7artisans 25mm F1.8 Manual Focus Prime APS-C Fixed Lens for Sony Emount Cameras Like A7 A7II A7R A7RII A7S A7SII A6500 A6300 A6000 A5100 A5000 EX-3 NEX-3N NEX-3R NEX-C3 NEX-F3K NEX-5 NEX-5N (Black)

Product Information

Micro contrast is great, and the color and render depth is amazing but the vignetting and barrel distortion are bad. Corner and edge performance is abysmal.

There is quite a bit of vignetting and distortion. Vignetting never really clears up and is the worst at f1.8. Center sharpness is very good even wide open and hard to discern between the 7artisans vs. my Sony FE28mm F2.0. However corners are a complete different story. They are very soft wide open with vignetting and progressively get better to F8 - where it's pretty much gone. Get it...You just need more experience reading the peaking function. Maybe this video ( https://youtu.be/aMShIo-fHcs ) will help you. The only complaint I have is the focus scale, which is sufficiently at odds with the reality through the EVF to make scale/zone focus a non-starter. The barrel contains feet and metre distance engravings, progressing (in feet) from 0.6, 1, 2, 5, 16 and infinity markings. Subjects at approximately 5ft - pin sharp at f1.8 though the EVF - showed closer to the 16 ft than 5 ft markings, and the void between the two makes hyperfocal shooting a gamble. It's possible, but you'd have to work out your own sweet spot and most users will confirm distance through the viewfinder. I assume the discrepancy is the result of the same lens being produced for a variety of sensor formats.

Color is also very nice and natural with the 7 Artisans. There are no strange shifts or tints like with many third-party lenses. via Fuji's APS-C sensor) may seem an odd focal length, but the 24mm OVF frame shows no difference to the 25mm EVF, and most users would use the two interchangeably. The perspective is like the 38mm once favoured by film point and shoot cameras. If you want something wider than a FF 50mm and close to the theoretical human field of view, it's definitely worth a try.

The 7Artisans 25mm f1.8 lens is a 37.5mm equivalent on an APS-C body and a 50mm equivalent with micro four-thirds. It’s available for Sony APS-C, Fujifilm, Micro Four Thirds, and Canon M mount. It can be used on full-frame cameras like the Sony A7r III, but it will only have a circle of projection large enough to cover the APS-C portion of the sensor and you would need to put the camera in Super 35mm crop mode. The aperture ring is a little too easy to move and it’s very close to the focus ring so I find myself often nudging it by accident. I also think lenses like this mark a new era in affordable, quality manual focus lenses with native mirrorless camera lens mounts. A great era we live in. The 25mm 1.8 is about the same size as an Industar 50mm 2.8, for anyone familiar with old Soviet rangefinder lenses, projecting forward slightly more than the width of my X-Pro1 body, with the tapered-in body style of Fuji's 23mm and 35mm f2 native lenses. Operation is better than any Russian lens I've owned, more German in feel than anything. The finish is virtually identical to the X-Pro, and aesthetically a good match.

I like the short focus throw of the lens, it's less than 1/3 turn from infinity down to 0.6 feet. Not too short of a throw, but much better than many of my legacy macro lenses where you have to turn the ring almost 3/4 for full range. I also like the textured machining on either side of the focus ring, very nice to operate with one finger. So for me - unless the 8cm gain in Dof with a headshot is a dealbreaker - my advice is get out your old film camera kit and have a go with the old technology before you pay up for a new lens ------- unless the vignetting, field edge distortion and "toy camera" look is what you want - but then, just add an online filter in post-processing and have a much more controlled version of the same. years ago I could only dream about ultra fast lens in a compact form factor for native Fuji X mount. I guess my problem is more that I can't distinguish when the colored outlines in focus peaking are most "in focus". The outer focusing ring does leave a little to be desired on this diminutive lens - but a bit more practice on my part might help with that. And look at the market now, thanks to 7Artisans, TTArtisan, Pergear - there are lots of lens options at a fraction cost of Fuji XF 35mm F1.4.