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I really enjoy that you dont discriminate against lens companies that arent Leica. So many people have been told that if its not Leica, its trash so I really appreciate you trying all these lenses out for us
Matt, a couple additional options you could look into. Both are pancake LTM lenses with rangefinder coupling. The first is a Leitz Elmar, 3.5/35 which was produced in pre-war, uncoated, and post-war coated versions and the second is a Canon 3.5/35 Tessar design, Canon's attempt to improve on the Elmar. While both lenses will be more expensive than the 7Artisans, and the coated versions will not compare with modern coatings, they will open wider and are rangefinder coupled. I own an uncoated Elmar and a Canon. Every time I start feeling seduced by the 7Artisan lens I just think of what those two lenses have produced for me and walk away from the computer. Besides, in these days of mandated social distancing, you are liable to be arrested if you come as close as 0.3 meters to a model.
Good, objective review of what appears to be a fundamentally flawed lens. I think you correctly identified the weaknesses and limitations (full marks for that) and potentially saved a lot of people an otherwise wasted $200. For those who don't need 0.3m close-focus it would be better to put the money towards an older screw-mount 35/3.5 Summaron. Use it on a Barnack or M, with filters and hood if needed, RF coupled, sharp(-ish) to the corners, minimal vignetting or colour fringing and even more compact than the 7A.
The no-click distance metering is a debit for sure, but the idea and implementation of such lens is great. I wish the outside barrel would be silver and not gold (obviously not an option), but this is just personal preference. Quite some purple fringing which is quite severe on the M 240 - it might not occur on color film tough. B&W looks much better and is superb. I also love the close focus distance of 0.3 m with the TTArtisan 11/2.8 M lens (not rangefinder-coupled either which I didn't find to be an issue). Overall an innovative idea where maybe the second lens version has improvements in the discussed areas. This lens works likely best with film - curious to see you close-up shots on film using this lens.
Thanks Martin! I only shot fence posts so far so I need something more exciting to shoot the rest of the roll but yes I’ll post to Flickr once developed. Cornerfix can fix the edges I’m told FYI.
@@MattOsborne-MrLeicaCom I worked with Cornerfix when using wide M lenses on my A7R. It works well with a bit of fringing in the corners. But with this severe linear fringe on one side it might have trouble. I wonder if the lens is decentered since it's only on one side.
There are also the Perar range of tiny lenses of the Cooke (Novar) type. Not altogether satisfactory but they give a lightweight piece of kit. The cap feature is neat.
Matt, the Cornerfix program will remove both the edge colour and vignetting. It's quick to use in pp. Like you, I don't really care about the vignetting. The black variant is definitely the way to go :-)
I was quite tempted to buy this lens as a fun walk about day time lens but now I'm not too sure. As you may, or may not remember I'm a new convert to the Leica M system with the purchase of the M8. As this lens is not RF coupled its probably more trouble than its worth on a camera without Live View so sadly I think I'll give this fun little lens a miss. Thanks for your review, as informative as ever. 👍
Got one too. The 5.6 is killing digital M camera users, as it will reveal the dusty sensors. Have since spent plenty of time cleaning. Dust reference images will bug you as it is impossible to get rid of all specks. Solution: go back to super fast lenses or get a weather sealed Q2 :) This is the biggest drawback I found with the wen lens, otherwise fun for experimenting.
I'm just not sure. I have the Voigtlander 35mm f2.5. It's as small as I need it to be, and I'm really happy with its image quality. I'd be more interested in an f5.6 lens if they had used the low speed to allow the design of an exquisitely perfect image maker for (maybe) $300. Shouldn't be hard in this day and age when they can make really good lenses at f1.2. I might consider one of these if they make one for my Canon RP. All the Canon lenses for that little body are really big.
For a crop sensor I’d suggest an Avenon 28mm as a better pancake lens than the 7Artisans 35mm which is a little too large for crop factors bigger than in an M8.
Also known under the name Kobalux. Look up details in Google. Not cheap. Also some right now for sale in eBay. (For info I have a D-Lux: Leica branded Panasonic F1, and Digilux 1, Digilux 2, X1, T, CL, M8, and some Leica branded clones of early Fuji’s.) And I’m now trying out the 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 lens. Plus their 35mm f/0.95 lens. And looking at a 17mm f/0.95 lens.
Great review, thank you so much, for the total stranger in Leica M mount world your reviews a great guidance! This lens looks like it was made for photojournalism and candid streets shots imho and correct me if I'm wrong but on crop sensor it will give me close to 50mm field of view, right?
Well, the only good thing about this lens for me is the price, no RF coupling, No aperture setting, but the weight "feels" like a Leica ..... Vignetting, Color cast purple on the M Digital, Ok. As for the argument that it could work on de M240 of M10, do you think that an owner of that camera would actually use this ??? Euh, No. No Way. And on top of that not sharp in the corners. But that is OK for "Character" ? Ok the argument of subjective "I like it" always works. A Jupiter 12 is coupled, at f/2.8 and aperture settings for 80 UKP..... Dead duck in the water is what I see. But always like and appreciate your efforts of course Matt !! Greetz from here ;-)
Thank you Eric! Lovely to hear from you and thanks for your well thought out comment. I 100% agree but I tried to judge the lens for what it was and in isolation. As you say most people don’t buy Leica for just ‘fun’ photos. I’ll try to catch you on FB soon. (I struggle to keep up with all the platforms!) Greets!
The screen shots for Canon and Sony say full frame but they list only APSC cameras, and a price of £138,. This is confusing me. Is this an APSC only version of the lens? If it covers full frame for Emount then it is cheaper than the M mount, which is currently at £148.09 on Amazon UK. Amazon are frequently not good with their description of photographic items.
I would think it is the same optics in all of them to keep production cost down. I did notice the non-M mount ones looked cheaper on Amazon. Maybe check with the seller before buying to be safe.
Hi yes! It’s a single speed I built for fun / training and I interchange wheels with my TT bike. Sometime I mix them as here. 90mm front! Sketchy on the TT in cross winds but ok on drops 🤓
you are always on point with your reviews ! Thank you. However that lesn is by far the most ugly lens that I have ever seen. I wouldnt even put in in my pocket, maybe somebody sees it xD I would like you to do some reviews about other lenses like the 35 Summilux FLE or similar :)
@@ronaldsand3000 thanks Ronald, I think getting close easier creativity but yes for normal use RF coupled lenses make more sense for most Leica shooters. 👍🏻
