DPReview TV: 7Artisans 55mm F1.4 Mark II review - Can a $125 lens be any good

I know that nobody reads anymore and it is dpreview's own video channel, but Ii would like to have a text that I can read, be it even just the pro's and the con's. Ploughing through 10 minutes talking is just a bit much involvement for a message that can be read in mostly half the time, with the added benefit that one can reread parts of it immediately. I am feeling more and more expelled from information when everything exclusively 'goes video'. But okay, that is something for dpreview staff in the first place. Still ..

For lenses like this, it would have been very helpful to shoot one or two frame at the full frame of the z7 sensor and show how much coverage is possible.
For the future, please show that if your using a z7 with a fully manual APS-C lens.

And the simple answer is...yes, yes it can.

I have this lens (and other cheap ones) and I print the photos I like and put them on the wall or in photo albums. When other people see them, they have no interest in what lens and camera I used or the settings. All they know is whether they like the photo or not. If they do, good. If they don't, that's okay too because I like them.

And that's all that matters.

I think what's being said here is that even if you're on a budget, this might not be the best choice.

Sure, you can get some interesting effects but the "quirks" and "pitfalls" mentioned here are in reality, flaws. Hazy low contrast, lack of flat field, chromatic aberration, this is like a textbook of what a good lens should not do.

On the other hand, if you already have a good lens, and want to experiment with a not so good lens (I didn't say lousy, since this is DPR) this seems like a fun, inexpensive option. And like everything, it's built like a tank! I'm curious to try one.

review the Fulframe TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 E, its actually a pretty good lens.

Judging by the external design and specs I think it's just a C mount lens converted to other mounts, in other words it'd be worth less than $100 in C mount.

Bought 7 artisan in the past
Nope nope nope, cr*p,

I'd rather wipe my rear end with the 100 dollars bill spent, at least i can impress people with my expensive toilet paper

Accept it, Photography is an expensive hobby, there's no other way around

The lack of electronic communication with the camera is a significant downside, but the clickless aperture ring is a deal breaker. It means you have to take your eye away from the camera to set the aperture.

On the one hand, it's cheap and not bad.

On the other hand, you've invested a lot of money in a fancy new mirrorless camera -- is saving a couple of hundred on a lens in return for worse image quality and giving up all your convenience features (no autofocus, no exif, no aperture stops, no built in lens corrections) really such a bright idea in the long run?

In favor of 7artisans (&c) approach is the fact that even if you went out and bought a M-mount adapter and some nice Voigtlander lenses costing 4-5-6 times more, you still haven't won back the convenience features, and in a lot of cases in the IQ still suffers because the compact for-film-rangefinder designs aren't ideal for digital.

I'd say the stronger competition comes from adapted vintage lenses. I've been using my m42 Super-Takumar 35/3.5 on my Z6 and it's actually pretty good, works full frame, and costs about the same as the this 7Artisans including the adapter. I expect the 50/2, 85/1.9 etc. I have will also be fine.

It was a pleasant surprise to see this lens reviewed by DPR!
I bought my 7artisans 55mm F1.4 Mark II X-mount lens for my Fuji X-E4 a few months ago. There were no reviews out there to read, only maybe one or two purchaser reviews on sales websites. I remembered that the original was not so great so I hoped the Mark II would be much improved.
It is! I'm delighted with this lens! It basically lives on my X-E4 and my other lenses (mostly third party manuals) just sit. Overall, it is a great deal, delivering excellent sharpness when closed down, and great bokeh near and far when opened up.

I'd echo that it's great to see DPReview found time to review budget lens like 7Artisans.
Personally I'm frequently shooting with many cheap Chinese lens in parallel with quite pricy Voigtlander/Zeiss manual lens. When it comes to lens for compact APS-C cameras - my priority list is: smaller size, interesting image rendering, decent mechanical quality, and only the last one is the price.
It was highly surprising many times how good are some of these budget lens in practical use - they often deliver great shooting experience and resulting pictures.
I'd say - these budget lens aren't meant to deliver photo perfection, they rather are making cool and interesting photo experience much more affordable. It's personal choice for everyone what equipment makes your shooting process enjoyable.

Hmmm. the focus plane seems to be rather bent.

