First 7Artisans 35mm f/2 Lens Review

[Liveview]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

It not fair not be compared against the Summicron 35 ASPH, design, age, cost, quality controls and many more, but if it is close to the leica performance, WOW....

 

Chinese products are improving in quality, not only quantity, they are here to stay.

 

Wonder what it is their actual lens road map for the future.

[Ko.Fe.]

Well, checking more pictures and this fresh review Flickr samples...I'm not sure about Leica, but It is not so close by performance to Color Skopar and Nokton. Barrel distortions and swirl of bokeh. And it is not 35mm lens, it seems.

Awesome price and just right build, but optically....

Skopar is 2.5 but it is next to flawless lens (except it is boring ) and it is tiny and cute in M-mount. Nokton is 1.4 and it has less distortions and swirl. 

I'm currently using J-12 as second lens for M4-2, while my main 35 Leica aspherical lens is on M-E. It would be nice to update from flare catching J-12, but I'm not sure anymore I want this new lens.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[LichtUndDunkelheit]

Whow. I'm pretty amazed how completely the 7Artisans declassifies the Summicron when it comes to color saturation:

 

https://leicarumors.com/2018/05/27/7artisans-35mm-f-2-lens-review-comparison-with-the-leica-summicron-m-35mm-f-2-asph.aspx/

 

At such a strong difference, the Summicron will lose details.

[pgk]

So soon? What happened?

 

Well, I'd rather not comment until Malcolm has had a look at it but its an interesting lens. This includes the mechanical design which obviously is intended to work on an M rangefinder but is not the same as the mechanism fitted to a Leica lens. Building optics and designing the mechanics of a lens is not too difficult these days, however getting it all to work properly, reliably and effectively isn't quite as simple as it may seem. I have high hopes for the lens but at the same time I want to be sure of its pros and cons before I write anything substantial about it.

[Ecar]

Well, I'd rather not comment until Malcolm has had a look at it but its an interesting lens. This includes the mechanical design which obviously is intended to work on an M rangefinder but is not the same as the mechanism fitted to a Leica lens. Building optics and designing the mechanics of a lens is not too difficult these days, however getting it all to work properly, reliably and effectively isn't quite as simple as it may seem. I have high hopes for the lens but at the same time I want to be sure of its pros and cons before I write anything substantial about it.

 

Fair enough. Look forward to your/Malcolm's feedback. I'm sure we'll learn a few interesting things.

[Abram]

I had ordered one from the second batch that Hamish made available. No word on shipping yet but I imagine it will be sometime soon. I'm not expecting it to be a perfect lens but I'm hopefully it'll be enjoyable enough on film for when I don't want to bring my Summilux FLE as that's my primary lens. 

 

The barrel distortion is indeed concerning but I don't think it's a deal-breaker for me. The bokeh is also "so-so" at times from some of the samples but then people say that about the Summilux FLE as well, and I also don't buy a lens specifically for its bokeh qualities. 

 

Anyways, I am glad to see that there are fairly inexpensive options becoming available, maybe it will push Cosina to revamp their Voigtlander lines in response (as they seem to be focusing on the Sony FE mount primarily of late.)

[pgk]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'm sure we'll learn a few interesting things.

 

I already have . Without wanting to pre-empt anything, there are various ways of designing the mechanics. Leica choose one which suits their ethos of high quality design best. It is a 'from the ground up' way of manufacturing. There are others. So, for example, it is possible to take any lens and put it into a Leica M RF coupled helicoil mount. But doing so gives options to both designer and production engineer. Some are probably easier and cheaper to make than others. Its a matter of trade offs. And of course there is that expensive business of quality control. This can add substantially to the cost of a lens. Manufacturing costs vary throughout the world as does the ethos behind what is being manufactured.

[Ecar]

Thanks, Paul. The sort of design approach that you are hinting at would explain why it's easier for them to give users the possibility to adjust focus themselves. And reduce assembly costs.

[mikemgb]

I just noticed Amazon has this lens available to pre-order with shipping on June 12th. I ordered one.

[innerglow]

I’m about to order one. Can anyone has the retail version kindly confirm the actual weight of the lens? I’m getting conflicted information about that. The spec sheet and even their sales people from China said it’s 320g. But the review from Leica rumours said it’s 205g, there’s even a picture of it on the scale. At 320g it’s completely useless to me. Thanks in advance.

[6bit]

Any idea if or when we may see this lens in silver?

[geoffnik]

I’m about to order one. Can anyone has the retail version kindly confirm the actual weight of the lens? I’m getting conflicted information about that. The spec sheet and even their sales people from China said it’s 320g. But the review from Leica rumours said it’s 205g, there’s even a picture of it on the scale. At 320g it’s completely useless to me. Thanks in advance.

Well- mine weighs in at 212g without the caps.

[geoffnik]

Well- mine weighs in at 212g without the caps.

The discrepancy with the Leica Rumours weight is probably down to my scales which are analogue, not digital.

[innerglow]

I finally got mine and it in fact weight only 205g. I can tell it’s lighter than my 11673 right the way when holding it in my hand. I got mine from 7 artisans online store and have it modified to be able to mount on CL and SL.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[innerglow]

Edit: after talking to the sales people from 7 artisans, it doesn’t require any modification to be mounted on CL.

[gbealnz]

Edit: after talking to the sales people from 7 artisans, it doesn’t require any modification to be mounted on CL.

The 50 f1.1 I tried certainly needed modification.

Gary

[innerglow]

The 50 f1.1 I tried certainly needed modification.

Gary

 

Yes the 50 does. At first they listed on their page said the 35 also needs to be modified. Then I contacted their sales people to request a modified version, they said yes. When it arrived today I don’t see any signs of modification so I contacted them again. They confirmed that the 35 doesn’t need that. It works fine on my cl with the Leica adaptor and hawk’s close focus one. Don’t know about sl tho, cos I don’t have one.

[martin0reg]

What kind of modification is meant here? At the 50 and the new 35?

Do you have a link to the page?

Owning a non-digital Leica CL I know that certain collapsible lenses might touch and damage the cds-lightmeter, which slides in and out, at the CL and the M5.

So I was careful when mounting the new "china-cron" and a very old collapsible summicron 50 on my CL ... the rear lens is protuding ... but for my 7art 35mm on my CL I can report that there is no contact or damage to the lightmeter sensor.

 

[johntobias]

can anyone explain what mod is required to mount the 50 on an m-l adapter and on the CL??

 

can the mod be user done?

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[mikemgb]

My 35mm arrived today. My initial impressions are good, although my lens has a tight spot at about 1m, I'm going to use it for a while to see if it either loosens up or doesn't really bother me.

 

The lens comes with a focus chart and instruction on how to calibrate it. I ignored the instructions and just adjusted it until the RF patch lined up perfectly at infinity, a test will show me if that was the right thing to do.

 

I love the size and weight of the lens, after living with a DR Summicron this lens weighs nothing!

Edited June 21, 2018 by mikemgb