The SLR Magic Hyperprime LM 50mm T/0.95 delivers very good to excellent center resolution, while the borders and corners are quite soft wide open, but recover considerably by stopping down.

As to be expected from such a fast lens, vignetting is fairly pronounced wide open. When 6-bit coding is used, the camera reduces vignetting considerably, however one should be aware of the drawbacks of this approach regarding noise.

Distortion is a bit on the high side for a normal prime, as are CAs when stopped down. A fair amount of bokeh fringing is visible at large aperture settings, but that is to be expected from such a fast lens.

The lens delivers very smooth and pleasing bokeh in most shooting situations. The build quality is excellent and only slightly short of what Leica delivers in this price class. However the Hyperprime is quite large and heavy, especially for an M-mount lens.

So, the big question is; is this the "better Noctilux". Yes, in some ways it is, since it offers an advantage of features (for example a much shorter minimum focus distance) and outperforms the Leica lens for example in terms of MTF values and vignetting. In other regards, however, the Leica Noctilux ASPH still holds the crown. It distorts less and offers similar MTF performance in a noticeably smaller and lighter package. Nonetheless, the Hyperprime certainly gives the Noctilux a run for the money.

Talking about money: priced at the $4995 the Hyperprime LM 50mm T/0.95 certainly isn't cheap in absolute terms, but compared to the Noctilux ASPH certainly far more affordable.