7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 Leica M (This Brings the Bokeh!) | Round Glass Review

I would wager that a lot of this lens’ detractors likely have not tried it. I was skeptical - highly skeptical - of this lens before I tried. I go into every lens, camera, film, or whatever review with an idea of what I expect I will think about the gear. Sometimes it’s a general idea, something like ‘I’ll be interested to see if this thing performs like I expect,’ and sometimes it’s a strong feeling like ‘I know I will adore or hate or be indifferent to this thing.’ I am, by the way, correct only around 50% of the time. So I started this review’s image taking expecting to hate this lens on a visceral level. I do not. I like it. I like it quite a bit. The lens has a good optical design and good optical performance that delivers well on the thing that it does - portraits taken close to your subject.
The image character has to be embraced, and admittedly I had to learn to like it and learn to use it. And doing that, the actual physical experience of this lens backs up the enjoyment of it if you like the images it delivers.
And you really do need to embrace the lens’ look, the images from it, because there’s no way around them and, frankly, being primarily a purpose-built lens for portrait photographers who want to get close to their subjects, there’s not a whole lot else you can or should do with it.
One last point on this lens, treat it like a luxury item. It’s large, heavy, well made, well designed, and it does a small number of things very well. It should be used and enjoyed and if this lens is interesting to you I strongly recommend you do just that. At the prices these fetch new and used, they are definitely an affordable entry into ultra-fast portrait lens use. If you buy this lens, as I did, expecting it to be a fast fifty you can carry around and use as a generalist, you will be disappointed in it. If you change your expectations and buy it to be a specialist, you can very easily be happy with it.
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Video Index:
0:00 - Intro
0:12 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Information
2:05 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Specifications
3:25 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Tips & Tricks
5:55 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Lens Diagram
6:15 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Video Use
8:50 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Strengths & Weaknesses
13:33 - 7Artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.1 Narrative
References:
www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...
7artisans.store/collections/f...
leicarumors.com/2017/06/29/ad...
petapixel.com/2018/12/07/revi...
www.35mmc.com/29/07/2017/7art...
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"Suffer City Blues" by Suffer City and "Old Lullaby (Instrumental Version)" by Francis Wells used under active license from Epidemic Sound at the time of this video's upload.

[@mrenovatio3739]

The appeal is that it's cheap. At twice the price, people would prefer the various Voigtlander lenses for character. At three times the price of the 7 Artisans, it's better to get the Zeiss 50mm Sonnar. You raise a very good point about whether lense designers should consider making lenses that don't go beyond f5.6. If they know they're going to make a speciality lens, why not go for it!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and that makes sense. For the spec, very inexpensive.

[@ZommBleed]

Yeah, but it's a 7 Artisans. What else did you expect? The purple ghosting isn't so desirable. I'd be more pleased with just plain old sun flares. I do love the 106 aperture blades, though. I wish more lens manufacturers would incorporate multiple blades into their designs. The round, rather than angular, bokeh is much more desirable and pleasing to the eye (just my personal opinion).

[@DavidHancock]

I absolutely agree about the aperture design. And, to the credit of many of the third-party lenses in this bracket, the apertures are fantastic (if not entirely precisely calculated.) This lens tier's designers do spend a lot of effort to create images with pleasant out of focus areas for the intended aperture range.

[@anthonymiller8979]

While I like your color images I see this as a great, moody B&W lens in the right settings.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and, yes, this lens is really nice for black and white work.

[@AnimusNitra-X]

Your doggy looks so sweet and lovely

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! As long as I have treats, he's very cute. :D

[@AnimusNitra-X]

@@DavidHancock 😁