

  • firstpostbekind on 21/10/2020 - 22:44

    Is tobydeals legit? I’ve not used that site before

    • langitbiru on 21/10/2020 - 23:04
      +1

      Search ozbargain for redmi note 9 pro and u Will find ur answer about tobydeals

    • firstpostbekind on 21/10/2020 - 23:38
      +4

      Purchased!
      Chinese lenses are great. Modern (big brand) lenses have such little character. This will go nicely with my xpro 2

      Thanks OP

      • Foma2 on 22/10/2020 - 08:34
        -1

        Good luck with F1.1 and no AF.

        • diamondd on 22/10/2020 - 11:20
          +1

          more depth of field than say a Nikkor 85mm 1.4, and people used to shoot them quite happily with far worse focusing aids than we have on mirrorless cameras today.

          • Foma2 on 22/10/2020 - 22:23

            @diamondd: People used to travel vast distances on camel backs.
            I prefer to take a plane.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/10/2020 - 10:35

        this lens is soft af wide open.

        • firstpostbekind on 22/10/2020 - 11:09
          +2

          It’s also 240 bucks mate. What exactly are you expecting?

          I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my meike 35mm f1.7. That plus my xpro2 is my most used combo.

          I have multiple cameras and thousands of dollars of lenses and I like the character from a $150 Chinese lens the most :) go figure

          • Foma2 on 22/10/2020 - 22:28
            -1

            @firstpostbekind: If you gonna use this one with $2k+ camera body then you will waste camera capabilities.
            One of rules of photography is camera body should cost a bit less or the same as a lens.
            Ok, for a prime it would be probably 2:1 or so.
            I am talking about average market price not the sale or special price we all love to get stuff on.
            There are exceptions but this one is definitely not the one.

            • firstpostbekind on 22/10/2020 - 23:13
              +1

              @Foma2: Rules of photography… lol
              Good luck to you mate

              So by this twisted logic you can’t use a summilux 50mm because it’s only half the price of an m10? Better spring for the noctilux?

              I can’t believe how terrible advice this is I actually had to come back and edit my comment

              You should go and focus on your craft, not your gear.

              • Foma2 on 25/10/2020 - 20:31

                @firstpostbekind: Did I say that gear is more important than your skills ?
                It is amazing how easily you can be blamed of something that you never said.
                No AF and no IS + made in China - it is a wonderful combination for a good lens.

      • DmytroP on 22/10/2020 - 12:52

        Looks like this particular lens has quite an interesting and pleasing to my taste image rendering, certainly worth a try.

  • Foma2 on 21/10/2020 - 22:52

    "Amost Zero Distortion"

  • alidli on 22/10/2020 - 14:27

    Pretty new to prime lenses and not sure when you have “enough” in your kit.
    I already have these Fujinon’s (bought when on sale/ Fuji rebate) teamed with a X-T20 camera
    XF14mm f2.8,
    XF27mm f2.8,
    XF35mm f1.4,
    XF60mm f2.4 Macro.

    These Kamlan's seem great value for money so appreciate any pros and cons of adding these 3 to the collection-
    https://www.tobydealsau.com/en_AU/product/kamlan-50mm-f1-1-i…
    https://www.tobydealsau.com/en_AU/product/kamlan-21mm-f1-8-f…
    https://www.tobydealsau.com/en_AU/product/kamlan-8mm-f3-0-fu…

    • snep on 22/10/2020 - 15:57

      Honestly sounds like you have a pretty good kit there already. If you're happy with what you've got then there's no real reason to buy more (controversial words on ozbargain I know). Personally I've been pretty happy just using a 27mm and an adapted 50mm on my X-E2.

      That said, if you want to play around with ultra-fast apertures or ultra-wide focal lengths the Kamlans seem like pretty inexpensive ways to do so, and capable of some nice results.

    • firstpostbekind on 22/10/2020 - 16:06

      Do you enjoy your fujinons? There is nothing objective that the Kamlans would add.

      Subjectively they may have character you find pleasing
      It’s worth reading the reviews of the above lenses - because the quality control for lower price lenses is hit and miss - so whilst the 50mm 1.1 v2 might be cool - it’s other focal length siblings might not be good (even the v1 of this lens actually had poor reviews)

      With your current kit, is there anything you feel is lacking? What kind of photos do you like taking

      • alidli on 22/10/2020 - 19:41

        I’ve always had an interest in visuals, art, architecture, etc but until recently never had the time to take it up as a keen-to-learn amateur. I’ve only used p-a-s’s before and now attempting to getting my head around f-stops, depth of field, bokeh, etc.

        With all the recent camera shop 20%+ off sales and Fuji cashbacks, I thought it a good time to buy some kit and so I saved well over a $1,000 on gear- eg. the 27mm cost me $70.
        So, with these Kamlan lenses being on sale I was applying the same OzBargain logic (buy now - learn what it’s for later).

        I would like to photograph the usual stuff plus animals/ insect close-ups with blurred backgrounds, photographs of my partner’s artwork to maybe sell as posters and also night streetscapes.
        Being a newbie, when you see Fujifilms vast range of lenses and now these 3rd party lenses, deciding what size and what brand is difficult as I don't know what I should be looking for in a particular lens; and should I play safe with Fujinon (expensive) or go with these or maybe Samyangs (much cheaper).
        Also, these Kamlans are manual lenses, will that make them a lot harder to use?

        • firstpostbekind on 22/10/2020 - 20:53

          I would invest in
          1. A tripod - for night photography to enable long exposures
          2. A lens that has a macro function (not sure if your current line up has this) as it will enable to you do the bug pics

          You probably have all of the lenses you’ll need already. Buuuuuuuuut
          I did what you’re doing - buy first, learn later - and that’s fine.
          You only work out what you want to use by buying and trying

          Just don’t be afraid to sell what you don’t end up using. If I don’t use anything for 12 months I try to move it on

          • alidli on 22/10/2020 - 21:15

            @firstpostbekind: Thanks for the sound advice. The XF60mm f2.4 is supposed to be a macro but I think I need to get a 2x adapter to improve it's usability.
            For $169, think I might take a punt at the Kamlan fisheye lens and like you say can always sell it on if the qualities not there or not using it.

            • Foma2 on 22/10/2020 - 22:31

              @alidli: Fisheye lens is perfectly fine as you do not really need AF and IS for that type of lens.

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