7Artisans 35mm vs Cron Asph on M240

[Huss]

For those curious as to how a $200 7Artisans 35mm F2 lens compares to a $3000 Leica Summicron Asph 35mm f2, I put both on my M240 for a couple of quick comparison shots. I have a more interesting (IMO) thread where I show pics from the 7A on film, which I shoot much more.
Anyway, shot in RAW at f2 with lens profile turned on and off in camera. The 7A is 6 bit coded - co-incidentally as a Cron Asph 35.
No edits to the images - no adjustments to exposure, contrast, sharpness, colour etc. Straight out of camera so you can see the actual differences.
FYI the lens hood for the Leica costs as much as the 7A lens...

 

[Huss]

7A with profile off:



Summicron Asph with profile off:

 

[Huss]

7A with profile on:



Summicron Asph with profile on:

 

[Huss]

7A 1:1 crop:



Summicron Asph 1:1 crop:



And the bokeh test - cropped from the back top:

7A:


Summicron Asph:

 

[Huss]

So... what we see is the barrel distortion that everyone has complained about with the 7A
BUT WAIT!!! I see pincushion distortion with the Leica lens.
And in use, I have noticed that the 7A seems to handle flare better.

Sharpness is about equal - and these are unretouched images. So you can adjust sharpness, colour, contrast, distortion etc in post as I would do with any lens and any image.

So there you have it. A $250 Chinese lens vs a $3300 German lens.

 

[nzeeman]

i must say distortion on your photos with 7a is barely visible ... i expected way more ... and sharpness and bokeh are totally equal...

 

[PhotoGog]

Gold. Thanks mate.

 

[kiemchacsu]

Hat off to Chinese products.
It's really amazing to produce with extremly low cost.

 

[jonmanjiro]

7Artisans 35mm vs Cron Asph on M240

Not bad, not bad at all!

With modern design and manufacturing equipment it's pretty easy to design and manufacture a lens that's sharp in the center of the frame though. Even Miyazaki-san does it and AFAIK he still assembles his lenses on his basement bench by himself!

How about some off center or corner sharpness comparison shots?! That would give us a better idea on whether it's worth forking out 15 times more for a Summicron!

 

[thafred]

Yes this lens sharpness is amazing. I traded mine and cash for a Summicron 35mm V4 but really regret that. The 35mm IV has no distortion and is a bit sharper but I liked colors, bokeh and contrast more with the 7Artisans. Think I´ll just get another one.

Distortion with the 7Artisan 35mm is better seen by keeping 3-5m from the object. For distortion correction I always used Summilux 35mm profile in Lightroom, makes it almost possible to shoot architecture.

A tip I learned from my time with the 35mm: If you have excessive Italian flag or rough focus after calibrating the coupling cam, just loosen up the two screws and gently retighten as they are not ment to be tightened too much!

I have the 28mm f1.4 in the mail...looking very much forward to that lens!

 

[kiemchacsu]

Not bad, not bad at all!

With modern design and manufacturing equipment it's pretty easy to design and manufacture a lens that's sharp in the center of the frame though. Even Miyazaki-san does it and AFAIK he still assembles his lenses on his basement bench by himself!

How about some off center or corner sharpness comparison shots?! That would give us a better idea on whether it's worth forking out 15 times more for a Summicron!

In that case, we dont need Leica lenses anymore, DO we? LOL

 

[albertospa]

Ok guys. The 7artisan is a beautiful achievement but you can not judge a lens with a few images posted on the web. Moreover, the blurred does not seem to me really similar in these photos.
To really understand the soul of a lens you have to use it for a long time in the field.
I would like to add, by direct experience, that I personally consider the aspheric Summicron 35 the worst Leica lens I've ever had. Excellent contrast but unsatisfactory definition and blurred beautiful but abrupt. Much better the Summicron 35 IV, fantastic.

 

[thafred]

Corner sharpness when you are focusing further away isn´t impressive. I had the problem that my lens was slightly unsharp on the left of the frame and much better on the right when focusing far or to infinity. I could even see it af f8. In my limited time with that lens decentering was the only real drawback for me but I´m sure there is sample variation because there just cannot be a quality control except "doesn´t fall apart" at that price point.

