Third-party manufacturers have been challenging camera and lens makers in various ways. Their products are not only compact, priced well, and innovative, but the lenses also have a certain character. 7Artisans is one of those brands that has found its footing amidst giants. And that says a lot. Their need to grow has not stopped, as the company has recently announced an exciting ultra-wide angle lens for full frame cameras.
The images in this article are screenshots from 7Artisan’s website.
The 9mm F5.6 Lens With Rear ND Filter
The lens allows users to attach an ND filter at the back, which can help them to give their images some contrast. This is one of the selling points, as it appears that the ND64 and ND1000 filters are both packed with the lens. For Sigma, Canon, and Sony lenses, one can purchase the Haida Rear Lens ND filter, but this is an additional cost in addition to buying the lens. So why a rear filter? I believe that they are more hassle-free. Once you screw them on, you basically forget about them. Furthermore, since they are so close to the sensor, that could also help with the contrast and distortion.
Now coming to the price, the lens is available for $479, which is slightly higher than their other lenses. For instance, the recently released 10mm lens f2.8. Again, this could be a result of the additional items in the box.
A look at the specs:
- 16 elements in 11 groups, including two aspherical elements and two extra-low dispersion elements
- 132-degree of the angel of view
- 5-bladed aperture
- 0.2m focusing range
- Clicky aperture ring
- 34mm filter size
- 70mmx86mm size
- 436g weight
- Likely manual focus
- Supports Sony, Leica, Canon, and Nikon mounts
The company also claims that the lens produces zero distortion, and with the help of the 5 aperture blades, one can get a star-like burst if one shoots against the light.
What We Think
Our experience with the 7Artisans lenses has been fairly great. The color rending, ease of use, price, weight, and compatibly gave us very little to complain about, and that is what makes them such a steal. In fact, we also have tested a 9mm lens from the company: the 9mm f5.6. While we first found the lens a bit weird, after adapting the wide-angle to a Leica camera, we really did have fun. “This really is where the 7Artisans 9mm f5.6 starts to shine. Embracing this along with either the L Monochrome settings or the Real Time LUT setting is a dream. And when using a Leica camera instead, it’s hard not to want to use the high-contrast black-and-white monochrome setting. This makes everything look like old-school film photos printed in a panoramic way,” we wrote in our review.
Similarly, our hope is the same with the ND filter version. It is a lens that many landscape and astrophotographers would like to invest in, and if you dabble with both genres, this lens could be a steal-worthy deal for you. However, it is likely to be quite clinical, meaning less distortion and producing images like other ultra-wide angle lenses on the market. It may not be something we would buy, but it could be something that will bring you happiness. Stay tuned to our page for its review.