The year 2017 was quite interesting for photography. It had been a while since Sony introduced its mirrorless, and so did Leica. However, it was just a year prior to Nikon and Canon also putting their foot in the game. Either way, like the cameras of its time, the lenses in this part are also unique in their own way. If you’re looking to purchase a prime lens for your needs today, these options may be of interest.
Irix 15mm f2.4 Blackstone
The Irix 15mm f2.4 Blackstone is a wide-angle full-frame lens that features 15 elements in 11 groups. There are also 9 rounded blades, a close focusing distance of 0.25m, and it can be used with an adapter on mirrorless cameras. The device is great with image quality, is not too contrasty or saturated, and is quite sharp. There is weather sealing, a smoothing focusing ring, and there is EXID regeneration in the contacts. The build is just as great, and the all-metal design makes it a pleasure to hold. As we said in our review, “Some of these features have never been done by any manufacturer, and it gives Irix quite an edge. For this reason, the Irix 15mm f2.4 Blackstone is surely worthy of our highest praise.”
Nikon 28mm f1.4 E ED
The Nikon 28mm f1.4 E ED is an old lens, but it comes with 11 elements in 8 groups, including one aspherical lens. The lens also has 9 9-bladed diaphragm, a maximum magnification ratio of 1:8.3, and 520g of weight. The lens is sharp, features great weather sealing, and produces excellent bokeh. There is also great build quality, and the autofocus works well in most situations. As we reiterated in our review, “This lens is fantastic is so many areas of image quality parameters. It keeps the distortion down, doesn’t suffer from fringing issues when dealing with images right out of the camera, has nice bokeh, and is pretty darned sharp.”
Lensbaby Velvet 85mm f1.8
The Lensbaby Velvet 85mm f1.8 is another full-frame lens that comes with a 62mm filter, a 1:2 macro ratio, and 12 aperture blades. There is also a close focusing distance of 9.5 inches, 4 elements in 3 groups, and it weighs 530grams. The lens excels at its build quality, has a super-smooth focusing ring, and it becomes even sharper when you stop down. The colors are muted and tend to complement the saturated tones of a Sony. As we said in our review, “Almost nothing on the market will give you colors like this though unless you know how to get them. And the honest truth is that you can walk into all these Facebook groups with images that people say look like real film, but they’re really not. This, however, gets close.”