I will try a second one and reassemble the lens elements if nessesary.

Could you show your lenses performance at infinity compared to the cron? f2.8-f8 would be nice! thanks OP 🙂

 

[steveyork]

The Summicron is clearly the better lens. It has to be, it costs more. 🙂

 

[BLKRCAT]

I see a little more coma around the edges with the 7A. Still pretty impressive that it can hold its own against the cron though.

Not sure if I can see much difference with the profile on and off. Can anyone see a difference? When I shoot with my 240 I don't even bother with profiles anymore. I don't shoot jpg so it's not really an issue. Just throw a profile on it for the exact lens in LR afterward.

 

[Huss]

Not sure if I can see much difference with the profile on and off. Can anyone see a difference? When I shoot with my 240 I don't even bother with profiles anymore. I don't shoot jpg so it's not really an issue. Just throw a profile on it for the exact lens in LR afterward.

I see some magenta shading in the edges with the profile off, which greatly decreases with profile on. Remember these images have zero post processing, so everything can be improved with little effort.

Interestingly I also see the magenta with the Leica lens, but to a lesser degree. The one thing, the Leica lens - of course - is made so much nicer. The 7A is a fantastic tool. The Leica lens is a fantastic tool and also a nice chunk of industrial art.

 

[bayernfan]

I tested a 35/3.5 Summaron-M against the 35/2 ASPH V1 on a GXR. I was stunned by how close the performance was in the crop region. I don't think it's particularly difficult to match the "performance" of a modern Leica lens.

That being said, the ASPH has a "signature" look, particularly with color, that is easily discernible. It's difficult to describe, but the objects have more "depth" and the image seems more smoothly rendered.

 

[raid]

As it has been pointed out already here, screen shots do not reveal all details. Prints are needed. An acceptable methodology would include the use of a tripod to make sure that there is no negative outcome due to hand shake.

This is very interesting.

I recall the car Genesis that was selling for over $50k and that made claims that it was as good as a Mercedes Benz. Users of MB snubbed the Genesis. This is life.

 

[PhotoGog]

7Artisans 35mm vs Cron Asph on M240

Last year, deciding which 35mm lens to keep, I did a shot for shot test of the CV 35/2.5 Color Skopar and the Zeiss 35/2.8 Biogon. I shot a whole roll of landscapes, portraits and detailed images (on colour film and at all apertures up to f/8) and judging by the lab scans (good enough for my purposes) there was no identifiable differences except in a few shots there were two in the CV favour: a slight increase in contrast, and a brighter exposure at same exposure settings. And of course the slim CV form factor is better for my use. After that, I did not feel the need to look beyond the superb and supremely affordable Color Skopar for my daily lens. I would consider the 7 Artisans but ... if looks so ugly! The typeface is just horrendous. Yes, I know, but I care about typefaces.

 

[Huss]

As it has been pointed out already here, screen shots do not reveal all details. Prints are needed. An acceptable methodology would include the use of a tripod to make sure that there is no negative outcome due to hand shake.

Here's where I disagree. The methodology that I used was the same for both lenses, shot at the same time, same light, same everything.
Sure it was handheld, but both are. And from the 1:1 crops, you can see there is no camera shake. You can see fine hairs in sharp detail, and w/o any post processing - sharpness/contrast added.

What I find slightly amusing about this is I own these lenses - cheap and expensive. So I'm about as unbiased a reviewer as you could find. I shot them the same way, posted the results. People can see, people can decide on what they are seeing.

Should I have mounted the camera on a tripod and performed hyper critical shots? No. Because again when you can see fine hairs what else are you expecting? What are you looking for? And how do you use these lenses in real life? I go out and take photos of what I find interesting. I never bring a tripod unless there is some extremely specific project that I have in mind.

Ultimately it comes down to this... think about what you are asking. If you need an extremely controlled environment to determine differences between a lens that costs $200, and one that costs $3000 because you can't tell the difference with this test, well congratulations to 7Artisans!!!