First 7Artisans 35mm f/2 Lens Review

Mine needs quite some tweaks in focusing. At 205 grams it has the heft. Material is good while construction is just OK (a typical Chinese impression) - the helicoid feels somewhat rough, the movement like gears grinding. I exchanged for a new one and it improved, but it's still not as smooth as you'd expect from a brand new Japanese lens.

Resolution wise it never gets quite sharp...definitely not up to the CV 35/2.5 and the ZM C-Biogon (surely Zeiss wouldn't call this a "Sonnar" either) 35/2.8 with which the 7 Artisan shares a strikingly similar diagram. I think by making the lens f/2 (plus some other shoddy "improvements") they are stretching the design too far - just like Miyazaki-san did with the double gauss 28/2. Distortion is obvious, artifacts seem to be all over the place, but not unlike the other two "Biogons", on digital it's free from focus shift.

It's cheap, but the blistering sharp and constant CV 35/2.5 is not much more expensive. So at wider apretures it's more like a special purpose lens, fit for utilizing its (may I say LOMO-ish?) signature. Hmm. The same way you'd use a v1 35 lux.
 
Something is fishy here. Remember how 50 1.1 was received? Pictures right away. Pictures of it on cameras, pictures with it.
This one - "oh, mhe, ah" and not a single picture.
 
i've not been impressed with a single sample image i've seen from it. quite a few have shown near balloon-ing distortion. hard pass for me.
 
I would love to see a comparison of this lens vs the Zeiss ZM Biogon 35mm f2.8. I have the Zeiss and would love to see these side by side as I like to run two 35mm focals lengths most of the time.
 
djnato10 said:
I would love to see a comparison of this lens vs the Zeiss ZM Biogon 35mm f2.8. I have the Zeiss and would love to see these side by side as I like to run two 35mm focals lengths most of the time.
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Honestly, from a pure lens-performance perspective I would say the Zeiss would smoke this lens. That being said, I’ve been shooting a bit of film with it (Tri-X on my M-A) and I think it actually makes a pretty nice people / documentary lens. Given the barrel distortion and field curvature, it’s not ideal for architecture but I still stand by my opinion that for under $300 new I think it’s a very usable and adequate lens for the M platform. I would never expect it to outperform any 1st party lenses, but all I hoped was that it produced usable images without looking like a toy lens (with regard to rendering) and I think it accomplishes that goal :).
 
I got the 50/1.1 because I was curious about the 7artisans lenses. Now, this curiosity is gone. The 50/1.1 is not a bad lens. It is also well built. I have no incentives to buy another lens from this manufacturer. My lenses are so good that any additional lens will look bad now.
 
Here's a handful of images shot on Tri-X with my M-A. I think the lens works well for people and on film. But it can still work for details as well.



















 
agoglanian said:
Honestly, from a pure lens-performance perspective I would say the Zeiss would smoke this lens. That being said, I’ve been shooting a bit of film with it (Tri-X on my M-A) and I think it actually makes a pretty nice people / documentary lens. Given the barrel distortion and field curvature, it’s not ideal for architecture but I still stand by my opinion that for under $300 new I think it’s a very usable and adequate lens for the M platform. I would never expect it to outperform any 1st party lenses, but all I hoped was that it produced usable images without looking like a toy lens (with regard to rendering) and I think it accomplishes that goal :).
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I have the Zeiss Planar 50mm as well and often times turn back to my Konica M-Hexanon just because it isn't so clinical and contrasty. There is certainly something to be said about the imperfect lenses in the world of M-Mount glass.
 
At the same time if one doesn't want to bother with "character" and would rather their lens be as "transparent" as possible then it's also great that the option is available :)
 
Got mine yesterday from France. Yes, distortion doesn't go without notice. Everything else is just very, very good for the price. Feels like having 35mm Summicron form factor lens on my m with the mechanical qualities of a CV. I like it so far. I will also give it a try on my M9 soon (I am only shooting film atm...). I also think it's a solid companion for people shots ( wedding, documentary) on film and I will definitely sell my backup 35 (Canon f2 LTM) and keep this one.

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Fomapan 100 @1600 in HC110

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HP5+ @200 in Rodinal
 
Helo there! Can anyone measure the diameter of the "hole" of this lens, where usually "red dot" located on a Leica lenses? the one, which is on the DOF scale. Thanks in advance!
 
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