Dreamy photos from the Yongnuo 25mm 1.7 lens

Posted in Aesthetics and Technique, Gear Talk, PhotographyTagged , , ,

As much as I enjoy my Olympus EM5 Mark 2, I rarely invest in the system. Since the imaging arm of Olympus was sold off and rebranded under the OM Digital Solutions name, I admit that Micro Four Thirds has lost some lustre. It is, of course, a fantastic lightweight system and it would be nice to see Panasonic continue the format under their Lumix brand, though I fear that many camera manufacturers see 35mm sensors as the biggest cash-cow at this point.

It was with some surprise that I discovered the Yongnuo 25mm 1.7 lens for Micro Four Thirds. It’s a Chinese-made product and features a quiet auto-focus motor, which is unusual in such a cheap lens. The body is all-plastic, but it feels and looks good. It’s also the fastest Micro Four Thirds lens I own.

Dreamy vibes from a cheap lens

I made the photo with the lens wide open at F 1.7. The sun flared across the frame, resulting in a soft and dreamy look. It’s pretty sharp in the centre at an aperture setting of 1.7, with the edges and corners looking soft. There’s also plenty of chromatic aberration, especially in high contrast areas, but I think all of this adds to the mood of the photo.

Siloes at sunset – Yongnuo 25mm 1.7 lens

Just before the sun dipped below the horizon, I set the Yongnuo lens to F 2.2, just to sharpen things up a little, and made this photo. I really like the rendering of this lens so far and I think I’ll be packing it for our upcoming roadtrip.

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12 thoughts on “Dreamy photos from the Yongnuo 25mm 1.7 lens”

  2. The lens has a filmic quality in the second shot, a very nice one. I own a M43 kit and primarily use it for wildlife photography for which it fits the bill. Certain of the lenses I have are top performers. There was a recent article on Photography Life that compared the image quality and merits of M43 versus APSC and full frame in the wildlife context. A good argument was made that it is the superior system in the wildlife realm. I don’t know how much longer the system will remain vital. The capabilities of the cameras are complex, almost too much so. I will never have the patience to take full advantage of them. One niggle is noise at high ISO, but Topaz DeNoise, a true miracle worker, steps in admirably to fill that hole.

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    1. yes, the second image I like the best actually. It has rendered some mystery within the image, for sure. And oddly, the blues are pushed towards cyan. I’m not sure whether this is a quality of the lens at woder apertures or not. More etsting required I think. Certainly, it has helped produce a very nice image with some nice softness. I’m not in the wildlife game, but I can imagine that M43 would really fit that scenario. I do agree with you that there is a heck of a lot of features and computational cleverness packed into a small body. I too desire a simpler system in this regard. I’d like to see the M43 format continue strongly, as I think it offers some exceptional quality in a lightweight system, but I fear that CanikonSony are calling the shots and the future may not be so bright. But who knows? I haven’t used Topaz plugins for a long time, but when I need noise reduction I find that Lightroom’s AI noise reduction is quite as much as I usually need.

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      1. Hi! I tied Jim Grey into your blog and he has added it to his group of followed blogs. Jim’s a prolific blogger on all things photography. He has a shine to my blog, featuring it on his annual “blogs to follow” post (I think he may be delirious!).

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      2. Thank you ! I’m not really hooked in at all to any photography circles, either locally or online, apart from the odd interaction with photographers such as yourself. It would be nice to actually participate in more photography circles and discussions, even if it’s just online. I’m kind of over here in one corner, and that’s quite OK. I’m good with that. But community is also good.

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      3. The personal connections I have made through photography have been a highlight of my life. As for connections here is a part of my journey. The connections started with joining the Film Shooters Collective. I am the runt of that litter. Prior to my joining, it was invitation only. For a short time the leader at the time issued open invites. I had been following the group, asked to be admitted and was accepted. The members got gnarly about perceived degradation of the group and it got back to invite only. At first, I lingered in the group with trepidation from feeling “less than”. But when several of my images were featured in the group’s open calls (open to members and non-members world-wide), I felt validated and it made me feel onto something with the photo gig. The reason I post is not for validation, rather it is to expand my boundaries and circle of friends, however remote they may be. Project 365 where one posts an image a day led me to Karlene Herdman a wonderful and artistic photographer from New Zealand. We connected there from sharing the loss of a child. She connected me to her 365 friend Domenico Dodaro, a lawyer in Rome. Dom is an author, painter and avant garde photographer. Domenico and I met in NY, then he visited my home the following summer and I visited him in Rome the following spring. While Dom was visiting me in New England, my friend Stephan Brigidi a first rate film photographer and proud Italian, took a shine to Domenico and they are now great friends. Stephan visits Dom in Rome regularly. My NYC friend Raj Mohan exhibited his black and white architectural images in Rome, and from my suggestion he met Dom in Rome. They now converse regularly. Another big spur was participating in 52 rolls (now defunct) where I shot a roll of film a week for a year. And this is just the tip of my iceberg! And now I have found you! I do not converse with others in the same depth, so it seems we have a common chord! If I have inspired you to take the leap to film, I am happy. On the other hand, if you continue on your current path, I will continue to follow it with great interest. L.

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      4. I feel blissful when hanging out with other photographers. If you are looking to become part of a community, that is a great place to start. Look around for advertised meet ups. Not every participant will be on the same page as you, but you will surely find one or more persons with whom you make a connection from the common them of self expression.

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      5. I know there’s a local photography group with a lengthy history and have thought about joining in numerous times. I even know some of the people involved. Maybe I’ll have a look at that.

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  3. Pingback: The excitement of a road-trip and escaping into the world – The Rusty Ruin Journal

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