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Specification

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Manufacturer description

Machang Optical CO., Ltd (Machang Optics) is a new camera lens manufacturer from ShenZhen China, founded in 2015. We currently design, manufacture, market and distribute camera lenses under the brand name of ‘Kamlan’. Over the past 2 years, we have developed and launched a number of large aperture lenses to satisfy the demand of camera lenses market. Especially the Kamlan 50mm F1.1 – a lens that has been well received by many photographers.

The brand name "Kamlan" is derived from Kavalan, the old name of Yilan. Yilan is a beautiful county in Taiwan, where Mr. Chen (The founder of Kamlan) was originally from. He picked up the "lan" from the words of "Kavalan" and "Yilan" and formed a new word "Kamlan" as the brand name, which has a similar pronunciation to Kavalan to honor his hometown. Kamlan devotes itself to providing cost-effective and high quality large aperture lens for every shutterbug, letting everyone enjoy the fantasy of large aperture lens. The success of 50mm F1.1 demonstrated that there is a high demand for cost-effective large aperture lenses, especially for APS-C mirrorless cameras, which has had few such options. Many owners of the 50mm f/1.1 expressed their desire for a large aperture prime lens with a wider focal length, so we decided to produce a cost effective, large aperture standard lens for photographers and that lens is the new Kamlan 28mm f/1.4!

Normal lenses are valued because they provide a natural angle of view that is similar to what the human eye sees. The images they produce are very relatable and engaging because they feel like scenes people have seen. The focal length is extremely versatile for a wide range of applications – from landscapes to portraits to street photography. In recent years, many people have thought of the 50mm focal length (on full frame) as“normal”, but in times past a normal lens was actually closer to 40mm. The Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 offers a great “normal” focal length and a large maximum aperture at a bargain price.

The effective focal length of 42mm* on APS-C cameras provides a natural angle of view that is similar to what the human eye sees. The end result is images that are both relatable and engaging, the focal length is extremely versatile for a wide range of applications – from landscapes to portraits to street photography.

*35mm full frame equivalent focal length on Sony E and Fuji X mounts is 42mm. On Canon M the 35mm equivalent focal length is 44.8mm.

The Kamlan 28mm lens has a large, bright f/1.4 aperture with 11-blade circular aperture iris that allows for great results in low light conditions and also the ability to create beautifully soft backgrounds. It allows for more control over the depth of field, letting you choose what will be in focus. Further extending the flexibility of the lens is the ability focus down to just 0.25m (9.48 inches), allowing you to fill the frame with your subject and throw the background dramatically out of focus. The 0.15x maximum magnification figure is higher than competing lenses.

The Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 sports an all metal and glass design with a premium feel that belies its inexpensive price tag. The manual aperture ring is declicked, allowing videographers to make smooth aperture changes while retaining traditional aperture stop markers for stills photographers. The manual focus ring is incredibly smooth and perfectly damped, allowing for smooth and accurate focus results across the 160 degrees of focus travel. The quality of the focus and aperture rings is that of a premium lens.

The lens has a metal 52mm front filter thread, and the lens hood is included to allow for shading from the sun along with protection for the lens. The lens is well corrected for chromatic aberrations, allowing for minimal color fringing even at very wide apertures.

We have designed a new premium metallic lens hood for the New Kamlan 28mm F1.4, which employs a threaded connection for a firm, easy to use connection. The lens hood has built in filter threads to allow for the use of filters even with the hood attached.

The Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 lens is a perfect size match for the compact Sony E, Fuji X, Canon EOS M bodies it is designed for. It is only 68mm (2.7”) in length, 56mm (2.2”) in diameter, and weighs only 344g (12oz) despite its all-metal construction.

One of the key strengths of the Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 is its high degree of color accuracy and richness. Unlike some competing lenses, it does not introduce too much color cast to images but instead delivers a neutral, accurate color rendition even wide open, that will be useful to both stills photographers and video users as well.

The lens utilizes high quality optical glass with higher levels of refraction to help shape light more efficiently and to produce lower chromatic aberrations. Chromatic aberrations are noticeably more controlled than on competing lenses.

In real-world shooting there are minimal chromatic aberrations on the Kamlan 28mm f/1.4, and what aberrations do exist are easily corrected.

The lens sports a premium 11-blade circular aperture iris, which enables it to have soft, creamy backgrounds with circular highlights even when the lens is stopped down to smaller apertures. The very artful rendering from the lens is unique from a lens at this inexpensive price point.

The optical formula is 8 elements in 6 groups with 6 High Refractive Index Elements which provides good center sharpness even at f/1.4. Stopping the lens down to f/2 produces image with high contrast and sharpness, when the lens is stopped down to smaller apertures it is sharp from corner to corner.

The Kamlan 28mm F1.4 can focus down to a very close 0.25m, allowing for nice 0.15x magnification of small objects. Image quality remains very high even at minimum focus distance: even at F1.4, the lens produces reasonable sharpness, just stop down to F2, the image quality is fantastic sharp.

Kamlan 28mm F1.4 employs a Gaussian-like symmetrical structure that has the dual benefit of allowing for the compact size of the lens while also reducing aberrations and distortion. When compared to the much more expensive Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DN lens, the Kamlan 28mm actually shows less chromatic aberrations along with lower distortion.

Over the past 2 years, we have developed and launched a number of large aperture lenses to satisfy the demand of camera lenses market. Especially the bestselling Kamlan 50mm F1.1, which is well accepted by a great number of customers.

We will continue to develop unique, highly cost-effective and high-quality lenses to the market and look for breakthroughs in the lens development.

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