7artisans 28mm f/1.4 Leica M lens

[chambrenoire]

Received it today! What a nice lens. Great build quality. Now with click-stops on the aperture ring (50/1.1 doesn't have this). Much "smaller" than I expected. Blocks a little of the bottom right of the VF on my M8, no big deal really.


Here are some pics of the lens mounted on a Sony A7R and M8:

Will take some pics with the lens on my A7R tomorrow, sun is soon setting here...

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Will take some pics with the lens on my A7R tomorrow, sun is soon setting here...

Looking forward to hearing about your impressions of it as a Sony lens...

 

[chambrenoire]

Deeply impressed with this lens. Sharp wide open, nice OOF areas wide open, I don't see much vignetting wide open in everyday practical use.

What annoyed me a couple of times is the flaring when strong light enters the lens. Some CA also, very easy to edit out in ACR.

Here's a couple of samples, shot on the Sony A7R:

100% crop:

More flare:

Build quality is excellent, focusing is super smooth and aperture too. Now with click stops at each f-stop (which the 50/1.1 lens doesn't have). Maybe the ring could be less dampened with snappier clicks but it works fine.

I don't know but I think this lens is killer for the price... I'd give it a strong 4.5/5. Highly recommended! 🙂

 

[Huss]

I would buy this in a second if it didn't have that ring flare. I hate it. And I'm a 7A fan.
I hope they bring out a revised version.

When Leica first released the $8ooo 50 APO Summicron, it too had flare issues...

 

[raid]

I saw some reviews that say it flares terribly. I think that would get annoying. But... for $360.. why not.

It would be then a "shadows lens" which still may work in at least 50% of all images.

 

[Scrambler]

Looks very interesting. And a LOT faster than most low cost 28mm. I think it's a great lens esp for someone like me with an Epson camera: I don't need to worry about having a Leica lens on it.

 

[chambrenoire]

The flaring affects pictures only if you are pointing the camera towards the light source I guess.

Posted some RAW-files (36MP Sony A7R) here if anyone is interested.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KX0zkc3vGAlsQGN86Pxd2SLaipyZGX_B?usp=sharing

 

[Archlich]

I would buy this in a second if it didn't have that ring flare. I hate it. And I'm a 7A fan.
I hope they bring out a revised version.

When Leica first released the $8ooo 50 APO Summicron, it too had flare issues...

Heard from a friend who had tested a prototype that 7Artisan promised him a revised version without the intentional ring flare, which they somehow thought would be a low-fi-ish selling point...

 

[presspass]

Is there a hood for this lens? If so, who makes it? Thanks.

 

[Archlich]

Is there a hood for this lens? If so, who makes it? Thanks.

Any of the generic screw-in hood would work. Also with the filter size being 52mm (the outer diameter is 56mm), I suspect most of the legacy hoods like the Nikon HN-1, HN-2, HN-3 and the slip-on HK-2 would fit as well.

 

[Larry H-L]

I'm guessing that quite a few portrait / wedding photogs will actually buy the lens specifically for the ring flare (flair!).

 

[Huss]

Any of the generic screw-in hood would work. Also with the filter size being 52mm (the outer diameter is 56mm), I suspect most of the legacy hoods like the Nikon HN-1, HN-2, HN-3 and the slip-on HK-2 would fit as well.

You may need to experiment. With the 50 1.1 I had to use a step up filter ring and use a larger lens hood as the threaded size causes hard vignetting.

 

[Michalm]

The flaring affects pictures only if you are pointing the camera towards the light source I guess.

Posted some RAW-files (36MP Sony A7R) here if anyone is interested.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KX0zkc3vGAlsQGN86Pxd2SLaipyZGX_B?usp=sharing

Lens does seem to perform really well in the corners of the image on your Sony a7r . It must have been designed with mirrorless in mind .Can you shed the light on what f stops you have used ?

 

[kram]

Should 7artisans be in a section for 'other M mount lens' rather than crashing the Leica lens thread?

 

[Archlich]

You may need to experiment. With the 50 1.1 I had to use a step up filter ring and use a larger lens hood as the threaded size causes hard vignetting.

Haven't got the lens yet but I'm sure now the HK-2 won't fit...

 

[krötenblender]

Anyone here who has both, the VC 28/1,9 and the 7artisans, and can post a few images next to each other for size comparison?

 

[chambrenoire]

Price is $486USD, I received a special price apparently. Sorry if anyone got the wrong info!

 

[thafred]

I just ordered one. 😀 The 35mmc review (here:https://www.35mmc.com/16/11/2018/7artisans-28mm-f-1-4-preview/) pushed me over the edge, it says that the ring flare is only visible at fully open 1.4, even turning the aperture ring slightly to about 1.5 it disappears completely! Very very excited for that lens, only downside is the long delivery time of approx. 1 month from china to austria..oh well

 

[rfaspen]

I'm seriously considering this lens as a fun new addition to my "collection".

But I'm stumped as to why the aperture progression skips 11 -- the progression goes 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 16.

I had a chance to handle this lens yesterday and I watched the aperture circle close as I moved the aperture ring through its stops. The area of the circle appears to reduce by about 1/2 (half) when moving from 8 to 16, so I would expect the progression to actually be 8 to 11.

So, is this a typographic error? Is there something magical happening in this lens that requires a skip over f/11? Does anyone know? Any wild guesses? 😱

 

[raid]

11 could be an "unlucky number" in some horoscope?
Hotels often skip the 13th floor. Why?