7Artisans Photoelectric 28mm f1.4 Lens

The last time I used a 28mm lens was when I owned a Minolta X700 film camera back in the early 1990s. But it seems that 28mm has become quite popular with M users lately. So wanting to try 28mm on my M 240 without breaking the bank, incase I don't like it, I have been looking at new 7Artisans Photoelectric 28mm f1.4 lenses. I've not been happy with my recent Voigtlander acquisitions and my other options would be a Zeiss Biogon 28mm f2.8 which would cost about 50% more for a nice used copy or a used Elmarit 28mm f2.8 for more than double the 7Artisans price.

Would appreciate any feedback on the 7Artisans lens. Thanks in advance.

Bill,

I like you was/is mostly a 35mm shooter even though I have always had a 28mm lens in my kit. When I started I had a 50 and then thought that the 28 and then a 90 would be the way to go. Right after I had my three lenses I feel into a deal that I could not turn down on a 35 and it became my main wide that I used the 28 just gathered dust in my closet

But at least I learned early on to never get rid of a Leica lens, so I kept the 28. So now today I have 3 28mm lenses, my first 28 Elmairt, a 28 7artisans 1.4 and just added the TT Artisans f 5.6. I am not using them on a M body, my main body is a Sigma fp.

I think the 7 Artisans 28mm is a really good lens except for the size, it is rather large but then there are not too many small 28mm f1.4 lenses out their. It fits my Sigma just fine,

If you check this web site, https://www.l-mountimages.com/photos and check out shots 260 and 236 they are both shots with the 28mm f 1.4 wide open that I shot. If you run your cursor over the picture you will see the number appear. The lens is well worth it except for the size.

Enjoy

Thanks for the reply. When I had my M8 and M9 I used every focal length from 21mm up to 90mm with a collection of mostly Leica, Zeiss, and Voigtlander. My favorite was and still is 50mm. At one point I was collecting them and had over a dozen including Russian, Canon, and vintage LTM lenses. For awhile, I also like using 75mm.

Right now I have a Voigtlander Vintage Line Nokton 50mm f1.5 II and a Voigtlander 35mm f2.5 Color Skopar. Optically they are fine, but I just don't like physical layout and mechanics of either. The 50mm is already up for sale and boxed up. At the beginning of the week, I bought a mint used Zeiss 50mm f2 Planar and today I came across a mint Zeiss 28mm f2,8 Biogon and bought it also. Both are coming from Japan, so I won't see either for another week or two. In the past couple of years, I've tried to keep my kit small, so with the Biogon, I won't get the 7Artisans.

I had the 7Artisans 28mm f/1.4 FE+ version for a while (used with Nikon Z6).

Two things made me sell it:

1) At f/1.4 and medium to long focus distances, it's only half-decent in the center and bad or awful outside the center. This was the deal-breaker for me.

2) No sun-stars at any aperture. If the sun is in the frame, it won't look pretty.

Note that the FE+ version is redesigned for normal mirrorless cameras like Sony, Nikon Z etc. even though it has M mount.

On the positive side, by f/2.8 it's impressively sharp in the center (but still a bit soft in the sides and corners), and by f/4 and f/5.6 it's very, very sharp. Near the minimum focus distance, it's usable wide open, and it has a very smooth bokeh.

I have since bought the Leica 28mm Summicron-M Asph II, but I sold it after buying the Voigtländer 28mm Ultron II. That lens is stellar! It's sharp corner to corner, even wide open, and needless to say, I think it's an overall better lens than the five times more expensive Leica lens.