To be completely honest when I was offered this lens to review, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I knew it was a completely manual lens and I was fine with that. I have been using Lensbaby lenses for years now. But I didn’t think the Simera was a ‘creative’ lens as such. Being 28mm it is more of a wide-angle lens, but it doesn’t really behave like a wide-angle like my Sony 16-35mm. Still I totally enjoyed my time playing with this lens, the more I used it the more confident and comfortable I became.

Note: While I received this lens for review and return from Thypoch, it is a completely independent review, all thoughts are my own.

Simera 28mm Sony E-Mount lens by Thypoch

Pros

Super shallow depth of field at f/1.4 – f/16
0.4m minimum focal distance
The linear response in Manual Focus mode feels smooth and responsive
The focus ring is smaller than a finger width and has a crescent-shaped focus tab
Nice starburst at f/16, also captured sun flare
Bright highlights and deep shadows
Vintage feel

Cons

Soft focus, even when the image is in focus, it is still a little soft
It has a slight vignette on the edges, quite pronounced at f/11 – /16
The lens cap is held on with foam and could wear over time, making possibly it easy to fall off?
When using the zoom magnification function (on my camera)and I changed the aperture, the camera did not adjust to metering in AP Mode until the magnification was dropped, making images over or under-exposed.
I did often find I accidentally changed the aperture when trying to adjust focus.
Cost – quite expensive for a prime lens

Simera 28mm f/1.4 – Technical specifications

All technical specifications have been taken from Thypoch’s website. Please see the website for full details.

Mount: Sony E-mount (also comes in other mounts such as Nikon Z mount, M, RF and X)
Format: 28mm full-frame
Focal Length: 28mm
Lens groups/elements: 11-14
Angle of View : 750 / 650 / 450 (E-mount)
Maximum Aperture: f/1.4
Minimum Aperture: f/16
Construction of Optics: 11 Elements in 7 Groups
Iris blades: 14
FLE – Built-in floating elements
Minimum Focus Distance: 0.4m
Filter Diameter: 49mm
Dimensions (L): 55mm (2.13″) without lens hood / 69mm (2.7″) with lens hood
Weight: 330 grams
Colour: E mount in Black only, Black or Silver (M, Z, RF and X)

Simera 28mm f/1.4 – Ergonomics and build quality

High grade of build, classic and elegant design, made from anodized aluminium alloy
Good features and general handling, compatible with Sony E-mount without the need for adaptors
Manual aperture and manual focus
Soft bokeh with a gentle focus fall-off, isolating subjects from their surrounding
Low chromatic aberrations
It’s compact and lightweight design would make for the ideal street photography lens
Automatic depth of field indicator, supposedly enables photographers to visualise the range of focus within their composition, but I never actually used it at all, just a Gimic?

Automatic depth of field indicator – the little dots between aperture and focal distance

Simera 28mm f/1.4 – In the field

Despite the small size of the lens, when used with my Sony A7RV, it actually feels very comfortable in my hands. I enjoyed the high contrast and images looked great in B&W. The focus ring is smooth and well-positioned, even if it did take a little bit to get used to. I used it for still life, landscapes, flowers and portraits. I think that this lens maybe well suited to Street Photography rather than my usual studio portraits. The minimum focal distance makes this lens unsuitable for true macro, but it was great at f/1.4 for some garden shots.

Simera 28mm f/1.4 – Performance

It is a true manual lens, so it takes a little longer to set up focus. I don’t mind that, as it means slowing down and being more intentional with my images. Even at f/1.4 there is a creamy bokeh. I did find the sweet spot at f/2.8 – f/5.6, especially for portraits and animals. Granted it’s still early days, but I can’t wait to get into some more portraits in the studio.

Simera 28mm f/1.4 – Image quality and characteristics

Distortion control and vignetting

I found there was a slight vignetting on the edge of images, especially at f/11 – f/16. Not that it was overly distracting. But definitely noticeable at f/16 in the right conditions. In the studio, I played with some Rainy Day portraits. Pouring water onto a sheet of clear acrylic in front of my model and I was able to easily set focus on my model through the water droplets. Even with low light at f/1.4 I was easily able to set my focus with peak metering. I adore the soft velvety, almost vintage feel of the images.

Chromatic aberrations, flares and ghosting

When shooting high-contrast areas (ie bright skies and shady trees), I found some magenta chromatic aberration on the fringes. Easy fix in most cases. No real ghosting, but there was some lens flare. Not an issue in the studio with artificial light.

Sharpness and bokeh

I found the focus a little soft, I certainly wouldn’t call it tack sharp (Or perhaps that is my manual focus skills?) You do get lovely bokeh when shooting into the light, although a little on the small and soft side. It gave a lovely velvety vintage feel to many of my images.

Color rendition

I found everything I captured was mostly true to colour, but I found a slight degradation in colour saturation where there was focus fall-off. I found I like the black and white high contrast images with this lens, with the aperture at f/1.4, although it did take some nice landscapes as well.

Simera 28mm f/1.4 – Best for Street Photographers

I used this lens for gardens, macro, landscapes, portraits and still life in the studio. I am not a street photographer, but I honestly think this lens would be ideally suited for just this genre, or perhaps even architecture. However, I felt the price is a little on the expensive side for a prime lens.

You can check out the Unboxing video over on Youtube (I also received a Nikon Z mount 35mm which I will review separately, but it is mentioned in the unboxing video)

I have also put together a short video montage of an afternoon spent at my favourite gardens, Cloudehill, one late Autumn afternoon with images taken on the Simera 28mm at various distances, focal ranges and apertures.

Our verdict

Thypoch Simera 28mm f/1.4 lens

★★★★★3.5/5

While I did enjoy playing with this lens, I feel it is possibly more suited to street photography. It’s probably not a lens I would add to my kit as a studio portrait lens, as I usually prefer something a little faster with auto-focus functions. But I did enjoy the vintage feel of the portraits I took. The size and creative aspect would be good as a general all-rounder lens, if you are comfortable with a fully manual lens. I also think it is more suited to a creative photographer, rather than one who only shoots for crisp focus. It is especially good for street photography or creative portraits. I really like the lens, but only gave it a 3.5 as I do feel it is expensive for a prime lens.