Light Lens Lab 50mm F1.5 Z21 review – The P. Angénieux S21 for modern times

Introduction

Exactly a year ago, on May 24 2024, Light Lens Lab announced the development of the 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21, a homage to the rare and highly sought-after P. Angénieux S21 50mm ƒ1.5.

And today, let us take a deeper look at the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21, and for those curious, a short history of the S21 series by Pierre Angénieux.

A common misunderstanding is that Light Lens Lab was only developing one lens, but Light Lens Lab is developing the S21 series of lenses which this 50mm ƒ1.5 belongs to, and at the same time using the “Z21” naming convention instead of the original “S21”.

For a limited time, use code KEITHWEE for a 5% discount on all Light Lens Lab lenses at their official shop here.

What is this P. Angénieux 50mm ƒ1.5 and S21?

One of the most sought-after vintage cinema lenses, the Angénieux 50mm ƒ1.5 S21 is a rare, high-speed prime lens from France made during the 1950s to 1960s by legendary optical designer Pierre Angénieux in very limited quantities.

The Angénieux 50mm ƒ1.5, which belongs to the S21 series designed for 16mm and Super 16mm film, is known for its dreamy look due to the unique lens character of creamy bokeh, gentle contrast, and vintage flares. The S21 series revolutionised film-making back then, allowing hand-held and natural light filming with their fast speeds. In modern day, the S21 series delivers a unique cinematic look sought after by cinematographers.

Among the lenses in the S21 series, the P. Angenieux 50mm ƒ1.5 is the most sought after, usually reaching 5-digit price figures if one can find a piece to even start with.

Technicalities

• Named the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 “Z21”
• Homage to the Angénieux 50mm ƒ1.5 “S21”
• 6 elements in 4 groups lens design with a minimum focus distance of 0.7 meters
• 10-bladed aperture design
• Covers up to 44x33mm on digital sensors (that’s the size of the Hasselblad X and Fujifilm GFX cropped medium format sensors)
• 52mm filter size
• Aluminium body construction
• Length 64.2 mm x diameter 60.2mm at 313 grams
• Improved over the original in terms of rendering with the use of in-house manufactured Lanthanide-infused elements
• Features a newly developed rangefinder mechanism for more accurate rangefinder focusing accuracy.

Build and design

The Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 is actually my first aluminium-bodied lens from Light Lens Lab, and as such, the lens feels relatively lightweight at approximately 313 grams. As a comparison, the Leica Summicron-APO 35mm comes in at 320 grams.

Personally, I do like the gloss black paint, while finding the chrome bits a tad glaring, but this is subjective and overall, while the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 lacks the heft of brass-bodied lenses, the lens feels and looks pleasant.

The Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 comes with an aperture adjustment and focus ring, and both turn smoothly, with almost silent indents that come with changing apertures. There are times I felt the rings could be tighter, but during my experience with it, there was never once when it was knocked out of position.

Lastly, as usual, the standard packing for the lens is as below, including a lens pouch, front and back Light Lens Lab caps and of course, the standard manual containing lens information.

Performance

The Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 follows a classic double-gaussian design and aims to replicate the unique traits of the S21. For example, while modern lenses aim to minimise aberrations, the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21’s optical design was to purposely cultivate this to realise a more authentic-to-the-original look.

A reminder that Light Lens Lab is making a homage to a lens more than half a century old here.

While I never had the opportunity to use the original P. Angénieux, Flickr was able to provide a decent set of samples and the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 provides a ‘bokeh’ character similar to the P. Angénieux 50mm ƒ1.5 S21. Coupled with the gentle contrast (softness), the Light Lens Lab gives an overall similar look.

From testing the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21, one thing that was apparent was that at wide-open ƒ1.5, the lens is not an everyday all-purpose lens with a fair amount of field curvature. While on the positive side, this characteristic can direct the viewer towards the centre/subject, this also means that the lens will need more mindfulness when handling the lens on the Leica M rangefinder, where we usually use a focus-recompose method for portraits.

On the Hasselblad X system or GFX system, I wouldn’t see this much as an issue with the aid of modern conveniences like focus peaking and the EVF/LCD. Of course, one can also use the lens with the Visoflex or Live View on the Leica M.

Closer to the minimum focusing distance of 0.7 meters, up to around 1.5 meters would be a good working distance for the lens to showcase its unique character, which follows a more vintage, busy and soapy bubbles look.

Another trait of the len’s bubbly ‘bokeh’ bubbles is the presence of solid outlines on the sides, as if one has taken a pencil and added to the outline, adding on to the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21’s distinct character. (The shot of the Leica Cuddle bear above)

This said, once we step down from ƒ2.8 onwards, the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 gains a good amount of saturation and sharpness and performs much more like a modern lens, and in this sense, similar to say, the Leica Noctilux 50mm ƒ1.2, where one ‘kinda‘ gets two lenses for the price of one.

Conclusions

It is not often I come across a lens with a character so distinctive to it that it makes me ponder how to conclude, and the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 is one such lens. The unique look it gives wide open is laudable in a way that Light Lens Lab has indeed designed a lens that stands out from the many other cookie-cutter lenses nowadays.

That said, the fair amount of field curvature means that this lens is not an all-purpose lens, and this could have been the intent all along, with this lens being an homage to the legendary P. Angénieux S21 50mm ƒ1.5.

To work well with this lens, one will also likely need to keep the subject mostly centred, and in my experience with it, not difficult to achieve on the rangefinder if one is already accustomed to shooting portraits on the Leica M.

Like the Light Lens Lab Panchro SP II, the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 is more of a specialised lens, which one needs to learn to work with it to fully eke out its characteristics, and in all, the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21 stands as quite an interesting piece of optics worth anyone’s consideration based on the characteristics of the output alone.

Thank you for reading.

For a limited time, use code KEITHWEE for a 5% discount on all Light Lens Lab lenses at their official shop here.

You can find my reviews of other Light Lens Lab lenses linked directly to their names:

Light Lens Lab Speed Panchro II, 28mm ƒ2.8 , 50mm Rigid, 50mm ƒ1.2 (ASPH)

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos. 

2. All images were shot with the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.5 Z21, a review unit on loan from Light Lens Lab and my personal set of the Leica M10-R.

3. This review is not sponsored.

4. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

5. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.