If you look at the last test shots you see that the focus in the middle is somewhere totally different than the focus at the edge. So, repro photo at F1.4 is not its forte.

Bu. if you look at the first Roosevelt Elk image (number 10) then you can see that both the elks and the bushes to the left and right are sharp, even if it is F1.4. That is impossible if the plane is plane. So, there you take advantage of the curved plane.

for that kind of money, or a LOT less there is a lot of good old manual focus lenses out there, a Canon FDn 50F1,4 is $50, just put a cheap eBay adaptor on it and leave it on ..if F1.7 F1.8 or F2 is fine they can be had for a lot less ..the FD 50 F1.4 has a more modern look pretty sharp and punchy color .my Minolta Rokkor F1.7 55mm FP has a much older look more film-like look..the prices are going up, the days of getting a lens like my Fujinon 55mm F1.8 for $9 inc shipping and a free SLR attached are few and far between now

Late review of this nice lens. Here you can find more sample pictures made with the 7Artisans 55mm f1.4 MKII.

https://schlueter-enterprises.com/galerie-7artisans-55mm-f1-4-mk-ii/

Video produced with the 7Artisans 55mm f1.4 MKII on Fujifilm X-PRO2.

https://schlueter-enterprises.com/test/video-violaine-the-gimbal-weebill-s-and-the-apple-tree/

That LoCa example shot of the tree was really impressive. Really an interesting way to introduce color when shooting Canada in Winter.

I'd have liked to see fewer monochrome shots.

(yeah, I know - Canada really is looking monochrome in that weather :-) ).

I recently bought the Ttartisan 50mm f1.2 aps-c lens that came out last year and it sells for $98. Based on this review I would say the Ttartisan is as good if not better and a bit less expensive.

I got stuck at 150 Canadian Dollars being 1 month of Internet Cellphone... that's insanely expensive :D

I’ve just bought a full frame Meike 50mm f1.7 manual lens. Far cheaper than this 7Artisans lens I think. Never actually wanted a 50mm lens but had a £20 Amazon gift card for Christmas and I do like spending my daughter’s inheritance. It’s good fun and the manual aperture and focussing slows my photography down when I feel in that kind of mood. Like it more than I thought I would, so if photographers have not experienced a manual lens on a digital camera, something cheap like this may be an enjoyable experience. The Meike does seem to have better optics than the lens tested as long as you don’t have a decentred one.

Dont buy this as a beginner unless you are made of money.
Too many caveats and only a very specific use case to my mind.

Finally, DPR deigned to come down from their exalted heights and pay a little attention to lenses that anyone can afford. I have some 7 artisans and TT artisan lenses, and I find the latter better so I hope DPR reviews some of them too.

Interesting and fun to try but ALSO why not make an episode with old lenses, say Nikon AIS lenses or even older, they can be had for a song sometime, Try the Nikkor 28mm F2 AIS or I can send you my 1960 (!) Nikkor 5.8 cm Auto (I'm in Canada), a very similar lens to what you just tested, I paid $25 for it 15 years ago, just for a fun comparison.

For $125,- you can't expect it to be a Leica 😂😉😎.

For the Sony APSC platform don't fill up your fuel tank for 2 more weeks and buy the fantastic Sigma 56mm F1.4 AF, Best and sharpest portrait lens around.

Not about the lens, but, what winter gloves are you using there?
They look great.

Great to see a review of a lens category rarely reviewed by DPR - namely the low cost, third-party, wide aperture, manual focus lenses. We've seen so many PR announcements for this category of lens on this site but that's as far as it goes.

It would be interesting to see perhaps an ultra-wide angle lens review from this or another third-party manufacturer or perhaps a shoot out as this is maybe where these lenses could work for many photographers. It would also be interesting to see a review of an autofocus convertors for mirrorless from the likes of Techart or Fotodiox etc.

Interesting stuff gentlemen, as ever.

Well what it does really represents it's value. These kind of lenses are like that. The biggest problem with cheap lenses that especially portre it is hard to live without AF especially today's cam's which can focus on the eye you will loose one of the best capabilities of your cam...
The only place where cheap lenses has place are the wide angel especially fish-eye....